coloring_nested_tire_graphs: fix menagerie -- θ(1,p,q) IS outerplanar (cycle + chord)

User correctly pointed out:
(1) The Figure 4 partial-tire-dual interior structure is not a "theta
    graph" in the K_{2,3} sense (which requires all three paths of
    length ≥ 2).  It is θ(1, 6, 6): a 12-cycle with one chord.
(2) θ(1, p, q) IS outerplanar (just a polygon with one chord), so it
    belongs IN the menagerie, not outside it.

Revisions:

- Section 6 ("2-connected outerplanar with Δ ≤ 3"): previously claimed
  the class is just cycles; corrected to "cycle, possibly with a
  matching of chords."  Added explicit description of θ(1, p, q) and
  a closed-form for its proper 3-edge-coloring count:

    P_e(θ(1,p,q), 3) = (2^{p+q} - 2^p (-1)^q - 2^q (-1)^p + 10 (-1)^{p+q}) / 3.

  Verified against Sage's chromatic polynomial for all p, q ∈ {2..6}.

- "Outside the menagerie" section: previously said "theta graphs (all
  flavours) are not outerplanar."  Corrected to clarify that only
  θ(p, q, r) with all three paths of length ≥ 2 (= K_{2,3} subdivisions)
  is not outerplanar.  Explicitly noted that the bridge-case partial
  tire dual gives θ(1, p, q) which IS in the menagerie, with edge-3-
  coloring count given by the closed form.

The Figure 4 partial-tire-dual (m=4 outer cycle + barbell O with
bridge) has θ(1, 6, 6) as its interior dual subgraph and so admits
exactly 1326 proper 3-edge-colorings on the interior cycle-with-
chord; leaves contribute their forced colors as in the spoke-only
case.

