A refined Gallai-Edmonds structure theorem for weighted matching polynomials

Abstract

In this work, we prove a refinement of the Gallai-Edmonds structure theorem for weighted matching polynomials by Ku and Wong. Our proof uses a connection between matching polynomials and branched continued fractions. We also show how this is related to a modification by Sylvester of the classical Sturm's theorem on the number of zeros of a real polynomial in an interval. In addition, we obtain some other results about zeros of matching polynomials.