METU DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS

GRAPH THEORY
LECTURE NOTES

Ali Doanaksoy Ankara, 1997

I- PRELIMINARIES
1- Definition. A graph nonempty(2) set is a pair consisting of a finite(1) of distinct(4) are where Elements of is denoted by

and a finite(3) collection

unordered(5) pairs of distinct(6) elements of called vertices and elements of the vertex set and briefly and , the edge set. An edge and

are called edges of G. Thus, we call

and v are vertices. If the graph G is clear for the given context, we write to denote respectively. The number of is or (or elements of ); and size by is called the order and the number of elements of (or or ). in plane is a figure and

called the size of the graph. We denote the order of the graph by

2- Plane representation. A representation of a graph -

consisting of points and line segments. We draw this figure such that to each point in figure there corresponds a unique vertex of conversely, a line segment is drawn between two points corresponding the vertices and An edge if and only if is in the edge set of G. and . It is also said that and and is are are is said to join the vertices

incident to and .
If u and v are vertices of a graph and is an edge, we say that is a neighbour of . If

adjacent, and that

a vertex

is a neighbour of ,

adjacent vertices, we write

. The set of all vertices which are adjacent to

is called the neighbourhood of

Two edges incident to a same vertex are also said to be adjacent. Example. Let edge set representation is as follows:
ab b

be the graph with the vertex set Then

a ac

and the . A visual

cd

[1]

bc

3- Variations on the definition. We may have variations of the definition of a graph by replacing the numbered statements in (1). If (1) is replaced with infinite we obtain graphs with infinite vertices So dropping (1), we let a graph to have finitely or infinitely many vertices. (2) can never be dropped. That is, the order of any graph is at least 1. (3) can be omitted to let graphs to possess infinitely many edges. If (4) is not required, we can have multiple (or parallel) edges joining the same pair of vertices. If (5) is replaced with ordered the resulting structure is a directed graph When (6) is dropped, edges joining a vertex to itself may appear. Such an edge is called a loop. | We consider only finite graphs, namely the graphs with | and | | . So throughout the text, (1), (2) and (3) in definition (1) will never be changed or dropped. In some cases we may find it useful to replace (5) with ordered In such a case we call the graph a directed graph or a digraph. In many cases it may be necessary to consider the graphs with (4) and (6) are dropped in (1). If (4) and/or (6) are not required, we call the graph a multigraph or a pseudeograph.

(5): unordered (4): distinct (6): distinct

(5): ordered (4): distinct (6): distinct

(5): unordered (4): (6): distinct

(5): ordered (4): (6): distinct

(5): unordered (4): (6): -

(5): ordered (4): (6): -

[2]

When multigraphs are allowed, we call the graphs not having loops and multiple edges a simple graph. Given a graph , with multiple edges and loops, by removing the loops and replacing each set of parallel edges with a single edge, we obtain a simple graph which is called the underlying graph of .
parallel edges

a loo p

Multigraph [Graph]

Grap h [Simple Graph]

4- Directed graphs. The terminology for directed graphs is slightly different. Sometimes edges of a directed graph are called arcs. Let be a directed graph with the vertex set , we say that and and the arc set . If are are adjacent and that is incident from and

incident to

In that case we also say that

dominates . If

both contained in obtained from

, they are called a symmetric pair of arcs. The graph by reversing the directions of all edges is called the is called a symmetric directed then is called a complete

converse of . A directed graph with

graph. If all vertices are adjacent and

symmetric digraph. If we omit the directions of edges, we obtain a

(multi)graph which is the underlying graph of the given directed graph. A tournament is a directed graph whose vertices are joined only one arc, that is, if it is not containing a symmetric pair of arcs.

[3]

5- Independent set of vertices. A set of vertices no two are adjacent is called an

independent set of vertices. The cardinality of a largest independent set of

vertices is called the independence number of the graph. Example. Let the vertices of the graph of represent 6 students and let an edge to stand for the friendship relation. An independent set of vertices of is not an independent set but are. The largest of

this graph is a subset of the students that no one knows the others. For example such subsets contain 3 members, so a has independence number 3.

d f

Example. Now suppose that the six students of previous example are matched two by two. Naturally none of them would like to be matched with another who is not known by her. Say, if we have the matchings then, and we may consider and and are to stay alone. If we wish to have a complete matching, . As it is seen, to have a matching of

vertices is equivalent to have a set of edges no two are adjacent. If we consider the below labeling of the vertices, the first matching coreesponds to the set and the latter one corresponds to a e1 d e2 e5 b e6 e3 e e 4 c .

