Topics in Algebraic Graph Theory
The rapidly expanding area of algebraic graph theory uses two different branches of algebra to explore various aspects of graph theory: linear algebra (for spectral theory) and group theory (for studying graph symmetry). These areas have links with other areas of mathematics, such as logic and harmonic analysis, and are increasingly being used in such areas as computer networks where symmetry is an important feature. Other books cover portions of this material, but this book is unusual in covering both of these aspects and there are no other books with such a wide scope. This book contains ten expository chapters written by acknowledged international experts in the field. Their well-written contributions have been carefully edited to enhance readability and to standardize the chapter structure, terminology and notation throughout the book. To help the reader, there is an extensive introductory chapter that covers the basic background material in graph theory, linear algebra and group theory. Each chapter concludes with an extensive list of references.
LOWELL W. BEINEKE is Schrey Professor of Mathematics at Indiana University- Purdue University Fort Wayne. His graph theory interests include topological graph theory, line graphs, tournaments, decompositions and vulnerability. With Robin J. Wilson he has edited Selected Topics in Graph Theory (3 volumes), Applications of Graph Theory and Graph Connections.Heiscurrently the Editor of the College Mathematics Journal.
ROBIN J. WILSON is Head of the Pure Mathematics Department at the Open University and Gresham Professor of Geometry, London. He has written and edited many books on graph theory and combinatorics and on the history of mathematics, including Introduction to Graph Theory and Four Colours Suffice. His interests include graph coloring, spectral graph theory and the history of graph theory and combinatorics.
PETER J. CAMERON, internationally recognized for his substantial contributions to the area, served as academic consultant for this volume. He is a professor of mathematics at Queen Mary, University of London, and his mathematical interests are in permutation groups and their operands (logical, algebraic and combinatorial).
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MATHEMATICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS
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50 F. Borceux Handbook of Categorical Algebra I 51 F. Borceux Handbook of Categorical Algebra II 52 F. Borceux Handbook of Categorical Algebra III 53 V. F. Kolchin Random Graphs 54 A. Katok and B. Hasselblatt Introduction to the Modern Theory of Dynamical Systems 55 V. N. Sachkov Combinatorial Methods in Discrete Mathematics 56 V. N. Sachkov Probabilistic Methods in Discrete Mathematics 57 P. M. Cohn Skew Fields 58 R. Gardner Geometric Tomography 59 G. A. Baker Jr. and P. Graves-Morris Pade Approximants, 2ed 60 J. Krajicek Bounded Arithmetic, Propositional Logic and Complexity Theory 61 H. Groemer Geometric Applications of Fourier Series and Spherical Harmonics 62 H. O. Fattorini Infinite Dimensional Optimization and Control Theory 63 A. C. Thompson Minkowski Geometry 64 R. B. Bapat and T. E. S. Raghavan Nonnegative Matrices with Applications 65 K. Engel Sperner Theory 66 D. Cvetkovic, P. Rowlinson, and S. Simic Eigenspaces of Graphs 67 F. Bergeron, G. Labelle, and P. Leroux Combinatorial Species and Tree-Like Structures 68 R. Goodman and N. Wallach Representations and Invariants of the Classical Groups 69 T. Beth, D. Jungnickel, and H. Lenz Design Theory I, 2ed 70 A. Pietsch and J. Wenzel Orthonormal Systems for Banach Space Geometry 71 G. E. Andrews, R. Askey, and R. Roy Special Functions 72 R. Ticciati Quantum Field Theory for Mathematicians 73 M. Stern Semimodular Lattices 74 I. Lasiecka and R. Triggiani Control Theory for Partial Differential Equations I 75 I. Lasiecka and R. Triggiani Control Theory for Partial Differential Equations II 76 A. A. Ivanov Geometry of Sporadic Groups I 77 A. Schinzel Polynomials with Special Regard to Reducibility 78 H. Lenz, T. Beth, and D. Jungnickel Design Theory II, 2ed 79 