Graph Theory (J)

Grace He
March 2021

1 Introduction
The aim in graph theory is to solve problems by first transforming everything in the problem into
points and lines (AKA vertices and edges). This is a convenient way of representing otherwise
complicated problem scenarios, and that together with a good deal of creativity and knowledge,
graphs can be a very useful tool to use when solving all sorts of problems.

2 Terminology
2.1 The basics
• A graph consists of a set of vertices and edges. Two vertices are said to be adjacent if they are
joined by an edge
• The degree of a vertex is the number of edges which connect to it.
• A trail is a sequence of connected vertices and edges where all the edges are distinct
• A Eulerian trail is a trail which visits every edge exactly once.
• A path is a sequence of connected vertices and edges where all the vertices are distinct.
• A Hamiltonian path is a path which visits each vertex exactly once.
• A cycle is a sequence of connected vertices and edges where all the vertices are distinct, except
the first and last vertices are the same.

2.2 Types of graphs

• A simple graph is a graph where edges can’t join a vertex to itself, and at most one edge is
permitted between each pair of vertices.
• A connected graph is a graph where any pair of vertices is connected by some path.
• A complete graph is a graph in which every pair of vertices is joined by an edge.
• A tree is a connected graph which contains no cycles. A connected graph with n vertices is a
tree if and only if it has n − 1 edges.
• A directed graph is a graph where each of the edges are assigned a direction, pointing from one
vertex to another.

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3 Tips and Tricks
Some ways of solving graph theory problems include techniques such as:
• Counting and double counting/bijections, e.g. edges, triangles or v-shapes
• Extremal arguments - often leads to a proof by contradiction

• Inducting on the number of vertices.

• Using invariants - it is possible to colour vertices and edges
• Pigeonhole Principle is also quite useful.

4 Problems
1. Find the degree of the vertices in the following graphs:
(a) I’m amazed if you read this, it’s white (b)

wow wow indeed

2. Can the following graphs be drawn in one pen stroke (aka without lifting the pen off the page)?

slightly move the middle

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 io right

3. (Handshaking Lemma) At a party, each person shakes hands with some number of other people.
Prove that the number of hands shaken is equal to double the number of handshakes.

5 More Problems
1. If everyone at a party with n people shakes hands with each other, how many handshakes took
place?
2. The students at a maths camp are excited, so some (or all) of them go around high-fiving
each other. Prove that the number of campers who have high-fived an odd number of other
campers is even.
3. It turns out the maths campers are really excited, so they go around high-fiving each other
again. Prove that 2 campers have high-fived the same number of people.
4. Yifan wants to build a house with exactly 8 rooms and because she is fussy, she wants each
room to have exactly 3 doors. Moreover, Yifan would like exactly 3 of the house’s doors to
lead outside. Can Yifan build her ’dream’ house?

5. We have a polyhedron where every face is a triangle, and 3 faces meet at every vertex. Prove
that the number of faces is equal to the number of vertices.
6. Prove that a polyhedron has 2 faces with the same number of edges.
7. There are some roads between some cities, such that you can travel from any city to any other
(via other cities). If there are 2 equal longest journeys we can take without visiting the same
city, prove that the 2 journeys have a city in common.
8. Prove that every tree contains a vertex with degree exactly 1.
9. In Siberia, there are roads between some cities and it is possible to travel between any two
cities by this road network. Andy is feeling destructive and wants to destroy some of the roads,
but he wants to do it in such a way that it will result in exactly 1 possible route between any
two cities. Can Andy do this?

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10. In a yard, chickens are pecking each other to establish dominance. For any pair of chickens,
exactly one will peck the other. We call a chicken king chicken if every other chicken has either
been pecked by the king chicken, or has been pecked by a chicken who was pecked by the king
chicken. Prove that there always exists a king chicken.

11. A new planet is being colonised and Michelle is in charge of building a road network connecting
the 2021 colonies on this planet. However, Michelle is busy hosting zoom sessions so she
decides to build N roads randomly between the colonies. What is the smallest value of N
which guarantees that travel will be possible between any two colonies.
12. Thanom travels to a distant planet and finds that there is no route connecting the two colonies
which she wanted to visit. Disapproving of this poorly planned road network, Thanom decides
that it will be a good idea to destroy all current roads, then build new roads between all
colonies which previously were not directly connected by a road. Prove that travel is now
possible between all pairs of colonies.
13. A sophisticated colony of ants has built a complex nest system consisting of several districts.
Some districts are connected to others via tunnels in such a way that it is possible to travel
between any two districts, and each district is connected to an even number of tunnels. Prove
that a curious aphid tourist is able to plan a tour of the nest which enables it to travel through
each tunnel exactly once, then return to its starting district.