6- Matching. A set of edges no two are adjacent is called an independent set of

edges or a matching. The size of the largest matching is called the edgeindependence number of
. An independent set of edges covering all the vertices is called a 1-factor or a complete matching of
[4]

a 1-factor in G

no complete match ings possible edg e-indep endence number: 3

7- Labeled graph. A labeled graph of order an integer

is a graph to each vertex of which

is assigned such that no two vertices are assigned the

same number. A graph with a distinguished vertex is called a rooted graph. 8- Local degree (Valency). For each vertex incident to is called the valency of in a graph , the number of edges or the local degree of by or . By are denoted at If the contributes 2 to the

graph in question is a multigraph, then a loop at vertex valency of . We denote the valency of and

, the maximum and minimum valencies in

respectively. A vertex with valency 0 is called an isolated vertex and a vertex with valency 1 is called an end-vertex (or a leaf ). The (non-decreasing)

valency sequence of
order).

is the set of valencies (arranged in non-decreasing

isolated vertex

end vertex val ency sequence: 0,1,1,2 ,3,3,4

9- If we add all valencies in a graph number of edges of

, the resulting number gives twice the

[5]

. Because, each edge has two end points which are

vertices of the graph, so when we add the valencies, we count each edge twice. So we have proved the following theorem. THEOREM. Let then be a graph with | | and

Corollary. Any graph

contains an even number of odd vertices.

Example. There exists no graph with the valency sequence 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6. 10- Regular graphs. If all the vertices of a graph is said to be a have the same valency , then

regular graph or a

valent graph. A
we have

valent graph vertices is

(all vertices isolated) is called a null-graph. A null-graph with dentoed by Example. . For a valent graph of order

O4

A 3- valent graph

Example. There exists no 11- In a digraph , invalency valency

valent graph of order 9. is the number of arcs in incident from incident to ; out-

is the number of arcs in

[6]

EXERCISES I.1 For any even integer graph. I.2 Let a show that there exists a regular simple

and be positive integers such that

is even. Show that there exists

regular graph of order of non-negative integers is valency

I.3 Show that a sequence

sequence of a (not necessarily simple) graph if and only if their sum is even. I.4 Show that there exists no simple graph whose valency sequence is 2,3,3,4,5,6,7 or 1,3,3,4,5,6,6,. I.5 If is valency sequence of some simple graph with then, the sum for
[In fact, in 96 Erds and Gallai has proved that this necessary condition is also sufficient ]

is even and in

I.6 For any graph show that I.7 Prove that any simple graph has at least two vertices with the same valency. I.8 Show that a simple graph contains a matching of size with for some positive integer ,

[7]

II GRAPH ISOMORPHISM
12- Isomorphism. Two graphs any Example. Given and .
a b
f

and

are said to be isomorphic (written such that for . if and only if

if there exists a 1-1 correspondence

r s

Then the mapping

a s

given by
p f p u

b r

c t d q

u e

t s

is an isomorphism.

[8]

Let

and

be graphs. If for an arbitrary labeling of in such a manner that

p 6

it is possible to find a , then and are

labeling of

isomorphic. For the graph in above example we have

a 1
b 2

f 6 c 3 d 5

q4

5 u

2 1s

so that

6 onto itself is

13- Automorphism group of a graph. An isomporphism of a graph called an automorphism of Example.

a a

Compositions of automorphisms are again autmorphisms. In fact, the set of automorphisms of is a group, which is called the automorphism

group of .
vertex of

is transitive if it contains transformations which map each to every other vertex.

[9]

14- Some necessary (but not sufficient) conditions for isomorphism of two graphs are as follows. Let a- | b- | and | | be two isomorphic graphs. Then, | | |, |, and are same.

c- Non-decreasing valency sequences of

The following example figures out that the converse statements are not true: Examples. For the following graphs | | | | and , | | | | ,

and valency sequence of both is

but

[10]

EXERCISES II.1 Determine all simple graphs of order 4 up to isomorphism. II.2 Determine all simple regular graphs of order 6 up to isomorphism. II.3 Let and be the plane graphs given below. Show that

G1

G2

G3

II.4 Let and Show that

be the plane graphs in the figure.

II.5 For the graphs and

and

in the figure, compute

II.6 Determine all simple graphs with valency sequence 1,2,2,3,3,3 up to isomorphism. II.7 Call two graphs edge isomorphic if there exists a bijection between the edge sets which preserves the adjacency of edges. Show that edge isomorphism does not imply isomorphism. II.8 A graph is said to be vertex transitive (or symmetric) if for any pair of vertices, there is an automorphism of the graph which maps one of these vertices to the other. Show that all simple graphs on five or less vertices are symmetric. Give an example of an asymmetric simple graph on six vertices. II.9 A graph is said to be edge transitive if for any pair of edges, there is an edge automorphism of the graph which maps one of these edges to the other. Find a) a graph which is edge transitive but not vertex transitive, b) a graph which is vertex transitive but not edge transitive.
[11]

III SPECIAL GRAPHS

15- Complete graph. A simple graph in which every pair of vertices are joined by an edge is called a complete graph. A complete graph of order valent graph and has Since among all simple graphs of order . is a .

edges. We denote this graph by ,

is the one which have the gon with all its

largest possible number of edges, there exists no simple graph with is usually represented in plane by an sides and diagonals being drawn.