T. Palmer Banach Algebras and the General Theory of ∗-Algebras II 80 O. Stormark Lie’s Structural Approach to PDE Systems 81 C. F. Dunkl and Y. Xu Orthogonal Polynomials of Several Variables 82 J. P. Mayberry The Foundations of Mathematics in the Theory of Sets 83 C. Foias et al. Navier–Stokes Equations and Turbulence 84 B. Polster and G. Steinke Geometries on Surfaces 85 R. B. Paris and D. Karninski Asymptotics and Mellin–Barnes Integrals 86 R. McEliece The Theory of Information and Coding, 2ed 87 B. Magurn Algebraic Introduction to K-Theory 88 T. Mora Systems of Polynomial Equations I 89 K. Bichteler Stochastic Integration with Jumps 90 M. Lothaire Algebraic Combinatorics on Words 91 A. A. Ivanov and S. V. Shpectorov Geometry of Sporadic Groups II 92 P. McMullen and E. Schulte Abstract Regular Polytopes 93 G. Gierz et al. Continuous Lattices and Domains 94 S. Finch Mathematical Constants 95 Y. Jabri The Mountain Pass Theorem 96 G. Gasper, and M. Rahman Basic Hypergeometric Series, 2ed 97 M. C. Pedicchio and W. Tholen Categorical Foundations 99 T. Mora Solving Polynomial Equations Systems II
iii From the Illustrated London News, 15 September 1883 Topics in Algebraic Graph Theory
Edited by
LOWELL W. BEINEKE Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne
ROBIN J. WILSON The Open University
Academic Consultant
PETER J. CAMERON Queen Mary, University of London
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Topics in algebraic graph theory / edited by Lowell W. Beineke and Robin J. Wilson, academic consultant Peter J. Cameron. p. cm. – (Encyclopedia of mathematics and its applications) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-521-80197-4 1. Graph theory. I. Beineke, Lowell W. II. Wilson, Robin J. III. Series. QA166.T64 2004 515’.5 – dc22 2004045915
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Preface page xi Foreword by Peter J. Cameron xiii
Introduction 1 LOWELL BEINEKE, ROBIN WILSON AND PETER CAMERON 1. Graph theory 1 2. Linear algebra 10 3. Group theory 19
1 Eigenvalues of graphs 30 MICHAEL DOOB 1. Introduction 30 2. Some examples 31 3. A little matrix theory 33 4. Eigenvalues and walks 34 5. Eigenvalues and labellings of graphs 39 6. Lower bounds for the eigenvalues 43 7. Upper bounds for the eigenvalues 47 8. Other matrices related to graphs 50 9. Cospectral graphs 51
2 Graphs and matrices 56 RICHARD A. BRUALDI and BRYAN L. SHADER 1. Introduction 56 2. Some classical theorems 58 3. Digraphs 61 4. Biclique partitions of graphs 67
vii viii Contents
5. Bipartite graphs 69 6. Permanents 72 7. Converting the permanent into the determinant 75 8. Chordal graphs and perfect Gaussian elimination 79 9. Ranking players in tournaments 82
3 Spectral graph theory 88 DRAGOSCVˇ ETKOVIC´ and PETER ROWLINSON 1. Introduction 88 2. Angles 89 3. Star sets and star partitions 94 4. Star complements 96 5. Exceptional graphs 99 6. Reconstructing the characteristic polynomial 101 7. Non-complete extended p-sums of graphs 104 8. Integral graphs 107
4 Graph Laplacians 113 BOJAN MOHAR 1. Introduction 113 2. The Laplacian of a graph 115 3. Laplace eigenvalues 117 4. Eigenvalues and vertex partitions of graphs 122 5. The max-cut problem and semi-definite programming 125 6. Isoperimetric inequalities 127 7. The travelling salesman problem 129 8. Random walks on graphs 130
5Automorphisms of graphs 137 PETER J. CAMERON 1. Graph automorphisms 137 2. Algorithmic aspects 139 3. Automorphisms of typical graphs 140 4. Permutation groups 141 5. Abstract groups 142 6. Cayley graphs 144 7. Vertex-transitive graphs 145 Contents ix
8. Higher symmetry 148 9. Infinite graphs 149 10. Graph homomorphisms 152
9 Cayley graphs 156 BRIAN ALSPACH 1. Introduction 156 2. Recognition 157 3. Special examples 159 4. Prevalence 160 5. Isomorphism 164 6. Enumeration 167 7. Automorphisms 168 8. Subgraphs 169 9. Hamiltonicity 171 10. Factorization 173 11. Embeddings 174 12. Applications 175
7 Finite symmetric graphs 179 CHERYL E. PRAEGER 1. Introduction 179 2. s-arc transitive graphs 181 3. Group-theoretic constructions 182 4. Quotient graphs and primitivity 186 5. Distance-transitive graphs 187 6. Local characterizations 189 7. Normal quotients 192 8. Finding automorphism groups 196 9. A geometric approach 198 10. Related families of graphs 199
