Combinatorics – Number of Labeled, Unordered Rooted Trees with n Vertices and k Leaves

combinatoricstrees

I've been trying to do the following exercise:


The problem

Find the number of all labeled, unordered rooted trees with $n$ vertices and $k$ leaves.

I know that I should try to write an equality for the generating function $T(z,y)$ where we use the following weight for a tree $W$ with $n$ vertices and $k$ leaves:

$\omega(W) = z^{n}y^{k}$

and thus we have $T(z,y) = {\sum}_{_W}\omega(W)$.

After writing the equality I should use the lagrange inversion formula (this is a hint given in the exercise).


My problem

I have troubles with writing the equality for $T(z,y)$. First I tried to write down the first terms of $T(z,y)$ – to look for patterns. Then I tried to write the species of labeled unrooted trees in terms of other species. In both cases I ended up getting more confused.

Could someone give a hint for writing the equation for $T(z,y)$? How do I handle such problems?

Best Answer

Use the analytic method. Your class is a root connected to a non-empty set of trees, or a leaf. Use $\mathcal{Z}$ (and $z$) for inner nodes, $\mathcal{Y}$ (and $y$) for leaves; use $\mathcal{E}$ for the class with one empty object: $$ \mathcal{T} = \mathcal{Z} \star (\mathfrak{S}(\mathcal{T}) \smallsetminus \mathcal{E}) + \mathcal{Z} \mathcal{Y} $$ This translates to: $$ T(z, y) = z (e^{T(z, y)} - 1) + z y $$ Just need to get $T(z, y)$ (or the coefficients) out of this...

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