Lecture 1

Jesrael B. Palco, PhD

School of Graduate Studies

Mindanao State University at Naawan
1. Simple Graphs
1.1 Basic Concepts

Definition 1.1.1

A graph G = (V (G), E(G)) is a set of ordered pairs with

V (G) 6= ∅ called vertex set and (possibly empty) E(G)
called the edge set of G. The elements of V (G) are called
vertices and elements of E(G) are called edges. If the pair
[u, v] = e ∈ E(G), then we say that e is an edge and that
e is said to join u and v with u, v ∈ V (G). That is, e = uv
(for convenience) and that u and v are adjacent vertices
while u and e are incident as v and e are. Further, |V (G)|
is the order of G and |E(G)| is the size of G.
1. Simple Graphs
1.1 Basic Concepts

Example 1.1.2
Consider the graph G with V (G) = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and
E(G) = {[1, 2], [3, 2], [1, 4], [3, 5]}. The graph G is as follows

G: 5 2

4 3

G is of order 5 and size 4.

1. Simple Graphs
1.1 Basic Concepts

Definition 1.1.3

The degree, deg(v) of a vertex v ∈ V (G) is the number of

incident edges to v. Adjacent vertices are also called
neighbors and the set of neighbors of v ∈ V (G) is denoted
by N (v). That is,

N (v) = {u : uv ∈ E(G)}.

Thus, deg(v) = |N (v)|. If deg(v) = 0, then v is an isolated

vertex.
1. Simple Graphs
1.1 Basic Concepts

Example 1.1.4
Consider the graph G in Example 1.1.2, if
E(G) = {12, 13, 25, 35, 32}, then 4 ∈ V (G) is an isolated
vertex.

G: 5 2

4 3
1. Simple Graphs
1.2 Varieties in Graphs

Definition 1.2.1

A loop is an edge joining a vertex to itself. Multiple edges

occur in a graph if two distinct vertices u, v ∈ V (G) are
joined by an edge more than once. A nonsimple graph
allows either a loop or multiple edges or both. A graph
with both a loop and multiple edges is also known as the
pseudograph. A multigraph is also a term used for graphs
with multiple edges.
1. Simple Graphs
1.2 Varieties in Graphs

Example 1.2.2
The graph below is a pseudograph.

a b
G:
c

|V (G)| = 3, |E(G)| = 5
E(G) = {[a, a] , [a, b] , [b, c] , [a, c] , [c, b]}
1. Simple Graphs
1.2 Varieties in Graphs

Definition 1.2.3

A simple graph is an undirected graph without loops and

multiple edges although edge crossings are allowed but the
intersection of the edges are not considered as vertices.

Remark 1.2.4
A multigraph is a graph. A simple graph is a multigraph
but the converse is not always true.
1. Simple Graphs
1.3 u-v Geodesics

Definition 1.3.1

A walk in a graph G is an alternating sequence

W : v0 , e1 , v1 , e2 , . . . , vn−1 , en , vn with n + 1 vertices and n
edges where the sequence starts and ends with vertices such
that ei = vn−1 vi is an edge of G with 1 ≤ i ≤ n. We can
also call W as v0 − vn walk of length n. A walk is a path if
all its vertices (thus necessarily all its edges) are distinct.
The walk is closed if v0 = vn . A closed walk is a cycle if
its n vertices are distinct for n ≥ 3.

Remark 1.3.2
We may denote W as W = [v0 , v1 , v2 , . . . , vn−1 , vn ].
1. Simple Graphs
1.3 u-v Geodesics

Example 1.3.3
Consider the graph G below
a

c
G: b d

W1 = [a, b, d, c]- path W4 = [a, b, c, b, d]

W2 = [a, c, b, a]- cycle W5 = [a, b, d, c, a]- cycle
W3 = [c, b, d, c, a]
1. Simple Graphs
1.3 u-v Geodesics

Remark 1.3.4
A path and a cycle of order n are denoted by Pn and Cn ,
respectively.

Definition 1.3.5

A graph G is called complete if every pair of its vertices

are adjacent. A complete graph of order n is denoted by Kn .
The graph K1 is known as the trivial graph. A graph G of
order n with |E(G)| = 0 is called a totally disconnected
graph and denoted by Kn .
1. Simple Graphs
1.3 u-v Geodesics

The complete graph K9 of order 9.

a2 a3

a1 a4
K9 :
a9 a5

a8 a6

a7
1. Simple Graphs
1.3 u-v Geodesics

Definition 1.3.6

A graph G is called bipartite if the vertex set V (G) can be

partitioned into two subsets V1 and V2 called partite sets
of V (G) such that any edge in G joins a vertex in V1 with
a vertex in V2 . If G is bipartite such that G contains every
edge incident with any pair of vertices in V1 and V2 , then
G is called complete bipartite. In this case, G = Km,n ,
where |V1 | = m and |V2 | = n. The complete bipartite K1,n
is known to be the star of order n + 1.
1. Simple Graphs
1.3 u-v Geodesics

The complete bipartite graph K4,5 .

a1 a2 a3 a4

K4,5 :

b1 b2 b3 b4 b5

The sets V1 = {ai : i = 1, 2, 3, 4} and

V2 = {bj : j = 1, 2, . . . , 5} with |V1 | = 4 and |V2 | = 5 are the
partite sets of the complete bipartite graph K4,5 .
1. Simple Graphs
1.3 u-v Geodesics

Exercises 1.3.7
1 Construct a complete graph of order 1 ≤ n ≤ 6.
2 Construct all possible bipartite graphs of order 4.
3 Construct K4,5 and K3,5 .