K1

K2

K3

K4

K5

K6

16- Circuit graph. The graph edges are the sides of the words Thus for

whose vertices are vertices of an

gon and whose

gon is called the circuit graph of order . In other which is valent.

is the unique connected graph of order ,

C1

C2

C3

C4

C5

C6

17- Path graph. The path graph

on

vertices is defined for and

, the graph .

which is obtained by deleting an edge of the circuit graph

[12]

P2

P3

P4

P5

P6

18- Wheel graph. By adding a new vertex to the circuit graph to all other vertices, the wheel graph is obtained.

which is joined

W2

W3

W4

W5

W6

19- Bipartite graph. A bipartite graph is a graph whose vertex set is partitioned into two parts such that no two vertices in the same part are adjacent.

The complete bipartite

is a bipartite graph with vertex set partitioned

int two sets of sizes and , each vertex in one part is joined to all vertices in the other part. Some examples are as follows:

K1,1

K1,2

K2,2

K2,3

K 3,3

has

vertices and

edges. The graph

is called a star graph.

K1,8

[13]

20- A complete partite graph is obtained by partitioning the vertex set into sets and joining two vertices by an edge if and only if the are in different parts. If not all such vertices are joined, we obtain an partite graph.

A 3- partite graph

A complete 3-partite graph

If all the sets of vertices in a complete graph is denoted by .

partite graph have the same size , the

K3( 2)

Note that

has edges.

vertices an it is an

valent graph, hence it has

21- Polyhedral graphs. Any graph drawn on the sphere can be mapped to a (unique) graph in plane via stereographic projection and conversely. In particular each polyhedron corresponds to a graph. In particular the five regular polyhedral (platonic solids) can be thought as graphs with vertices being on a sphere.

Tetrahedron

Hexahedron

Octahedron

Dodecahedron

Icosahedron

Graphs which correspond to regular polyhedral are called the regular polyhedral graphs (or platonic graphs)

Tetrahedr on

Hexahedron

Octahedron

Dodecahedron

Icosahedron

[14]

22-

dimesional octahedron. It is seen that the octahedron is the graph

4 dimensional octahedron: K4 (2)

Octahedron: K3 (2)

The graph

is defined to be the

dimensional octahedron.

4 dimensional octahedron: K4 (2)

23-

dimensional cube. Note that the vertices of the hexahedron (cube) graph can be labelled with the binary triples 000,001,010,011,100,101,110,111 in such a manner that labels of two adjacent vertices differ only in one coordinate.
010

011 110 100 111 101

001

000

As a generalization, we define the the graph with

dimensional cube (or

cube) to be
tuples and two

vertices which are labeled with binary

vertices are adjacent if their labels differ only in one coordinate.

4-cube

EXERCISES III.1 Show that cube is bipartite. where and are cannot be bipartite.

III.2 Show that if is a simple graph with respectively the number of edges and vertices of then
[15]

IV OBTAINING NEW GRAPHS FROM A GIVEN GRAPH.

24- Complement of a graph. Given a simple graph graph with Example. not adjacent in . In other words, and

complement of

is the ,

and two vertices of which are adjacent if they are is such a graph that where is the order of

25- A graph which is isomorphic to its complement is called a self-complementary graph. Example.

Proposition. Order of a self-complementary graph is of the form for some positive integer Proof. Let have | | | | | | and be a self-complementary graph of order | | | | | | and since , that is | | to be an integer, either . But we get | Since |

or

we so | |

which gives |

cannot both be even so, for |

or

must be a multiple of 4. Corollary. The number of edges of a self-complementary graph of order graph of order is
[16]

26- The line graph of a given graph adjacent in Example.

a
b e G d c f

is a graph

with (

and

two vertices of which are adjacent if and only if the corresponding edges are

b a d

c f L( G)

27- Theorem. Let | (

be a graph of order )|

with

. Then,

Proof. Let

be a vertex of

. Then, each pair of edges in . Thus, for each vertex

incident to )

gives rise to an edge in edges in as (

of , there are (

Adding all these numbers we obtain the number of all edges in ) .

Example. We construct the complement of the line graph of 10 edges, has 10 vertices. Now, specify a an edge, say is incident tor other 3 edges. So, in each of its endpoints,

. Since of

has At

, the vertex

is adjacent to 6 of the other edges. Consequently, the neighbourhood of consists of 3 vertices in .

a a

K5 Neighborhood of a in L (K5 )

Neighborhood of a in L(K5 )

[17]

Repeating this for all the edges of

we obtain the following graph.

