GraphTheory

ThisdescriptionisadaptedfromRobertSedgewicksAlgorithms,(AddisonWesley,1983).Thisbook,a
referenceforvirtuallyallgenresofcomputeralgorithms,containsmanyexampleprogramsinPascal.
Moreover,itislucidandwellwritten.Werecommendthisbookhighly.

Manyproblemsarenaturallyformulatedintermsofpointsandconnectionsbetweenthem.Forexample,an
electriccircuithasgatesconnectedbywires,anairlinemaphascitiesconnectedbyroutes,andaprogram
flowcharthasboxesconnectedbyarrows.Agraphisamathematicalobjectwhichmodelssuchsituations.

Agraphisacollectionofverticesandedges.Anedgeisaconnectionbetweentwovertices(ornodes).One
candrawagraphbymarkingpointsfortheverticesanddrawinglinesconnectingthemfortheedges,butit
mustbeborneinmindthatthegraphisdefinedindependentlyoftherepresentation.Forexample,thefollowing
twodrawingsrepresentthesamegraph:(page374)
I G

J
A
A
H I
B
C

B C
K
M L
J K
H G
D
D
E
E F L M
F

Theprecisewaytorepresentthisgraphistosaythatitconsistsofthesetofvertices{A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,
J,K,L,M},andthesetofedgesbetweenthesevertices{AG,AB,AC,LM,JM,JL,JK,ED,FD,HI,FE,AF,
GE}.

Apathfromvertexxtoyinagraphisalistofvertices,inwhichsuccessiveverticesareconnectedbyedgesin
thegraph.Forexample,BAFEGispathfromBtoGinthegraphabove.Asimplepathisapathwithnovertex
repeated.Forexample,BAFEGACisnotasimplepath.

Agraphisconnectedifthereisapathfromeveryvertextoeveryothervertexinthegraph.Intuitively,ifthe
verticeswerephysicalobjectsandtheedgeswerestringsconnectingthem,aconnectedgraphwouldstayinone
pieceifpickedupbyanyvertex.Agraphwhichisnotconnectedismadeupofconnectedcomponents.For
example,thegraphabovehasthreeconnectedcomponents:{I,H},{J,K,L,M}and{A,B,C,D,E,F,G}.

Acycleisapath,whichissimpleexceptthatthefirstandlastvertexarethesame(apathfromapointbackto
itself).Forexample,thepathAFEGAisacycleinourexample.Verticesmustbelistedintheorderthatthey
aretraveledtomakethepath;anyoftheverticesmaybelistedfirst.Thus,FEGAFandGAFEGaredifferent
waystoidentifythesamecycle.Forclarity,welistthestart/endvertextwice:onceatthestartofthecycleand
onceattheend.Agraphwithnocyclesiscalledatree.Thereisonlyonepathbetweenanytwonodesina
tree.AtreeonNverticescontainsexactlyN1edges.Aspanningtreeofagraphisasubgraphthatcontainsall
theverticesandformsatree.Agroupofdisconnectedtreesiscalledaforest.

Directedgraphsaregraphswhichhaveadirectionassociatedwitheachedge.Anedgexyinadirectedgraph
canbeusedinapaththatgoesfromxtoybutnotnecessarilyfromytox.Forexample,adirectedgraphsimilar
toourexamplegraphisdrawnbelow.(page422)
 H I
A

B G J K

E
D

L M
F

ThereisonlyonedirectedpathfromDtoF.NotethattherearetwoedgesbetweenHandI,oneeachdirection,
whichessentiallymakesanundirectededge.Anundirectedgraphcanbethoughtofasadirectedgraphwithall
edgesoccurringinpairsinthisway.Adag(directedacyclicgraph)isadirectedgraphwithnocycles.

WelldenotethenumberofverticesinagivengraphbyV,thenumberofedgesbyE.NotethatEcanrange
anywherefromVtoV2(or1/2V(V1)inanundirectedgraph).Graphswillalledgespresentarecalled
completegraphs;graphswithrelativelyfewedgespresent(saylessthanVlog(V))arecalledsparse;graphs
withrelativelyfewedgesmissingarecalleddense.

Itisfrequentlyconvenienttorepresentagraphbyamatrix,asshowninthesecondsampleproblembelow.If
weconsidervertexAas1,Bas2,etc.,thenaoneinMatrowiandcolumnjindicatesthatthereisapath
fromvertexitoj.IfweraiseMtothepthpower,theresultingmatrixindicateswhichpathsoflengthpexistin
thegraph.Infact,thequantityMp(i,j)isthenumberofpaths.

References

Ore,Oystein.GraphsandTheirUses,MAANewMathematicLibrary#10(1963).
Sedgewick,Robert.Algorithms.AddisonWesley(1983).

SampleProblems

Findthenumberofdifferentcyclescontainedinthe Thegraphisasfollows:
directedgraphwithvertices A B C
{A,B,C,D,E}
andedges
{AB,BA,BC,CD,DC,DB,DE}.
E D
 Byinspection,thecyclesare:{A,B},{B,C,D}and
{C,D}.Thus,thereare3cyclesinthegraph.

Inthefollowingdirectedgraph,findthetotalnumber Byinspection,theonlypathoflength2isAAC.
ofdifferentpathsfromvertexAtovertexCoflength Thepathsoflength4are:AAAAC,
2or4. AACACandACAAC.

Alternatively,letmatrixMrepresentthegraph.Recall
A B thatthenumberofpathsfromvertexitovertexjof
lengthpequalsMp(i,j).ThevaluesofM,M2andM4
are:

101201503
C
011,111,413
100101302

Thereis1pathoflength2(M2(1,3))and3pathsof
length4(M4(1,3)).