Graph Theory, March 29, 2011; Quiz 6 (3 problems; solutions) Problem 1 Describe a generic construction of a non-Hamiltonian graph whose

minimal vertex degree is n1 (n > 4). Explain the answer. 2 Solution. Consider the complete bipartite graph Ka,b where a = n1 and b = n a. Clearly, 2 the smallest vertex degree is n1 . However, the graph is not Hamiltonian, since after removing 2 a vertices of degree n a, the graph is split into b isolated vertices. Since, b > a (easy to check), we see that the necessary condition of hamiltonicity is not satised. Problem 2 Prove that no 4 n chess-board has a knight tour which visits every square once and returns to the starting square.

Hint: A knight-move consists of two moves horizontally (resp. vertically) followed by one move vertically (resp. horizontally). Thus, for every knight-move, the color of the square changes. Solution. Let G be the knight-graph of the 4 n-chess-board dened as follows: the chessboards squares are the vertices; two vertices form an edge, if a knight can move from one square to the other. Remove all n black squares from the two middle rows of the chess-board. The result is that the n white squares in the remaining two rows become isolated as vertices in the graph. This yields n connected components. The remaining 4n 2n = 2n vertices form at least one more component. Thus, again, the necessary condition of hamiltonicity is not satised. Thus, the graph is not Hamiltonian. Problem 3 What is the minimal number of edges in a graph with 2p vertices such that for any two vertices x and y, deg(x) + deg(y) 2p? Explain the answer. Solution. Let x be a vertex of the smallest degree a. Then, for any other vertex y, deg(y) 2p a a. Thus, a p and for the number m edges in the graph, 1 1 m ((2p a)(2p 1) + a) = (4p2 2pa 2p + 2a) = 2p2 p (p 1)a. 2 2 Therefore the minimum is achieved when a is as large as possible, which is a = p. This bound is indeed achieved, if we consider the complete bipartite graph on 2p vertices, where each partition contains exactly p vertices. The answer is m = p2 is the smallestr number of edges. 1