L(K5)

This graph is known as Petersen graph and can be re-drawn as follows:

Pet ersen G raph

28- Total graph. The total graph of a graph correspond to the edges and vertices of

is the graph

whose vertices

and two vertices of which are joine if are adjacent or incident.

and only if the corresponding vertices or edges of

L( G)

T( G )

29- Subgraph. If that

and

are graphs with , denoted

and A subgraph of with

we say

is a subgraph of

is called a spanning subgraph of Example.

Subgraphs

Graph

Spanning subraphs

[18]

A subgraph adjacent in

of G such that two vertices of H are a adjacent whenever they are is called an induced subgraph.

Example.

Grap h

In duced subgraph

If of

is an induced graph of induced by

with the vertex set

, we say that

is a subgraph

Example. Consider the graph in the previous example.

A subset W of the vertex set

Subgraph induced by W

30- Clique, triangle. A clique in a graph

is a complete subgraph of .

Cliqu e K4

A clique

is also called a triangle. . By removing an edge of of we

31- Edge and vertex deletion. Given a graph obtain the edge-deleted subgraph subgraph is obtained from incident to

. For a vertex

, the vertex deleted

by deleting the vertex

together with all edges

[19]

Example.
e v G G- e G- v

32- Although the definition does not allow a graph to have an empty vertex set, after some successive operations all the vertices of that case we say that the graph is empty. 33- Contraction. Removing an edge and the graph can be obtained from of a graph and identifying the vertices If is said to be might be removed. In

is called contracting the edge e. The resulting graph is denoted by by contracting some edges,

contractible to Example.
e G G\e

In general it is not true that and of a graph

for two distinct edges of If

34- Homeomorphic graphs. Replacing an edge by two new edges and , where is a new vertex is called inserting a vertex into an edge. If two graphs can be obtained from the same graph by inserting vertices into its edges, they are called homeomorphic. Example.

Homeomorphic graphs

[20]

EXERCISES IV.1 Show that for any simple graph .

IV.2 Show that line graph of the following graph is isomorphic with the complement of the graph.

IV.3 Show that IV.4 Show that

can never be an induced subgraph of a line graph. .

, for any graphs and of the graphs.] , isomorphism of line

[In fact, other than and graphs implies isomorphism

IV.5 Let be a simple graph with | number of triangles in Show that (

| )

and |

. Let

be the

[21]

V. BINARY GRAPH OPERATIONS

35- Intersection and union. If and union of defined by and and are graphs with and

intersection
, respectively, which are

are graphs

Example.
G

G H

G H

36- Disjoint union. If

and

are graphs with . The disjoint union of

their (disjoint) copies of is

union is the graph

and edge set denoted by Example. . .

(the same notation as the union) with vertex set

37- Join. The join (or sum) of and is obtained from the disjoint union of and by joining each vertex of with each vertex of . Example.
G

G+H

Example.
[22]

38- Cartesian Product. The Cartesian product setting and Example.

a c d

of

and if

is defined by and only if

and ] or and ]

(d,z) (d,y) (d,x) (c,z) (c,y)

(a,x)

(a,y) (a,z) (b,x) (b,y)

(c,x)

(b,z)

Gx H

Example. For any graph

and for any positive integer is denoted by and

Cartesian product of two copies of the same graph and for any positive integer 39- Composition. The composition of defined as ] ]. Example.
P2 P3

is defined to be the graph and and of and is the graph ] ] or

if and only if

P2[P3 ]
P2 P3 P3[P2 ]

Note that, in general

].
[23]

40- Conjuction. The conjuction of as and

P2 P3

and

of

and

is the graph

defined

if and only if

] and

].

P2 P3

EXERCISES V.1 Give examples of graphs a) b) and and and to demonstrate that is regular, is bipartite,

regular does not imply that bipartite does not imply that

V.2 For any two graphs a) b) c) ] ].

and , show that it is never true that

V.3 a) Show that the number of edges of the cartesian product of two graphs may be a prime number. b) Show that the number of edges of the conjuction of two graphs is necessarily an even number. V.4 Let | a) | b) | c) | d) | ] |
[24]

| | | |

,|

,| ,

and |

. Show that

VI. WALKS, TRAILS, PATHS AND CYCLES

41- Walk, trail, path. In a graph and to in are adjacent for a sequence of vertices such that from

is called a walk of length

A walk consisting of a single vertex is called a trivial walk. A

walk is called a trail if no edge is repeated and if no vertex is repeated it is called a path. If the length of a walk is even (resp. odd), it is called an even (resp. odd) walk.
c
b d a b d

c
b

c
d

a e f g h i g h e f i

a e f g h

a walk: abcfhgfcde

a trail: abcfhgfde

a path: abcfhge

42- Closed walk, tour, cycle. Let

be a walk in a graph . If

then the walk is said to be closed, otherwise it is called open. A closed trail is called a tour. Although in a path, repetition of vertices is not allowed, by letting exceptionally, we obtain a closed path which is also called a
c b
d

cycle (or a circuit).