8 Strongly regular graphs 203 PETER J. CAMERON 1. An example 203 2. Regularity conditions 205 3. Parameter conditions 206 4. Geometric graphs 208 5. Eigenvalues and their geometry 212 x Contents
6. Rank 3 graphs 214 7. Related classes of graphs 217
9 Distance-transitive graphs 222 ARJEH M. COHEN 1. Introduction 222 2. Distance-transitivity 223 3. Graphs from groups 226 4. Combinatorial properties 230 5. Imprimitivity 233 6. Bounds 235 7. Finite simple groups 236 8. The first step 238 9. The affine case 240 10. The simple socle case 245
10 Computing with graphs and groups 250 LEONARD H. SOICHER 1. Introduction 250 2. Permutation group algorithms 251 3. Storing and accessing a G-graph 253 4. Constructing G-graphs 254 5. G-breadth-first search in a G-graph 255 6. Automorphism groups and graph isomorphism 257 7. Computing with vertex-transitive graphs 259 8. Coset enumeration 261 9. Coset enumeration for symmetric graphs 262
Notes on contributors 267 Index of definitions 271 Preface
The field of graph theory has undergone tremendous growth during the past century. As recently as fifty years ago, the graph theory community had few members and most were in Europe and North America; today there are hundreds of graph theorists and they span the globe. By the mid-1970s, the field had reached the point where we perceived the need for a collection of surveys of the areas of graph theory: the result was our three-volume series Selected Topics in Graph Theory, comprising articles written by distinguished experts in a common style. During the past quarter-century, the transformation of the subject has continued, with individual areas (such as algebraic graph theory) expanding to the point of having important sub-branches themselves. This inspired us to conceive of a new series of books, each a collection of articles within a particular area written by experts within that area. This is the first of these books. One innovative feature of this volume is the engagement of an academic consul- tant (Peter Cameron) to advise us on topics to be included and authors to be invited. We believe that this has been successful, the result being chapters covering the full range of areas within algebraic graph theory written by authors from around the world. Another important feature is that we have imposed uniform terminology and notation throughout, as far as possible, in the belief that this will aid readers in going from one chapter to another. For a similar reason we have not attempted to remove a small amount of overlap between the various chapters. We hope that these features will make the book easier to use in an advanced course or seminar. We heartily thank the authors for cooperating on this, even though it sometimes required their abandoning some of their favourite conven- tions – for example, most graph theorists use G to denote a graph, whereas for algebraic graph theorists G usually denotes a group: the graph theorists won on this one. We also asked our contributors to undergo the ordeal of having their early versions subjected to detailed critical reading. We believe that the final product is thereby significantly better than it might otherwise have been, simply a collection
xi xii Preface of individually authored chapters. We want to express our sincere appreciation to all of our contributors for their cooperation. We extend special thanks to Peter Cameron for his willingness to share his expertise as academic consultant – his advice has been invaluable. We are also grateful to Cambridge University Press for publishing this work; in particular, we thank Roger Astley for his advice, support and cooperation. Finally, we extend our appreciation to several universities for the different ways in which they have assisted with this endeavour: Purdue University awarded the first editor (LWB) sabbatical leave during which he was a guest of the Mathematical Institute at Oxford University, while the second editor (RJW) has had the cooperation of the Open University and Keble College, Oxford.
