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INTRODUCTION TO PLANAR GRAPHS

1.1 Introduction

The development of the graph theory is very much similar to the development of the
probability theory. The original work of the graph theory was motivated by constant
efforts to understand or solve real life problems. It is no coincidence that different
mathematicians have been discovering the graph theory many times independently.
The graph theory is a very important area of applied mathematics. The origin of the
graph theory started with an important and practical problem of the Konigsberg
Bridge, in 1735, which is the part of the planar graph. [43, 45].
A great mathematician, Euler became the father of the graph theory, when in 1736, he
solved a famous unsolved problem of his days, called the Konigsberg Bridge
Problem. This is today, called as the first problem of the graph theory. He created the
first graph to replicate this problem, which was then considered as one of the toughest
problems. This problem leads to the concept of the planar graphs as well as Eulerian
graphs. [45].
In 1840, Mathematician A. F. Mobius gave the idea of bipartite graphs and complete
graphs. In 1845, Gaustar Kirchhoff developed the theory of trees, which helps to solve
problems of an electrical network or circuits. He developed graph theoretical ideas for
the calculation of currents in electrical networks. [5, 18, 28].
The Four Color Conjecture was first stated 200 years ago and finally, proved
conclusively, in 1976. The great professor of mathematics, Augustus De Morgan
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(1806-71) and his friend William Rowan Hamilton studied this theorem and gave the
first mathematical proof. In 1879, Alfred Kempe [1] published a short paper on
coloring of maps and he added some other ideas of coloring. In 1879, Alfred Kempe
published this proof in the American Journal of Mathematics in simple versions.

In 1980, Tait P.G. [50] offered an independent solution to the four color problem.
After collaborating with John Koch on the problem of reducibility, in 1976, Kenneth
Appel and Wolfgang Haken [7,8,39,40] gave the complete proof to the four color
conjecture by reducing the testing problem to a necessary set with 1936
configurations. [15, 29, 30].
In 1856, Thomasa P. Kirkman and William R. Hamilton studied cycles of graphs and
invented the concept of Hamiltonian graphs. Mathematician Polya published the
fundamental results of enumeration of the graph theory between 1935 and 1937. After
that in 1959, De Bruijn published the generalization of these results. For more details
please see [21, 24, 35, 37].
In 1936, the psychologist Lewin used planar graphs to represent the life space of an
individual. Kuratowski discovered several other criteria for the identification of
planarity of graphs. Tutte developed an important algorithm for drawing a planar
graph in a plane.[16, 17, 48].
The first book on the graph theory was written by Denes Konig and published in
1936. In 1969, Frank Harary [28] published another book on the graph theory, which
was considered as the definite text book on the graph theory. So many mathematicians
of the world have been contributing a lot of important work in the different aspects of
the graph theory.
The graph theory, because of its application to many disciplines, has emerged as one
of the useful branch of mathematics during the last decade. It has lots of contributions
and its applications in natural science, art sciences and engineering are obvious. There
are several reasons for the acceleration of interest in the graph theory because of its
application to some areas of physics, chemistry, computer technology, communication
science, electrical and civil engineering, operation research, genetic, economics,
cryptography and many more. [5, 25, 36, 41].
The question of planarity is of great importance from a practical point of view. The
great personality of mathematics Whitney [49, 52] expressed planarity in terms of the

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existence of dual graphs. A graph is planar if and only if it has a dual. In addition to
this, planarity and the other related concepts are useful in many practical situations.
For example, in the design of a printed – circuit board and the three utilities problem,
planarity is used. There have been several alternative characterizations of planar
graphs. A few of them are the existence of a dual graph, the R-complement of graphs
and PRN of graphs. [3, 9, 16, 27, 51].
In real life, we come across so many similar objects or figures with respect to size,
shape, or orientations. There are a few concepts in the graph theory, which deal with
the similarity of two graphs with respect to a number of vertices or number of edges,
or number of regions and so on. Among all such similarities, the most important one
is isomorphism of graphs. [13, 47].
Mathematicians, Computer Scientists, and Chemists have been studying this problem
for the last decade and have developed interesting results from the practical and the
theoretical approach. It has important applications in many fields. In 1977, Reed and
Corneil wrote an important survey on the graph isomorphism problem named “The
Graph Isomorphism Diseases” to review all the related results. After that
mathematician Fortin restructured the survey in 1996. [26, 32, 55].
A great mathematician Whitney defined 1 isomorphism, 2 isomorphism and proved
significant important related results. Besides this, we have vertex isomorphism, edge
isomorphism, cycle isomorphism and matroid isomorphism. [31, 54].
In chapter 1, we have presented a brief survey of those results of the graph theory,
which we shall need later. The reader is referred to [5, 18, 24, 28, 35, 36, 37, 41, 43,
49, 52] for complete treatment of the subject.