c b
d

e f g h i

e f g h i

a closed trail: abcdebfga

a cycle: abfdehga

[25]

43- THEOREM. A graph is bipartite if and only if it contains no odd cycles. Sketch of proof. Suppose that Since Now assume that a set is bipartite with being the partition of . We may assume that , is even. and put it in are If two vertices in

the vertex set. Consider a cycle is bipartite, it follows that is even and length of . It is seen that

has no odd cycles. Pick an arbitrary vertex in a set

and put all vertices adjacent to

adjacent, together with , these vertices constitute a triangle which is an odd cycle. So, no two vertices in Y can be adjacent. Now, take all vertices in which are adjacent to some vertex in manner we obtain a partition and put then in Continuing in this is bipartite. ) of the vertex set so that

44- Distance, eccentricity, radius, diameter, girth. The distance between two vertices of a graph is the length of the shortest path joining these two vertices. If there is no such path, we write greatest distance measured at a vertex vertex . Radius vertices. A vertex with to mention this case. The is the eccentricity of the

of the graph is the minimum of all eccentricities of the is called a central vertex. Maximum of all of the graph. In other words, diameter is the

eccentricities is the diameter graph. Example.

maximum distance which can be measured between two vertices of the

: radius 1, diameter 2 ( radius 2, diameter 2 ( : radius 1, diameter 1 : radius ] diameter ]( ]( : radius diameter

[26]

Example. Consider the graph given in the following figure. Except the pairs and that distance between any pair of vertices is either 1 or 2. It follows and

. Then diameter is 3 and radius is 2.

c b
a d

e f g h
i

Diameter: 3 Radius 2

45- Girth, circumference. Lengths of a shortest cycle and a longest cycle in called respectively the girth and the circumference of . Example. : no cycles girth 4, circumference : girth 3, circumference : girth , circumference : girth 3, circumference Example. ( ( in (

are

Girth: 3
[27]

Circumference: 9

EXERCISES VI.1 Show that if there is a walk from to in is simple and , then has a path of length k. diameter 2 and then is simple with order VI.2 Show that if VI.3 Show that if to in , then there is also a path from

VI.4 Show that if an edge is in a closed trail of , then is in a cycle of VI.5 Show that if VI.6 Show that if is simple and [ ] , then is connected.

is connected and all vertices are even, then for any vertex is at most

the number of components of

VI.7 Show that any two longest paths in a connected graph have a vertex in common. VI.8 Prove triangle inequality for the distance function defined on graphs. That is, prove that any graph VI.9 Show that if is simple with diameter 2 and then VI.10 Show that if diameter of a graph is greater than 3, then diameter of the complement is less than 3. VI.11 Show that if an edge is in a closed trail of , then is in a cycle of VI.12 Show that if least VI.13 Show that a VI.14 Show that a regular graph of girth 5 has at least and vertices. regular graph of girth 5 and diameter 2 has exactly is simple and , then contains a cycle of length at for any three vertices in

vertices and find such a graph for

]

[In fact Hoffman and Sinleton, 1960 have shown that such a graph can exist only if

VI.15 Show that if VI.16 Show that if

contains a cycle. contains two edge-disjoint cycles.

[28]

VII. CONNECTEDNESS
46- Connected graph, component. In a graph , if there exists a path between any pair of vertices, is said to be connected. A graph which is not connected is disconnected. In a disconnected graph, each connected maximal subgraph (that is a subgraph which is not contained in any other connected subgraph) is called a component of . We denote the number of components by 47- THEOREM.If 48- THEOREM. If 49- Connectivity. A graph with connectivity of , denoted by which A graph least is is connected. for a graph , then , then is disconnected.

is connected. is said to be

connected if any pair

for

of vertices are connected by at least

pairwise independent paths. The

, is defined to be the largest value of

edge connected if every pair of vertices are connected by at

for which is edge and is called the edge-connectivity. From . , (each edge is a bridge) in : : : 2 ( ( be a connected graph with Then (

edge disjoint paths. The largest value of

connected is denoted by definitions it follows that Example. :

50- MENGERS THEOREM. Let a) b) is is removal of the removal of

connected if and only if

cannot be made disconnected by the cannot be made disconnected by

or fewer vertices, or fewer edges,

[29]

edge connected if and only if

51- Cutpoint, block. In a connected graph if removal of a vertex makes a disconnected graph, is called a cut point (or cut vertex). In general a vertex of a graph is called a cut point of if the number of components of is larger than the number of components of . If is connected and is disconnected, the set is called a separating set of vertices.

cutpoint

separating set of vertices (connectivity: 2)

A connected non-trivial graph is called non-separable. In other words a graph is non-separable if it has no cut points. A block of a graph is a maximal non-separable subgraph It follows fro Mengers Theore that connectivity of is the minimum number of vertices whose removal disconnects (or reduces to a single vertex). 52- Bridge. Similarly if for an edge the number of components of is larger than the number of components of is called a bridge of A cutset is a set of edges whose removal disconnects It follows fro Mengers Theorem that, edge connectivity of is the minimum number of edges whose removal disconnects .

bridge

cutset (edge connectivity: 3)

[30]

53- Strongly regular graph. A directed graph is called strongly regular if from each vertex there is a directed path to any other vertex. 54- THEOREM. If is a spanning subgraph of , then . .