LWB, RJW February 2004 Foreword
The topic of this volume is the connection between graph theory and algebra – more specifically, how algebra helps in the study of graphs, and how graph theory repays the debt. There are two main connections between graph theory and algebra. These arise from two algebraic objects associated with a graph: its adjacency matrix and its automorphism group.Ofcourse, they are related: the automorphism group can be regarded as the collection of all permutation matrices that commute with the adjacency matrix. Nevertheless, the two connections involve different algebraic techniques – linear algebra and group theory, respectively – and have a somewhat different flavour. The introductory chapter presents the basic background material on graphs, linear algebra and groups that is used in the rest of the book. Turning first to linear algebra, the first four chapters survey different aspects of the interaction between graphs and matrices. The adjacency matrix of a graph is a real symmetric matrix, and hence is diagonalizable: the eigenvalues of this matrix are closely connected with a variety of graph parameters. For directed graphs, the adjacency matrix is not necessarily diagonalizable, and things are much less straightforward. Moreover, in both cases the adjacency matrix is non-negative, and so the theory of such matrices developed by Perron and Frobenius can be applied. The first chapter describes the basic results, including connections with counting closed walks and with clique and colouring problems, while the second gives a number of rather surprising applications. The third chapter looks in much more detail at the geometry of the eigenvectors of the adjacency matrix and surveys the theory of graph angles and star partitions which has been developed largely by the authors of this chapter.
xiii xiv Foreword
For some questions about graphs, especially those connected with random walks and of approximating manifolds by graphs, a different matrix is more appropriate: this is the Laplacian matrix, the matrix D − A, where A is the adjacency matrix and D is the diagonal matrix whose diagonal entries are the vertex-degrees. This matrix is positive semi-definite with a zero eigenvalue; the smallest non-zero eigenvalue gives crucial information about the behaviour of a random walk on the graph. This is discussed in the fourth chapter. In Chapter 5 the focus switches to automorphisms of graphs. Almost all graphs admit no non-trivial automorphisms; but often it is the case that graphs with sym- metry have other important properties. Such graphs as the Petersen graph and the skeletons of regular polyhedra bear witness to this. Chapter 5 presents the basics about automorphisms. Typically we find that the more symmetry we require of a graph, the more group theory contributes to the analysis of the graph. A first level of symmetry we might require is vertex-transitivity, the property that the automorphism group acts transitively on vertices. Among such graphs, the most important and widely studied are the Cayley graphs.ACayley graph of a group has the group elements as vertices: the graph is obtained by specifying the neighbours of the identity element and obtaining the remaining edges by translation. Cayley graphs and their properties are described in Chapter 6. A stronger symmetry requirement is that the automorphism group acts transitively on the set of adjacent pairs of vertices. Such graphs are called symmetric, and they form the subject of Chapter 7. The two algebraic strands, linear algebra and group theory, meet in the study of graphs satisfying ‘higher regularity conditions’: distance-regular graphs (and their special case, strongly regular graphs) and distance-transitive graphs. A graph is strongly regular if it is regular and if the number of common neighbours of two vertices v and w depends only on whether v and w are adjacent. It turns out that a regular connected graph that is not complete is strongly regular if and only if its adjacency matrix has just three distinct eigenvalues (the smallest possible number). Furthermore, if the automorphism group of a graph acts transitively on the sets of ordered pairs of vertices and of non-adjacent vertices, then the graph is strongly regular. Such graphs are the subject of Chapter 8. This last condition leads naturally to the definition of a distance-transitive graph, one where the automorphism group acts transitively on the set of ordered pairs of vertices at each fixed distance up to the diameter of the graph. This is a very strong symmetry condition, and the goal of researchers in the area is the determination of all such graphs. The current state of this research programme is described in Chapter 9. The arguments here are very group-theoretic, using (for example) the classification of the finite simple groups. Foreword xv
If a graph is symmetric, then it is possible to exploit the symmetry to simplify searching for structures within the graph. Moreover, computational tools in group theory have reached a high level of sophistication. The final chapter discusses these matters with a detailed look at how such computations can be done.
