The Proportion of Trees that are Linear

Abstract

We study several enumeration problems connected to linear trees, a broad class which includes stars, paths, generalized stars, and caterpillars. We provide generating functions for counting the number of linear trees on $n$ vertices, characterize the asymptotic growth rate of the number of nonisomorphic linear trees, and show that the distribution of $k$-linear trees on $n$ vertices follows a central limit theorem.

8 pages; v2 contains new central limit theorem, as suggested by the referee