Paper unchanged.  This is a correction within the notes/ subdir only.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
2026-05-25 21:19:08 -04:00
parent c599975290
commit e47f89918a
4 changed files with 95 additions and 50 deletions
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
\relax
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline {paragraph}{Closed form.}{3}{}\protected@file@percent }
\gdef \@abspage@last{4}
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
This is pdfTeX, Version 3.141592653-2.6-1.40.24 (TeX Live 2022) (preloaded format=pdflatex 2022.10.5) 25 MAY 2026 21:05
This is pdfTeX, Version 3.141592653-2.6-1.40.24 (TeX Live 2022) (preloaded format=pdflatex 2022.10.5) 25 MAY 2026 21:18
entering extended mode
restricted \write18 enabled.
%&-line parsing enabled.
@@ -293,40 +293,45 @@ Package pdftex.def Info: fig_corona.png used on input line 76.
<fig_blocktree.png, id=29, 242.55618pt x 147.70181pt>
File: fig_blocktree.png Graphic file (type png)
<use fig_blocktree.png>
Package pdftex.def Info: fig_blocktree.png used on input line 122.
Package pdftex.def Info: fig_blocktree.png used on input line 158.
(pdftex.def) Requested size: 258.36668pt x 157.34296pt.
<fig_theta.png, id=30, 168.47943pt x 147.70181pt>
[3]
<fig_theta.png, id=38, 168.47943pt x 147.70181pt>
File: fig_theta.png Graphic file (type png)
<use fig_theta.png>
Package pdftex.def Info: fig_theta.png used on input line 146.
Package pdftex.def Info: fig_theta.png used on input line 183.
(pdftex.def) Requested size: 150.32504pt x 131.79225pt.
[3 <./fig_blocktree.png>] [4 <./fig_theta.png>] (./menagerie.aux) )
[4 <./fig_blocktree.png> <./fig_theta.png>] (./menagerie.aux) )
Here is how much of TeX's memory you used:
4626 strings out of 478268
75252 string characters out of 5846347
370157 words of memory out of 5000000
22807 multiletter control sequences out of 15000+600000
478664 words of font info for 64 fonts, out of 8000000 for 9000
4643 strings out of 478268
75478 string characters out of 5846347
373157 words of memory out of 5000000
22821 multiletter control sequences out of 15000+600000
481374 words of font info for 75 fonts, out of 8000000 for 9000
1141 hyphenation exceptions out of 8191
55i,6n,63p,245b,198s stack positions out of 10000i,1000n,20000p,200000b,200000s
</usr/local
/texlive/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmbx12.pfb></usr/local/
texlive/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmex10.pfb></usr/local/t
exlive/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmmi10.pfb></usr/local/te
xlive/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmmi12.pfb></usr/local/tex
live/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmmi8.pfb></usr/local/texli
ve/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr10.pfb></usr/local/texlive
/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr12.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2
022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr17.pfb></usr/local/texlive/202
2/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr6.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/t
exmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr8.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texm
f-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmsy10.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf
-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmsy8.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-d
ist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmti10.pfb>
Output written on menagerie.pdf (4 pages, 197957 bytes).
{/usr/local/tex
live/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/enc/dvips/cm-super/cm-super-ts1.enc}</usr/local/texl
ive/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmbx10.pfb></usr/local/texli
ve/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmbx12.pfb></usr/local/texliv
e/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmex10.pfb></usr/local/texlive
/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmmi10.pfb></usr/local/texlive/
2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmmi12.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2
022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmmi8.pfb></usr/local/texlive/202
2/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr10.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/
texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr12.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/te
xmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr17.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texm
f-dist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr6.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-d
ist/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmr8.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dist
/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmsy10.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dist/
fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmsy8.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dist/fo
nts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmti10.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dist/fon
ts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmtt10.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dist/font
s/type1/public/cm-super/sfrm1095.pfb>
Output written on menagerie.pdf (4 pages, 236404 bytes).
PDF statistics:
95 PDF objects out of 1000 (max. 8388607)
50 compressed objects within 1 object stream
111 PDF objects out of 1000 (max. 8388607)