1.2 Graphs
A graph G is an ordered pair (V (G), E (G)) where i) V (G) is a non-empty, finite set
of elements, known as vertices or nodes. V (G) is known as vertex set. ii) E (G) is a
family of unordered pairs (not necessarily distinct) of elements of V, known as edges
or branches or arc of G and E (G) is known as the edge set.
Graphs are so named because they can be represented diagrammatically in the plane.
Each vertex of graph G is represented by a point or small circle in the plane. In
practical examples vertex set may be the set of States or Cities or objects etc. Every
edge is represented by a continuous curve or straight line segment. Edges may be the
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route among states or cities or relation among objects, etc. Diagrams of road maps,
electrical circuits, chemical compounds, job scheduling, family trees and puzzles all
have two objects common namely vertices and edges.
The order of graph G is the number of vertices in G. The number of edges in G is
known as the size of graph G. If x and y are two vertices of graph G and an unordered
pair {x, y} = e is an edge, then we say that edge e joins x and y or e is incident to both
x and y. In this case, vertices x and y are said to be incident on e.
A several pairs of vertices of the graph are joined by two or more edges, such edges
are known as multiple or parallel edges. An edge joining a vertex to itself is called a
loop. A graph without loops or multiple edges is known as a simple graph. Non-
simple graphs are known as multiple graphs. A graph having at least one loop is
called Pseudo graph. Two edges of a graph may intersect at a point that is not a
vertex. Such intersections are known as crossings. Graphs which can be drawn on the
plane with no crossings are known as planar graphs.
Two vertices x and y of a graph G are said to be adjacent to each other if the pair
{x, y} is an edge of G. If e = {x, y} is an edge of G, then x and y are said to be end
vertices of e and we can articulate that edge e is incident at x and y. Two edges e1 and
e2 of a graph G are said to be adjacent if they have a common vertex. That is, two
edges e1 and e2 are adjacent if e1 = {x, y} and e2 = {y, z}.
The degree or valency of a vertex p of graph G is the number of edges incident at that
vertex p. It is denoted by d (p). A vertex of degree one is called a pendant vertex. A
vertex of zero degree is said to be isolated vertex. An edge, whose one end vertex is a
pendant vertex, is known as pendant edge. [5, 36]

1.3 Some Important Definitions

In this section, we present some useful definitions that we shall need later.
1. Complete Graph: A simple graph G in which all distinct pairs of vertices in G are
adjacent to each other, is called a complete graph. A complete graph on n vertices is
denoted by Kn. Since in Kn a vertex is adjacent to all remaining vertices. Therefore the
degree of each vertex of Kn, is n-1. The complete graphs on 1, 2, 3 and 4 vertices are
planar graphs. The complete graph on five vertices ( K5) is the smallest non planar
complete graph.

