Extra-factorial sum: a graph-theoretic parameter in Hamiltonian cycles of complete weighted graphs

Abstract

A graph-theoretic parameter, in a form of a function, called the extra-factorial sum is discussed. The main results are presented in ref. [1] (Nastou et al., Optim Lett, 10, 1203-1220, 2016) and the reader is strongly advised to study the aforementioned paper. The current work presents subject matter in a tutorial form with proofs and some newer unpublished results towards the end (lemma six extension and lemma seven). The extra-factorial sum is relevant to Hamiltonian cycles of complete weighted graphs $WH_n$ with $n$ vertices and is obtained for each edge of $WH_n$. If this sum is multiplied by $1 / (n - 2)$ then it gives directly the arithmetic mean of the sum of lengths $l_i$ of all Hamiltonian cycles that traverse a selected edge $e_q$. The number of terms in this sum is a factorial proven to be $(n - 2)!$ which signifies that its value depends on $n$. Using the extra-factorial sum, the arithmetic mean of the sum of the squared lengths of $(n - 1)! / 2$ Hamiltonian cycles of $WH_{n}$ can be obtained as well.