Leaf-to-leaf distances and their moments in finite and infinite m-ary tree graphs

We study the leaf-to-leaf distances on one-dimensionally ordered, full and complete m-ary tree graphs using a recursive approach. In our formulation, unlike in traditional graph theory approaches, leaves are ordered along a line emulating a one-dimensional lattice. We find explicit analytical formulas for the sum of all paths for arbitrary leaf separation r as well as the average distances and the moments thereof. We show that the resulting explicit expressions can be recast in terms of Hurwitz-Lerch transcendants. Results for periodic trees are also given. For incomplete random binary trees, we provide first results by numerical techniques; we find a rapid drop of leaf-to-leaf distances for large r.