55- THEOREM Whitneys Inequality . For any graph , 56- THEOREM. If 57- THEOREM. If 58- THEOREM. For any graph a) b) where { if if ] then , then with order .

EXERCISES VII.1 Show that if a connected graph complete graph. VII.2 Show that each graph has a bipartite subgraph | | | | such that has no separating sets, then it is a

VII.3 Show that an edge is a bridge if and only if it is not in any cycle. VII.4 Show that if an edge is a bridge and endpoints is a cutpoint. then at least one of the

[31]

VIII. EULERIAN TOURS , HAMILTONIAN CYCLES

59- Seven bridges of Knigsberg. The city of Knigsberg in Prussia (nowKaliningrad, Russia) was set on both sides of the Pregel River together with two large islands which were connected to each other and the other parts of the city. The people wondered if it is possible to walk around the

city by crossing each bridge exactly once. The walk need not start and end
at the same part.

Seven bridges of Knigsberg

Euler1 approached this problem by representing the areas of land separated by the river with vertices and represented the bridges with the edges joining the vertices. The corresponding figure is as follows

which defines the graph of Knigsbergs 7 bridges.

Leonhard Euler (1707-1782), Swiss mathematician. [32]

The problem now is to draw the above figure without retracing any line and without picking the pencil up off the paper. In terms of graphs, to find a trail which contains all the edges of the graph. All vertices in the above picture are odd. Pick any of these, say the one with degree 3. The first time we reach this vertex by an edge, we can leave by another edge. But the next time we arrive, there is no edge by which we can leave. So this vertex cannot be an intermediate vertex; it can only be the first or the last vertex of the walk. Thus, an intermediate vertex cannot be odd so it is impossible to draw the above graph in one pencil stroke without retracing. 60- Eulerian trail. A trail which contains all the edges of a graph is called an

Eulerian trail and a closed such trail is called an Eulerian tour. A graph which
admits an Eulerian tour is called and a graph which admits an Eulerian trail is said to be traceable. Above discussion shows that a for graph to be traceable, two of the vertices must be odd and all the vertices must be even. For the graph be Eulerian, all the vertices must be even. This necessary condition is also sufficient: THEOREM. A connected graph is Eulerian if and only if every vertex is even. Proof. Since the tour enters a vertex through some edge and leaves by another edge, necessity of the condition is obvious. To show the sufficiency, start with a vertex and begin making a tour. Keep going, never using the . If all the edges are used, proof is same edge twice, until it is not possible to go further. Since every vertex is even, the end point of the tour is completed. Otherwise each component of the subgraph consisting of unused edges is a graph whose all vertices are even. Apply the same procedure to a component to obtain a second tour. If this tour starts in a vertex of the first tour, the two tours can be combined to produce a new tour. Continuing in this manner one obtains a tour which includes all the edges.

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COROLLARY. A connected graph is traceable if and only if it has exactly two odd vertices. In this case end points of the trail are he odd vertices. THEOREM. A strongly regular connected digraph is Eulerian if and only if the in-valency of each vertex is equal to the out-valency. Example. Among all platonic graphs, only the octahedron is Eulerian. is Eulerian if and only if ( Example. Some Eulerian graphs. is odd ( and are both even

is Eulerian if and only if

Example. Some traceable graphs (odd vertices emphasized):

61- Hamiltonian2 graph. A path is called a Hamiltonian path if it contains all the vertices, and similarly, a Hamiltonian cycle is a cycle which contains all the vertices. A graph which admits a Hamiltonian cycle is said to be Hamiltonian. In the mid 19-th century, Hamilton tried to popularize the exercise of finding such a cycle in the dodecahedron. Below figure shows that dodecahedron is indeed a Hamiltonian graph.
2

Named after Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805-1865), Irish mathematician.

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62- We have seen that it can be easily checked whether a graph is Eulerian or not. Moreover it is easy to construct an Eulerian trail (or tour) if there exists any. In contrast to this, no trivial necessary and sufficient condition for a graph to be Hamiltonian is known; the problem of deciding whether an arbitrary graph admits a Hamiltonian cycle is hard3. We only have some necessity and some sufficiency conditions. Example. The graph given below is not Hamiltonian. To see this, notice that the graph is bipartite and has an odd number of vertices. But a bipartite graph does not admit an odd cycle, hence the given graph does not admit a cycle containing all the vertices.

