On the class of graphs with strong mixing properties

We study three mixing properties of a graph: large algebraic connectivity, large Cheeger constant (isoperimetric number) and large spectral gap from 1 for the second largest eigenvalue of the transition probability matrix of the random walk on the graph. We prove equivalence of this properties (in some sense). We give estimates for the probability for a random graph to satisfy these properties. In addition, we present asymptotic formulas for the numbers of Eulerian orientations and Eulerian circuits in an undirected simple graph

Counting degree-constrained subgraphs and orientations

The goal of this short paper to advertise the method of gauge transformations (aka holographic reduction, reparametrization) that is well-known in statistical physics and computer science, but less known in combinatorics. As an application of it we give a new proof of a theorem of A. Schrijver asserting that the number of Eulerian orientations of a $d$--regular graph on $n$ vertices with even $d$ is at least $\left(\frac{\binom{d}{d/2}}{2^{d/2}}\right)^n$. We also show that a $d$--regular graph with even $d$ has always at least as many Eulerian orientations as $(d/2)$--regular subgraphs

Counting and sampling problems on Eulerian graphs

In this thesis we consider two sets of combinatorial structures defined on an Eulerian graph: the Eulerian orientations and Euler tours. We are interested in the computational problems of counting (computing the number of elements in the set) and sampling (generating a random element of the set). Specifically, we are interested in the question of when there exists an efficient algorithm for counting or sampling the elements of either set. The Eulerian orientations of a number of classes of planar lattices are of practical significance as they correspond to configurations of certain models studied in statistical physics. In 1992 Mihail and Winkler showed that counting Eulerian orientations of a general Eulerian graph is #P-complete and demonstrated that the problem of sampling an Eulerian orientation can be reduced to the tractable problem of sampling a perfect matching of a bipartite graph. We present a proof that this problem remains #Pcomplete when the input is restricted to being a planar graph, and analyse a natural algorithm for generating random Eulerian orientations of one of the afore-mentioned planar lattices. Moreover, we make some progress towards classifying the range of planar graphs on which this algorithm is rapidly mixing by exhibiting an infinite class of planar graphs for which the algorithm will always take an exponential amount of time to converge. The problem of counting the Euler tours of undirected graphs has proven to be less amenable to analysis than that of Eulerian orientations. Although it has been known for many years that the number of Euler tours of any directed graph can be computed in polynomial time, until recently very little was known about the complexity of counting Euler tours of an undirected graph. Brightwell and Winkler showed that this problem is #P-complete in 2005 and, apart from a few very simple examples, e.g., series-parellel graphs, there are no known tractable cases, nor are there any good reasons to believe the problem to be intractable. Moreover, despite several unsuccessful attempts, there has been no progress made on the question of approximability. Indeed, this problem was considered to be one of the more difficult open problems in approximate counting since long before the complexity of exact counting was resolved. By considering a randomised input model, we are able to show that a very simple algorithm can sample or approximately count the Euler tours of almost every d-in/d-out directed graph in expected polynomial time. Then, we present some partial results towards showing that this algorithm can be used to sample or approximately count the Euler tours of almost every 2d-regular graph in expected polynomial time. We also provide some empirical evidence to support the unproven conjecture required to obtain this result. As a sideresult of this work, we obtain an asymptotic characterisation of the distribution of the number of Eulerian orientations of a random 2d-regular graph

Short survey on stable polynomials, orientations and matchings

This is a short survey about the theory of stable polynomials and its applications. It gives self-contained proofs of two theorems of Schrijver. One of them asserts that for a $d$--regular bipartite graph $G$ on $2n$ vertices, the number of perfect matchings, denoted by $\mathrm{pm}(G)$, satisfies $$\mathrm{pm}(G)\geq \bigg( \frac{(d-1)^{d-1}}{d^{d-2}} \bigg)^{n}.$$ The other theorem claims that for even $d$ the number of Eulerian orientations of a $d$--regular graph $G$ on $n$ vertices, denoted by $\varepsilon(G)$, satisfies $$\varepsilon(G)\geq \bigg(\frac{\binom{d}{d/2}}{2^{d/2}}\bigg)^n.$$ To prove these theorems we use the theory of stable polynomials, and give a common generalization of the two theorems