60 compressed objects within 1 object stream
0 named destinations out of 1000 (max. 500000)
31 words of extra memory for PDF output out of 10000 (max. 10000000)
@@ -101,20 +101,56 @@ processed edges incident to the new endpoint of $e$ (between $1$ and $2$, since
$\Delta\le 3$). In practice this gives a clean product depending only on the
degree sequence of $T$.
\subsection*{6.~Two-connected outerplanar with $\Delta=3$ is just $C_n$}
\subsection*{6.~Two-connected outerplanar with $\Delta\le 3$: cycle, possibly with a matching of chords}
The only $2$-connected outerplanar graphs are polygons (with optional chords).
Each chord adds a degree to each of its two endpoints; if every vertex on the
polygon $C_n$ already has degree $2$ from the cycle, then we may add at most
one chord-endpoint per vertex, so chords must form a matching. Already a
\emph{single} chord on a $2$-connected outerplanar graph forces both
endpoints to degree $3$. In particular, the only $2$-connected outerplanar
graph with $\Delta\le 3$ in which the maximum is actually attained at
\emph{every} vertex would be a polygon with a perfect matching of chords;
but each chord crosses some other (mod the planar embedding) unless the two
matched vertices are adjacent on the polygon, which collapses the
``$2$-connected'' assumption. The upshot is: \emph{the $2$-connected blocks
in our class are just cycles.}
The $2$-connected outerplanar graphs are polygons (with optional chords).
Each chord raises the degree of its two endpoints by $1$, and a polygon
vertex already has degree $2$ from the cycle. So for $\Delta\le 3$ the
chords must form a \emph{matching} of polygon vertices --- no vertex
can be an endpoint of two chords. In particular the simplest non-cycle
case is a polygon with a \emph{single} chord, denoted $\theta(1,p,q)$:
two paths of lengths $p$ and $q$ between two trivalent vertices, plus a
direct edge between those two trivalent vertices. Equivalently it is
$C_{p+q}$ with a chord joining the two cycle vertices at distance $p$
apart on the polygon.
\begin{center}
\textit{[$\theta(1,p,q)$: polygon $C_{p+q}$ with one chord; both chord
endpoints have degree~$3$, other polygon vertices have degree~$2$.]}
\end{center}
$\theta(1,p,q)$ is outerplanar (the chord lies inside the polygon, and
all polygon vertices are on the outer face) and subcubic.
\paragraph{Closed form.}
For each choice of chord color $c\in\{1,2,3\}$, the two cycle edges
incident to each chord endpoint must lie in $\{x,y\} = \{1,2,3\}\setminus\{c\}$.
Conditioning on whether the two pairs of cycle-edge colors at the chord
endpoints agree or disagree, and using the transfer matrix
$T = J - I$ on $K_3$ (eigenvalues $2$ and~$-1$ with multiplicities $1$ and $2$),
one finds
\[
\boxed{\;P_e(\theta(1,p,q),\,3)
\;=\; \dfrac{2^{p+q} - 2^{p}(-1)^{q} - 2^{q}(-1)^{p} + 10\,(-1)^{p+q}}{3}\;}.
\]
Sanity checks:
\begin{itemize}
\item $p = q = 2$: $\theta(1,2,2) = K_4 - e$, formula gives
$(16 - 4 - 4 + 10)/3 = 6 = P_e(K_4 - e, 3)$.
\item $p = q = 3$: $\theta(1,3,3)$, formula gives
$(64 + 8 + 8 + 10)/3 = 30$.
\item $p = q = 6$: $\theta(1,6,6)$ (= the interior dual subgraph of
the partial tire dual for the barbell-$O$ tire of Figure~4 of
the main paper), formula gives $(4096 - 64 - 64 + 10)/3 = 1326$.
\end{itemize}
The formula has been verified empirically against \texttt{Sage}'s
chromatic polynomial routine for all
$p, q \in \{2, 3, 4, 5, 6\}$.
More generally, a polygon with $r$ chords forming a matching has
chromatic polynomial computable by the same transfer-matrix idea
along the $r{+}1$ paths between consecutive chord endpoints on the
polygon, with a product constraint at each chord endpoint.
\subsection*{7.~Block--cut decomposition}
@@ -140,20 +176,23 @@ cut-vertex constraint. For each cycle-block $B = C_n$ contributing
$2^n + 2(-1)^n$ proper $3$-edge-colorings, and each edge-block contributing
$3$, this product is computable in time linear in $|V(G)|+|E(G)|$.
\section*{Outside the menagerie: theta graphs}
\section*{Outside the menagerie: $\theta(p,q,r)$ with all paths
$\ge 2$, i.e.\ $K_{2,3}$ subdivisions}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=0.32\textwidth]{fig_theta.png}
\end{center}
The complete bipartite graph $K_{2,3}$, equivalently the theta graph
$\theta(2,2,2)$, is \emph{not} outerplanar (it is a forbidden minor for
outerplanarity). In our tire-graph application this is the structure of the
interior dual subgraph of $D(T)$ when the inner outerplanar graph $O$ has a
bridge: two trivalent vertices $d_f$ connected by three internally
vertex-disjoint paths. Such a $D(T)$ falls outside the simple block-cut
menagerie above and its $P_e(\cdot,3)$ does not reduce to a product over
cycle-blocks; instead it is computed directly by deletion--contraction on the
theta-graph structure, or via a transfer matrix on the three paths.
The genuine theta graph $\theta(2,2,2) = K_{2,3}$ (and more generally any
$\theta(p,q,r)$ with $p,q,r\ge 2$) is \emph{not} outerplanar: $K_{2,3}$
is a forbidden minor for outerplanarity, and every $\theta(p,q,r)$ with
$\min(p,q,r)\ge 2$ contains $K_{2,3}$ as a topological minor. Such graphs
do \emph{not} arise as the interior dual subgraph of a partial tire dual
$D(T)$ in this paper: when the inner outerplanar graph $O$ has a bridge,
the interior dual subgraph is the polygon-with-one-chord case
$\theta(1, p, q)$ of \S6, where the path of length~$1$ is precisely the
dual of the bridge. In particular $D(T)$ \emph{is} subcubic outerplanar
in the bridge case, and its edge $3$-coloring count is the
$\theta(1,p,q)$ closed form above.
\end{document}