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Abstract:The study of spanning trees and related structures is central in graph theory, closely connected to understanding functions between finite sets. This paper generalizes the established relationship between rooted trees and eventually constant endomorphisms to a wider context including $k$-tuples of functions among $k$ disjoint vertex sets. We derive a weighted count of eventually constant $k$-tuples, which are characterized by their stabilization to constancy upon iterated composition. This construction is the set-theoretic analogue of the nilpotent cone and offers new insight into the combinatorial structure of cyclic digraphs. By identifying these $k$-tuples with their induced digraphs, we construct explicit formulas for their generating polynomials and analyze the cardinality of the set of eventually constant $k$-tuples. These polynomials are multisymmetric in $k$ sets of variables and can be re-expressed as the character of a representation of the product of general linear groups. We extend the ideas to the more general structures of eventually $N$-cyclic and $\lambda$-cyclic $k$-tuples, which we define and provide similar theorems for their generating functions and cardinality.

Submission history

From: Mee Seong Im [view email]
[v1] Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:14:39 UTC (37 KB)
[v2] Sat, 8 Aug 2026 02:15:18 UTC (38 KB)