Higher determinants and the matrix-tree theorem

Abstract

The classical matrix-tree theorem was discovered by G.~Kirchhoff in 1847. It relates the principal minor of the Laplace (nxn)-matrix to a particular sum of monomials indexed by the set of trees with n vertices. The aim of this paper is to present a generalization of the (nonsymmetric) matrix-tree theorem containing no trees and essentially no matrices. Instead of trees we consider acyclic directed graphs with a prescribed set of sinks, and instead of determinant, a polynomial invariant of the matrix determined by directed graph such that any two vertices of the same connected component are mutually reacheable.