PETER J. CAMERON
Introduction LOWELL BEINEKE, ROBIN WILSON and PETER CAMERON
1. Graph theory 2. Linear algebra 3. Group theory References
This introductory chapter is divided into three parts. The first presents the basic ideas of graph theory. The second concerns linear algebra (for Chapters 1–4), while the third concerns group theory (for Chapters 5–10).
1. Graph theory
This section presents the basic definitions, terminology and notations of graph theory, along with some fundamental results. Further information can be found in the many standard books on the subject – for example, West [4] or (for a simpler treatment) Wilson [5].
Graphs A graph G is a pair of sets (V, E), where V is a finite non-empty set of elements called vertices, and E is a set of unordered pairs of distinct vertices called edges. The sets V and E are the vertex-set and the edge-set of G, and are often denoted by V (G) and E(G), respectively. An example of a graph is shown in Fig. 1. The number of vertices in a graph is the order of the graph; usually it is denoted by n and the number of edges by m. Standard notation for the vertex-set is V = {v1,v2,...,vn} and for the edge-set is E ={e1, e2,...,em }. Arbitrary vertices are frequently represented by u,v,w,...and edges by e, f,....
1 2 Lowell Beineke, Robin Wilson and Peter Cameron
υ υ 2 3 = {υ υ υ υ υ } V 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 G: E = {υ υ , υ υ , υ υ , υ υ , υ υ , υ υ } υ υ υ 1 2 1 4 2 3 2 4 3 4 4 5 1 4 5 Fig. 1.
Variations of graphs By definition, our graphs are simple, meaning that two vertices are connected by at most one edge. If several edges, called multiple edges, are allowed between two vertices, we have a multigraph. Sometimes, loops – edges joining vertices to themselves – are also permitted. In a weighted graph, the edges are assigned numerical values called weights. Finally, if the vertex-set is allowed to be infinite, then G is an infinite graph. Perhaps the most important variation is that of directed graphs; these are dis- cussed at the end of this section.
Adjacency and degrees For convenience, the edge {v,w} is commonly written as vw.Wesay that this edge joins v and w and that it is incident with v and w.Inthis case, v and w are adjacent vertices,orneighbours. The set of neighbours of a vertex v is its neighbourhood N(v). Two edges are adjacent edges if they have a vertex in common. The number of neighbours of a vertex v is called its degree, denoted by deg v. Observe that the sum of the degrees in a graph is twice the number of edges. If all the degrees of G are equal, then G is regular,orisk-regular if that common degree is k. The maximum degree in a graph is often denoted by .
Walks
A walk in a graph is a sequence of vertices and edges v0, e1,v1,...,ek ,vk ,in which each edge ei = vi−1vi . This walk goes from v0 to vk or connects v0 and vk , and is called a v0-vk walk. It is frequently shortened to v0v1 ...vk , since the edges may be inferred from this. Its length is k, the number of occurrences of edges. If vk = v0, the walk is closed. Some important types of walk are the following: r a path is a walk in which no vertex is repeated; r a trail is a walk in which no edge is repeated; r a cycle is a non-trivial closed trail in which no vertex is repeated. Introduction 3
Distance In a connected graph, the distance between two vertices v and w is the minimum length of a path from v to w, and is denoted by d(v,w). It is easy to see that distance satisfies the properties of a metric: for all vertices u,vand w, r d(v,w) ≥ 0, with equality if and only if v = w; r d(v,w) = d(w, v); r d(u,w) ≤ d(u,v) + d(v,w)
The diameter of a graph G is the maximum distance between two vertices of G.IfG has cycles, the girth of G is the length of a shortest cycle, and the circumference is the length of a longest cycle.
Subgraphs If G and H are graphs with V (H) ⊆ V (G) and E(H) ⊆ E(G), then H is a sub- graph of G. If, moreover, V (H) = V (G), then H is a spanning subgraph. The subgraph induced by a non-empty set S of vertices in G is that subgraph H with vertex-set S whose edge-set consists of those edges of G that join two vertices in S;itisdenoted by S or G[S]. A subgraph H of G is induced if H =V (H).In Fig. 2, H1 is a spanning subgraph of G, and H2 is an induced subgraph. Given a graph G, the deletion of a vertex v results in the subgraph obtained by excluding v and all edges incident with it. It is denoted by G − v and is the subgraph induced by V −{v}. More generally, if S ⊂ V, we write G − S for the graph obtained from G by deleting all of the vertices of S; that is, G − S =V − S. The deletion of an edge e results in the subgraph G − e obtained by excluding e from E; for F ⊆ E, G − F denotes the spanning subgraph with edge-set E − F.