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2. Regular Graph: A graph G (V, E) is said to be r-regular graph if d (v) = r, for all
vertices v in G. The complete graph on n vertices is n-1 regular graph. The regular
graph of degree three is known as a cubic graph.
3. Bipartite Graph: Let G (V, E) be any graph with vertex set V and edge set E. If
the vertex set V of a graph G can be partitioned into two disjoint subsets, say U and
W in such a way that any edge of G joins a vertex of U to a vertex of W, then graph G
is called a bipartite graph.
In a bipartite graph G, if every vertex in U is adjacent to every vertex in W, then
graph G is called a complete bipartite graph. If, in a complete bipartite graph G, the
number of vertices in U is m and number of vertices in W is n, then it is denoted by
Km, n. Clearly in Km, n, the degree of each vertex in U is n and degree of each vertex in
W is m and the number of edges in Km, n is mn. The graph K1, n (n ≥ 2 ) is known as a
star graph. In a Star graph K1, n, there are n-1 pendant vertices and one vertex is of
degree (n-1).
In general, a graph H(V, E) is said to be m-partite (m ≥ 2) if there exist partitions of
the vertex set V into m subsets V1, V2, . . . Vm such that every edge e of graph H joins
a vertex of Vi to a vertex of Vj , where i ≠ j. Similarly, a simple m-partite graph is
said to be a complete m-partite graph if every vertex of each partition is adjacent to all
vertices of remaining partitions.
4. Null Graph: A graph which contains no edges is called a null graph. The null
graph on m vertices is denoted by Nm. Every null graph on any number of vertices is a
simple graph as well as a regular graph.
5. Cycle Graph: A graph on m vertices v1, v2, v3 . . .vm , where m ≥ 3, is said to be a
cycle graph Cm if it has only edges {v1, v2}, {v2, v3},{v3, v4} . . . {vm-1, vm} and
{vm, v1}.
6. Wheel Graph: The wheel graph Wm is obtained by adding one vertex to the cycle
graph Cm, for m ≥ 3, and join this new vertex to all vertices of Cm by new edges.
7. Subgraphs: Let H (V1, E1) and G (V2, E2) be two graphs. H is said to be a subgraph
of graph G if V1 ⊆ V2 and E1 ⊆ E2. Graph G is known as the super graph of H.
Every graph is a sub graph of itself.
• Two subgraphs H and K are said to be edge disjoint subgraphs if H and K do
not have any edge in common. Edge disjoint subgraphs may or may not have
vertices in common.
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 • Two subgraphs H and K are said to be vertex disjoint subgraphs if H and K
do not have any vertex in common. The vertex disjoint subgraphs are edge
disjoint subgraphs.
• A subgraph H (V1, E1) of a graph G (V2, E2) is said to be spanning subgraph
if H and G have same vertex set, i. e. V1 = V2.
• A subgraph H (V1, E1) is said to be vertex induced subgraph of a graph
G (V2, E2) if V1 ⊆ V2 and E1 = { e ∈ E : e has end vertices in V1 }. Two
vertices in H are adjacent in H whenever they are adjacent in graph G. It is
denoted by 〈 V1 〉 .
• A subgraph H (V1, E1) is said to be edge induced subgraph of a graph
G (V2, E2) if E1 ⊆ E2 and V1 = {v ∈ V: v is incident at least one edge in E1}.
Two vertices in H are adjacent in H whenever they are adjacent in graph G.
This subgraph is denoted by 〈 E1 〉 .
• A subgraph H of a graph G is said to be a complete subgraph of G if H is a
complete graph.
8. The Complement Graph: Let G (V, E) be a simple graph. The complement of G
is denoted by G' (V', E') and defined as a graph such that V = V' and two vertices are
adjacent in G' only when they are not adjacent in G. The complement of null graph on
m vertices is the complete graph Km and vice versa. A graph G is said to be self
complementary if it is isomorphic to its own complement.
9. Fusion of vertices: A pair of vertices x and y in graph G is said to be fused if x and
y are replaced by a single new vertex z such that every edge that was adjacent to
either x or y or both is adjacent to z. Thus, the fusion of two vertices of graph G did
not change the number of edges of the graph but reduced the number of vertices by
one.
10. Connected Graph
A connected graph plays a very significant role to define new concepts of graphs and
to solve many real life applications of graph theory.
Walk or an Edge Sequence: A finite alternating sequence of vertices and edges
W: v1 e1 v2 e2 v3 - - - - vn en vn+1 , is said to be a Walk or an edge sequence if
i) A sequence W begins and ends with vertices, known as terminal vertices.

