Bell and Stirling Numbers for Graphs
Bryce Duncan
Department of Mathematics
Auburn University
221 Parker Hall
Auburn University, AL 36849
USA
Rhodes Peele
Department of Mathematics
Auburn University Montgomery
P. O. Box 244023
Montgomery, AL 36124-4023
USA
Abstract:
The Bell number B(G) of
a simple graph G is the number of
partitions of its vertex set whose blocks are independent sets of
G. The number of these partitions with k blocks is the (graphical)
Stirling number S(G,k) of G.
We explore integer sequences of
Bell numbers for various one-parameter families of graphs,
generalizations of the relation B(Pn)
= B(En-1)
for path and
edgeless graphs, one-parameter graph families whose Bell number
sequences are quasigeometric, and relations among the polynomial
A(G,α) = Σ S(G,k)
αk,
the chromatic polynomial and the
Tutte polynomial, and some implications of these relations.
Full version: pdf,
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latex
(Concerned with sequences
A000032
A000045
A000110
A000296
A129847.)
Received April 28 2009;
revised version received October 8 2009.
Published in Journal of Integer Sequences, October 13 2009.
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