Connectedness and connectivity A graph G is connected if there is a path connecting each pair of vertices. A (connected) component of G is a maximal connected subgraph of G. Avertex v of a graph G is a cut-vertex if G − v has more components than G. A connected graph with no cut-vertices is 2-connected or non-separable. The following statements are equivalent for a graph G with at least three vertices:
G: H1: H2:
graph spanning subgraph induced subgraph Fig. 2. 4 Lowell Beineke, Robin Wilson and Peter Cameron r G is non-separable; r every pair of vertices lie on a cycle; r every vertex and edge lie on a cycle; r every pair of edges lie on a cycle; r for any three vertices u,v, and w, there is a v-w path containing u; r for any three vertices u,v, and w, there is a v-w path not containing u; r for any two vertices v and w and any edge e, there is a v-w path containing e. More generally, a graph G is k-connected if there is no set S with fewer than k vertices for which G − S is a connected non-trivial graph. Menger characterized such graphs.
Menger’s theorem Agraph G is k-connected if and only if, for each pair of vertices v and w, there is a set of k v-w paths that pairwise have only v and w in common.
The connectivity κ(G)ofagraph G is the maximum value of k for which G is k-connected. There are similar concepts and results for edges. A cut-edge (or bridge)isany edge whose deletion produces one more component than before. A non-trivial graph G is k-edge-connected if the result of removing fewer than k edges is always connected, and the edge-connectivity λ(G)isthe maximum value of k for which G is k-edge-connected. We note that Menger’s theorem also has an edge version.
Bipartite graphs If the vertices of a graph G can be partitioned into two non-empty sets so that no edge joins two vertices in the same set, then G is bipartite. The two sets are called partite sets, and if they have orders r and s, G may be called an r × s bipartite graph. The most important property of bipartite graphs is that they are the graphs that contain no cycles of odd length.
Trees A tree is a connected graph that has no cycles. They have been characterized in many ways, a few of which we give here. For a graph G of order n: r G is connected and has no cycles; r G is connected and has n − 1 edges; r G has no cycles and has n − 1 edges. Any graph without cycles is a forest; note that each component of a forest is a tree. Introduction 5
Special graphs We now introduce some individual types of graphs: r the complete graph Kn has n vertices, each of which is adjacent to all of the others; r the null graph Nn has n vertices and no edges; r the path graph Pn consists of the vertices and edges of a path of length n − 1; r the cycle graph Cn consists of the vertices and edges of a cycle of length n; r the complete bipartite graph Kr,s is the r × s bipartite graph in which each vertex is adjacent to all those in the other partite set; r in the complete k-partite graph, Kr1,r2,...,rn the vertices are in k sets (having orders r1, r2,...,rk ) and each vertex is adjacent to all the others, except those in the same set. If the k sets all have order r, the graph is denoted by Kk(r). The graph Kk(2) is sometimes called the k-dimensional octahedral graph or cocktail party graph, also denoted by CP(k); K3(2) is the graph of an octahedron. r the d-dimensional cube (or d-cube) Qd is the graph whose vertices can be labelled with the 2d binary d-tuples, in such a way that two vertices are adjacent when their labels differ in exactly one position. It is regular of degree d, and is isomorphic to the lattice of subgraphs of a set of d elements. Examples of these graphs are given in Fig. 3.
Operations on graphs There are several ways to get new graphs from old. We list some of the most important here.