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 ii) An edge ei in the sequence W, is incident with the vertices preceding it and
succeeding it, that is ei = {vi, vi+1}.
A vertex and edge of a graph may be repeated any number of times in a walk.
• A walk W is called closed walk if its terminal vertices are same.
• A walk W is called an open walk if its terminal vertices are not same.
• The number of edges in a walk is called the length of the walk.
• A walk, in which no edge is repeated, is known as a Trail. In a trail T, vertex
may be repeated any number of times.
• A trail T, is called closed trail, if its terminal vertices are same.
• A walk in which vertices are not repeated, is called a path.
• A closed trail T in which no vertex is repeated is called a circuit or cycle of
that graph. Alternately, a closed path is known as a cycle.
• A cycle of length m is called m-cycle.
A path does not intersect itself. An edge that is not a self-loop is a path of length one.
Self- loop is a closed walk of length one, but not a path. A self-loop is a circuit but
there are circuits which are not self -loops.
• A graph having at least one cycle or circuit, is called cyclic graph.
• A graph without cycles is called acyclic graph or circuitless graph.
• A graph G is said to be a connected graph if there exists at least one walk
between every pair of distinct vertices of graph G.
• A graph G is said to be disconnected graph if there exist at least two vertices
x and y such that there is no any walk between x and y, alternately, a graph G
is disconnected if it is not connected.
The null graph N1 is connected graph. A null graph on two or more than two vertices
is disconnected graph. The complete graph on any number of vertices is always
connected graph. A disconnected graph consists of two or more connected, mutually
vertex disjoint subgraphs. Each of these subgraphs is called a component or block of
that graph. For more details refer [43, 49, 52]
Theorem 1.1 A graph has exactly two vertices of odd degree then there must be a
path joining these two vertices.

Theorem 1.2 A simple graph G with m vertices and k components has at most
{(m-k) (m-k+1) }/2 edges.
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Theorem 1.3 A simple graph G with m vertices must be connected if G has more than
(m-1) (m-2) /2 edges.

1.4 Matrices and Graphs

We saw that graphs could be represented either diagrammatically or set theoretically.
To store graphs in the computer, its matrix representation is used. Moreover, there are
several instances when certain matrices are very useful in obtaining results about the
graphs. For a graph G (V, E), if │V│= n and │E│= m, then graph G is called a
( n, m) graph.[22, 37]

1.4.1 Incidence Matrix

Let G be a graph with v1, v2, . . . vn vertices and e1, e2, . . . em edges and no loops.
Then the incidence matrix of G or edge vertex incidence matrix is defined as
A = ( aij)nm ,
where aij = 1 if jth edge ej is incident at ith vertex vi and
aij = 0 otherwise
The incidence matrix of a graph G is also denoted by A (G). The incidence matrix is
called a binary matrix as it contains only two different elements 0 and 1. It is also
known as ( 0, 1 ) matrix.

1.4.2 Adjacency Matrix

Let G be a graph with v1, v2, . . . vn vertices and e1, e2, . . . em edges. Then the
adjacency matrix of G is defined as A = ( aij)n n ,
Where aij = The number of edges joining vertex vi to vertex vj.
The loop is considered as the incident at a vertex twice. It is a square matrix. [22, 36]