In general if Hamiltonian. 63- THEOREM. If

is odd, then

(and of course any subgraph of it) is not

is Hamiltonian then, for every nonempty proper subset | |

Proof. Let subset So

3

be a Hamiltonian cycle in we have

. Then for every nonempty proper is a spanning subgraph of

of

| |. But

and theorem follows.

complete. [35]

In fact, the problem has been proved to be

Example. The following graph is bipartite and has an even number of vertices. Thus, we cannot immediately decide whether it is Hamiltonian or not. Now consider the set of white vertices Since | | , we can conclude that the graph is not Hamiltonian. and

Example. Petersen graph is not Hamiltonian but we cannot deduce this by using above theorem. 64- THEOREM (Dirac). If Hamiltonian. 65- THEOREM (Ore). If such that Hamiltonian. 66- Closure. For a given graph where and with vertices, define inductively a sequence and such that for some for . The is a simple graph with Then and let are vertices is is a simple graph with and then is

is Hamiltonian if and only if

of graphs such that

are nonadjacent vertices of

This procedure stops when no new edges can be added to In each step of the construction of edge graph deterministic. However, the final result for which is called closed.

result of this procedure is the closure of , and its is denoted by there are usually alternatives which is independent of the choices. A is to be added to the graph, and therefore the above procedure is not

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Example. A graph

and its closure

Cl( G)

67- THEOREM. A simple graph Hamiltonian. 68- COROLLARY. Let then

with

is Hamiltonian if and only if

is

be a graph of order

. If

is the complete graph,

is Hamiltonian.

EXERCISES

VIII.1 Show that if ,

has a Hamiltonian path then, for every proper subset | |

of

VIII.2. A mouse eats his way through a

cube of cheese by tunneling

through all of the 27 unit subcubes. If he starts at one corner and always moves on to an uneaten subcube, can he finish at the center of the cube?

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IX. PLANARITY
69- Planar and plane graphs. A graph can be represented in plane in arbitrarily many different ways. If it is possible to represent a graph in the plane such that no two edges intersect (except at vertices), we say that the graph is

planar (or embeddable in plane). Such a representation of a planar graph is

called a plane graph (or an embedding of the graph in plane). Example. Below figure shows three representations of in plane. The first

one is not an embedding whereas the others are embeddings (plane graphs).

Not an embedding

Embeddings

When we deal with planarity, parallel edges and loops are immaterial. In fact a multi-graph is planar if and only if its underlying simple graph is planar. As well, vertices of degree 1 or 2 do not have any effect on a graph for being planar or not. We can summarize these as PROPOSITION. A multi graph is planar if and only its underlying graph is planar. PROPOSITION. Let only if is planar. and be homeomorphic graphs. Then is planar if and

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70- Face of a planar graph Eulers Polyhedral Formula. A plane graph partitions the rest of the plane into a number of bounded regions together with an unbounded region. Each of these regions is called a face of the plane graph. The unbounded face is called the exterior face. The set and the number of faces of a plane graph will be denoted respectively by and (or ).
exterior face

faces

Example. Aplane graph on 7 vertices with 14 edges and 9 faces.

PROPOSITION. Let

be a plane graph, are disjoint; their boundaries can intersect

a) Two distinct faces of b)

only on edges and vertices. has a unique exterior face, c) A bridge belongs to the boundary of one face, d) Any edge which is not a bridge belongs to the boundary of two faces, e) Each cycle of f) surrounds at least one internal face, has no interior face if and only if it is acyclic (that is, has no cycles.)

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THEOREM. (Eulers Polyhedral Formula) Let with vertices, edges and faces. Then

be a connected plane graph

Proof We proceed by induction on , the number of faces. If connected if an only if it has edges. Then it follows that and let

the only

face is the unbounded face and the graph have no cycles. Such a graph is and the theorem holds. Now assume that the claim is true for all connected plane graphs with less than faces. Pick some edge connected with or Let and of and vertices, . vertices with edges and also let the induction hypothesis be a gaph with is a faces. By of G which is not a bridge. Then, edges and which implies that

be a connected planar graph on and be respectively, and

be two different plane representations of . Let the number of faces . Since each of these plane graphs have says that This observation means that, edges Eulers polyhedral theore which implies that

vertices and

no matter how a planar graph is embedded in the plane, the number of faces will always be the same. We call this common number of faces as the number of faces of the graph itself. COROLLARY Let components. Then be a graph with vertices, edges and faces and

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71- Dual of a Plane Graph. Given a plane graph , we define the dual graph be new plane graph as follows. Each vertex of and each edge of corresponds to an edge of corresponds to a face of . Two vertices of

to are

joined if and only if the corresponding faces are incident in . To each edge in the separating two faces in vertices in Example. there is an edge joining the corresponding

Each edge of an edge of

corresponds to

It should be noted that dual of any plane graph is connected even if the graph itself is disconnected. It follows that a disconnected plane graph cannot be isomorphic to the dual of the dual graph. On the other hand, it follows from the construction that dual of dual is isomorphic to the graph itself.