K5: N5: P5: C5:
K : K3,3: 3(2) Q3:
Fig. 3. 6 Lowell Beineke, Robin Wilson and Peter Cameron r The complement G of a graph G has the same vertices as G,but two vertices are adjacent in G if and only if they are not adjacent in G. For the other operations, we assume that G and H are graphs with disjoint vertex- sets, V (G) ={v1,v2,...,vn} and V (H) ={w1,w2,...,wt }: r the union G ∪ H has vertex-set V (G) ∪ V (H) and edge-set E(G) ∪ E(H). The union of k graphs isomorphic to G is denoted by kG. r the join G + H is obtained from G ∪ H by adding all of the edges from vertices in G to those in H. r the (Cartesian) product G H or G × H has vertex-set V (G) × V (H), and (vi ,wj )isadjacent to (vh,wk )ifeither (a) vi is adjacent to vh in G and w j = wk ,or(b)vi = vh and w j is adjacent to wk in H.Inless formal terms, G H can be obtained by taking n copies of H and joining corresponding vertices in different copies whenever there is an edge in G. Note that, for d-cubes, Qd+1 = K2 Qd (with Q1 = K2). Examples of these binary operations are given in Fig. 4. There are two basic operations involving an edge of a graph. The insertion of a vertex into an edge e means that the edge e = vw is replaced by a new vertex u and the two edges vu and uw.Two graphs are homeomorphic if each can be obtained from a third graph by a sequence of vertex insertions. The contraction of the edge vw means that v and w are replaced by a new vertex u that is adjacent to the other neighbours of v and w.Ifagraph H can be obtained from G by a sequence of edge contractions and the deletion of isolated vertices, then G is said to be contractible to H. Finally, H is a minor of G if it can be obtained from G by a sequence of edge-deletions and edge-contractions and the removal
G: G ∪ H:
H:
G + H: G H:
Fig. 4. Introduction 7
υ
e
w insertion contraction υ u u
w Fig. 5. of isolated vertices. The operations of insertion and contraction are illustrated in Fig. 5.
Traversability A connected graph G is Eulerian if it has a closed trail containing all of the edges of G; such a trail is called an Eulerian trail. The following are equivalent for a connected graph G: r G is Eulerian; r the degree of each vertex of G is even; r the edge-set of G can be partitioned into cycles. A graph G is Hamiltonian if it has a spanning cycle, and traceable if it has a spanning path. No ‘good’ characterizations of these graphs are known.
Planarity A planar graph is one that can be embedded in the plane in such a way that no two edges meet except at a vertex incident with both. If a graph G is embedded in this way, then the points of the plane not on G are partitioned into open sets called faces or regions. Euler discovered the basic relationship between the numbers of vertices, edges and faces.
Euler’s polyhedron formula Let G be a connected graph embedded in the plane with n vertices, m edges and f faces. Then n − m + f = 2. 8 Lowell Beineke, Robin Wilson and Peter Cameron
It follows from this result that a planar graph with n vertices (n ≥ 3) has at most 3(n − 2) edges, and at most 2(n − 2) edges if it is bipartite. From this it follows that the two graphs K5 and K3,3 are non-planar. Kuratowski proved that these two graphs are the only barriers to planarity.
Kuratowski’s theorem The following statements are equivalent for a graph G: r Gisplanar; r G has no subgraph that is homeomorphic to K5 or K3,3; r G has no subgraph that is contractible to K5 or K3,3.
Graph colourings A graph G is k-colourable if, from a set of k colours, it is possible to assign a colour to each vertex in such a way that adjacent vertices always have different colours. The chromatic number χ(G)isthe least value of k for which G is k-chromatic. It is easy to see that a graph is 2-colourable if and only if it is bipartite, but there is no ‘good’ way to determine which graphs are k-colourable for k ≥ 3. Brooks’s theorem provides one of the best-known bounds on the chromatic number of a graph.
Brooks’s theorem If G is a graph with maximum degree that is neither an odd cycle nor a complete graph, then χ(G) ≤ .
There are similar concepts for colouring edges. A graph G is k-edge-colourable if, from a set of k colours, it is possible to assign a colour to each edge in such a way that adjacent edges always have different colours. The edge-chromatic number χ (G)isthe least k for which G is k-edge-colourable. Vizing proved that the range of values of χ (G)isvery limited.
Vizing’s theorem If G is a graph with maximum degree , then