1.5 Planar Graphs

A graph G is said to be a planar graph if there exists some geometric representation of
G that can be drawn on a plane such that no two or more edges of G intersect. If two
or more edges of graph G have a common point different from the vertex is called
crossing of edges. A graph G that cannot be drawn on a plane without crossing
between its edges is called a non planar graph. Minimally, a graph which is not planar
is called non planar graph. [18]
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A drawing of a geometrical representation of a graph on any surface such that no two
or more edges intersect, is called embedding. If a graph G has drawn with crossing
edges. This does not mean that graph G is a non planar graph, as there may be another
way to draw the graph without crossing.
Thus to prove that graph G is a non planar graph, we have to show that among all
possible geometric representations of G, none can be embedded in a plane.
Comprehensively, a graph G is a planar graph if there exist a graph isomorphic to G
that is embedded in a plane.
A continuous curve whose initial and final points are same and which is not self
intersecting is called a Jordan curve. That is, the Jordan curve is a closed non
intersecting curve. So the union of all the edges of a circuit in a graph is a Jordan
curve.
If C is the Jordan curve in a plane, then the remaining plane R2-C is divided into two
open set called the interior and exterior of C. Therefore ext(C) and int(C) do not have
common points. Any line joining a point in int(C) to a point in ext(C) must meet C in
some points.[16, 17, 19, 48]
The planar graph G partitions the plane into the different regions of G. Among these
regions there is exactly one region whose area is not finite, is called exterior or
infinite region. Every other region is an interior region. The boundary of a region is a
sub-graph formed by the vertices and edges encompassing that region.
If the boundary of the exterior region of a planar graph is a cycle, that cycle is known
as the maximal cycle of that graph. The degree of the region is the number of edges in
a closed walk that encloses it. The region formed by three edges is known as a
triangular region. The region formed by four edges is known as a rectangular region.
A planar graph G in which degrees of all vertices are equal and every region or face is
bounded by the same number of edges is called completely regular graph. There are
only five possible simple completely regular graphs.
1. Kuratowski’s Graph: A Polish Mathematician Kuratowski, defined two smallest
non planar graphs with respect to the number of vertices and number of edges, are
known as Kuratowski’s graph. The first Kuratowski graph is the complete graph (K5)
with five vertices and ten edges and the second is the regular connected graph (K3,3)
with six vertices and nine edges. [16, 17, 27]

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Graph K5 is 4-regular graph and K3,3 is a 3-regular graph. Both graphs are the smallest
non planar graphs as removal of any one edge or one vertex make the graph planar.
The graph K5 is a non planar graph with the smallest or minimum number of vertices
and the graph K3,3 is non planar with the smallest or minimum number of edges.

Theorem 1.4 If a connected planar graph of n vertices, m edges has f regions or

faces, then n - m + f = 2. [24]
Proof: We shall prove the theorem by induction on m. Let G be a connected planar
graph of n vertices, m edges has f regions.
Step 1: For m = o, we get n = f = 1. Thus n - m + f = 1 – 0 + 1 = 2. Hence result is
true for m = 0.
Step 2: Let m ≥ 1. Assume that result is true for all connected planar graphs with less
than m edges. Let G be a connected planar graph with n vertices, m edges has f
regions.
Case 1: If graph G has a pendant vertex say v, then G – {v} is a connected graph with
n – 1 vertices, m – 1 edges and f regions. So by induction hypothesis
(n -1) - ( e – 1) + f = 2 , this implies n - m + f = 2.
Case 2: If graph G has no pendant vertex then G is a graph with a circuit. Let e be an
edge of a circuit in G. Then G – {e} is a connected graph with n vertices, m – 1 edges
and f – 1 regions. Therefore by induction hypothesis
n - ( e – 1) + (f – 1) = 2 , this implies n - m + f = 2.
Thus by the principle of mathematical induction, the result is true for all m. □

Corollary 1.4.1 If G is a planar graph with n vertices, m edges and k components,

then n - m + f = k + 1.

Corollary 1.4.2 If G is a connected simple planar graph with n ≥ 3 vertices and m

edges then m ≤ 3n – 6.
That is, if m is not less than or equal to 3n – 6, then graph G is not connected simple
planar graph.

Corollary 1.4.3 If G is a connected simple planar graph with n ≥ 3 vertices, m edges

and no triangular regions, then m ≤ 2n – 4.

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That is, if m is not less than or equal to 2n-4 then graph G is not connected simple
planar graph.

Example 1 Show that graph K5 is not a planar graph.

Solution: A complete graph on five vertices is a simple connected graph with 10
edges. That is n = 5 and m= 10. Therefore, 3n – 6 = 9 < 10. Thus, graph K5 is not
planar graph. Similarly, we can show that graph K3,3 is not a planar graph. □

Theorem 1.5 If G is a connected simple planar graph with n vertices, m edges and at
least k edges in a boundary of each region then (k – 2) m = n – 2.