THEOREM. If

is a connected plane graph then

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Let

be a connected plane graph with parameters

and

be the dual and

with parameters formula implies that

. From the definition it follows that

Since both graphs are connected plane graphs Eulers polyhedral Isomporphic plane graphs do not necessarily have isomorphic duals. Example. The following graphs and are not isomorphic. and are isomorphic, but their duals

72- Maximal Planar Graphs Each face of a plane graph is an open connected subset of the plane and boundary of a face consists of edges and vertices of the graph. For any face ,
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the number of edges in the boundary is called the degree of the face, denoted by . A bridge in a face contributes 2 to the degree of that face. A face is said to be incident with the edges and faces in its boundary. Any edge is incident with exactly two edges unless it is a bridge. A bridge is incident with only one face. So, when the degrees of faces are added, each edge (even a bridge), is counted twice and consequentely, the sum of degrees of faces is twice the number of edges. Recaling that sum of local degrees of vertices is also twice the number of edges we have THEOREM. Let be a plane graph where let the number of edges be , then and are the set of vertices and

A simple planar graph is said to be maximal planar if it contains largest possible number of edges. In other words, if whenever any pair of nonadjacent vertices are joined by an edge, the resulting graph is non-planar, then we say that is maximal planar. In a similar manner, we say that a graph is minimal non-planar if it is non-planar and is planar for any edge of . If a face of a simple planar graph has degree larger than 3, we can draw a new edge in this face. This means that a maximal planar graph cannot have a face with degree 4 or more. Consequently, all the faces of a maximal planar graph are triangles. Such a graph is also called a triangulation.

A maximal plane graph on 7 vertices with 15 edges and 10 faces.

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THEOREM. Let be a simple planar connected graph on edges. If all the faces have degree 3, then Proof. If each face is a triangle, we get in COROLLARY 1. Let edges. Then COROLLARY 2. Let edges. Let we obtain be a simple planar connected graph on

vertices with

Substituting

vertices with

be a simple planar connected graph on Then,

vertices with

be the girth of

COROLLARY 3. Let be a simple planar connected graph on edges. If has no triangles, then THEOREM. For any simple planar graph , .

vertices with

Proof. Without loss of generality we may assume that . Then and since we get 6 Thus,

is connected and 6 , that is

73- Theorem of Kurtowski

THEOREM. For For , ,

and

are non-planar. and . By the first corollary to the theorem, . Since has no triangles, by

cannot be planar. 6 9 and corollary 3 we conclude that it is non-planar.

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Converse of above theorem is also true and this famous result is known as Kuratowskis theore THEOREM. (Kuratowski, 1930) A graph is planar if and only if it contains no subgraph homeomorphic to or .

Example. Any complete graph on 5 or more vertices is nonplanar. Example. In the below figure a subgraph of Petersen graph which is homeomorphic to is shown. Thus, Petersen graph is not planar.

In terms of contractions, a useful extension of Kuratowskis theore by Wagner:

is given

THEOREM. (Wagner, 1937) A graph is planar if and only if it contains no subgraph contractible to or . . Once Example. Considering the contractions along the emphasized edges in the below figure, it is seen that the Petersen graph is contractible to more we see that Petersen graph is nonplanar.

74- Crossing Number. In a representation of a graph

in plane, the total number in plane, the

of crossings of pairs of edges (other than vertices) is called the crossing number of the representation. Among all representations of

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minimum value of the crossing number is defined to be the crossing number of the graph. For a planar graph obviously

Example. Below representations of planar is a given graph.

and

show that these graphs have

a crossing number of 1. In a sense, a chromatic number measures how non-

Conjecture (Guy, 1972). Crossing number of the complete graph

is

The conjecture is known to be true for

For the larger values, the

conjectured crossing number is known to be an upper bound.

Conjecture (Zarankiewicz, 1954). Crossing number of the complete bipartite graph is ( )

It was shown that for the complete bipartite

and

the crossing .

numbers are exactly as given by Zarankiewiczs conjecture Kleti an 9 In the general case, the conjectured value is known to be an upper bound.

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In general, determining the crossing number of a graph is a hard problem. In fact it was shown that it is an NP-hard proble (Garey and Johnson, 1983). Two known bounds for the chromatic number are as follows: Theorem. For any graph a) b) on vertices with edges

EXERCISES IX.1 Show that if IX.2 Let IX.3 If , then is a

be a maximal simple planar graph (triangulation). Show that is a simple planar graph on is non-planar.

2-edge connected 3-regular planr graph. edges, then show that the complement of

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