The algebra of set functions II: An enumerative analogue of Hall’s theorem for bipartite graphs

Triesch (1997) [25] conjectured that Hall’s classical theorem on matchings in bipartite graphs is a special case of a phenomenon of monotonicity for the number of matchings in such graphs. We prove this conjecture for all graphs with sufficiently many edges by deriving an explicit monotonic formula counting matchings in bipartite graphs. ormula follows from a general duality theory which we develop for counting matchings. Moreover, we make use of generating functions for set functions as introduced by Lass [20], and we show how they are useful for counting matchings in bipartite graphs in many different ways.