2. Crossing Number: Let G be any non planar graph. The crossing number of graph
G is denoted by C (G) and defined as the minimum number of crossing of edges of G
among all drawing of G in a plane. [28]
A graph G is a planar graph if and only if C (G) = 0. As K5 and K3,3 are the smallest
non planar graphs. Therefore C (K5) = 1 and C (K3,3) = 1.As a consequence, a graph
G is said to be minimally non planar graph if and only if C (G) = 0.
3. Homeomorphic Graphs: Two graphs H and K are said to be Homeomorphic
graphs if graph H can be obtained from graph K by the creation of edges in series ( by
insertion of vertices of degree two) or by the merger of edges in series or vice versa.
A graph G is a planar graph if and only if every graph that is Homeomorphic to G is
planar.

Theorem 1.6 The necessary and sufficient condition for a graph G to be a planar
graph is that G does not contain either of two Kuratowski graphs or any graph
Homeomorphic to either of them.

1.5.1 Maximal Planar Graphs

A planar graph G is said to be a Maximal Planar Graph if the graph becomes non
planar when any two nonadjacent vertices x and y in it are joined by an edge e =
{x, y}. A maximal planar graph is automatically a connected graph. Every graph is a
spanning subgraph of a maximal planar graph. A planar graph is a maximal planar
graph if and only if the rank of every region of that graph is three. Therefore every

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maximal planar graph has a straight line representation. The maximal planar graph is
also known as Triangulation graph. [5, 16]

Theorem 1.7( Fary, 1948) Any simple planar graph G with m ≥ 3 vertices can be
embedded in a plane such that every edge is drawn as a straight line segment.

Theorem 1.8 The graph can be embedded in the surface of a sphere if and only if it
can be embedded in a plane.

Theorem 1.9 The spherical embedding of every planar three connected graph is
unique.

Theorem 1.10 If G1 and G2 are two Triangulation graphs on n vertices, then the
following statements are equivalent.
i) They have an equal number of edges.
ii) They have an equal number of triangular regions.
iii) They have same rank.
iv) They have an equal nullity.

1.5.2 Outerplanar Graphs

A connected planar G graph is said to be an Outerplanar graph if it can be embedded
in the plane so that all vertices of G lie on the same region or face, that region or face
may be exterior or interior region. It is first named and studied by mathematicians
Chartrand and Harary in 1967. [12, 23]
An Outerplanar graph G is said to be Maximal Outerplanar graph if graph G loses its
outer planarity when any two non adjacent vertices of G are joined by an edge.

Theorem 1.11 Every maximal Outer planar graph G with n vertices has (1) 2n-3
edges, (2) At least two vertices of degree 2.

Theorem 1.12 If graph G is a maximal Outer planar graph G with n ≥ 3 vertices then
G has n -2 interior faces.

Theorem 1.13 A graph G is an outer planar graph if and only if it has no subgraph
homeomorphic to K4 or K2,3, except K4 – x, where x is any vertex of G.
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1.6 Geometric Dual of Graphs
Let G be a plane graph with n regions or faces say R1, R2, R3, . . .Rn .Let us place
points (say vertices ) V1, V2, V3, . . . Vn , one in each of the regions. Let us join all
these vertices Vi according to the following procedure.

i) If two regions Ri and Rj are adjacent then draw a line joining vertices Vi and
Vj that intersect the common edge between Ri and Rj exactly once.
ii) If there are two or more edges common between Ri and Rj , then draw one line
between vertices Vi and Vj for each of the common edges.
iii) For an edge ‘e’ lying entirely in one region say Ri, draw a self-loop at pendant
vertex Vi intersecting e exactly once.
By this procedure, we obtain a new graph G* consisting of V1, V2, V3 . . . Vn vertices
and edges joining these vertices. Such a graph G* is called a geometric dual of G (or a
dual of G). [3, 43]
If G is a simple graph then its geometric dual may have loops and parallel edges. A
bridge of a connected graph becomes a loop in G*, as regions on both sides of the
bridge are the same. Parallel edges arise in the dual G* when distinct regions of G
have more than one common boundary edges.
Evidently, there is a one to one correspondence between the edges of graph G and its
geometric dual G*. One edge of dual graph G* intersects one edge of graph G. There
are some simple observations that can be made about the relationship between a
planar graph G and its geometric dual G*.
i) A pendant edge e in graph G yields a self-loop e* in the dual G*.
ii) An edge e forming a self-loop in graph G yields a pendant edge e* in
geometric dual G*.
iii) Parallel edges in graph G correspond to edges in series in the dual G*.
iv) Edges that are in series in graph G correspond to parallel edges in the
geometric dual G*.
v) If R is the region of graph G and v is the associated vertex in dual G* then
the degree of R is equal to the degree of v in G*.
vi) Dual graph G* is also embedded in the plane. Therefore G* is a planar
graph.

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 vii) If graph G* is a dual of planar graph G, then G is also dual of G*.
Therefore, we generally say that G and G* are dual graphs.
viii) If n, m, f, r and µ are the number of vertices, edges, faces or regions, rank
and nullity of a connected graph G, and if n*, m*, f*, r* and µ* are the
corresponding numbers of graph G* respectively, then
n = f*, m = m*, f = n*, µ = r* and r = µ*.

1.6.1 Uniqueness of the Dual

A planar graph G has a unique dual if and only if graph G has a unique plane
representation or graph G can be uniquely embedded on a sphere. As a 3-connected
planar graph has a unique embedding on a sphere, so its dual must be unique. On the
other hand, all duals of a 3- connected graph are isomorphic.
For a planar graph G we can construct more than one geometric dual. All these duals
have one similar property, which is given below.

Theorem 1.14 All possible geometric dual of a planar graph G are 2-isomorphic and
all graphs which are 2-isomorphic to a geometric dual of G are also a geometric dual
of graph G. For a connected graph G, G** is a geometric dual of G*. Thus if G is a
planar graph, then G and G** are 2- isomorphic graphs.

Theorem 1.15 A graph G is a planar graph if and only if it has a dual.

Theorem 1.16 A connected planar graph G is bipartite graph if and only if its dual
G* is an Eulerian graph.

1.6.2 Self-dual Graphs

This definition is similar to the definition of self-isomorphic graphs. A planar graph G
is said to be self-dual graph if graph G is isomorphic to its geometric dual graph G*.
The geometric dual of a complete graph on four vertices (K4) is K4. Thus, K4 is a self-
dual graph. The complete graph on 3 vertices is not self-dual graph. For details see in
[3, 9, 10, 11, 14, 34]

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1.6.3 Dual of Subgraphs
Let graph G* be the geometric dual of a planar graph G. Let e be any edge of G and
e* be a corresponding edge in dual graph G*. Consider a graph G -{e}. Depending
upon the nature of an edge e, we have two possibilities for the construction of the
geometric dual of graph G – {e}.
Case i) suppose an edge e does not lie on the boundary of two regions in G.
Therefore, an edge e is the pendant edge and e* is a self-loop in G*. Thus the dual of
graph G – {e} is same as G* – {e*}.
Case ii) suppose an edge e is on a boundary common to two different regions say R1
and R2 in G. The deletion of an edge e from graph G, will merge these two regions
into one region say R. Then the corresponding two vertices v1 and v2 in G* get
merged into one vertex v and the edge e* gets deleted from G*. Thus the dual of the
graph G – {e} can be obtained from G* by deleting the edge e* and then fusing two
end vertices of e* in G* - {e*}.
Thus the geometric dual of G – {e} can be constructed for all choices of edge e in
graph G. Let S be the set of edges in graph G. The geometric dual of subgraph H of a
graph G is of the form G – {S}, can be constructed by the similar approach.

1.6.4 Dual of Homeomorphic Graphs

Let graph G* be the geometric dual of a planar graph G. Let e be an edge in G and e*
be its corresponding edge in G*. Suppose we create an additional vertex v in graph G
by introducing a vertex of degree two in the edge e. This will add one edge parallel to
e* in G*. If we merge two edges in series in graph G then one of the parallel edges
will be eliminated from G*.
Thus, the geometric dual of any graph homeomorphic to the planar graph G can be
obtained from G* by the above procedure.

1.6.5 Types of Duals

1) Abstract Dual: Let G1 (V1, E1) and G2 (V2, E2) are two graphs. Graphs G1 and G2
are said to be abstract duals of each other if there is a one to one correspondence
between the edge sets E1 and E2 such that the set of edges S in E1 forms a circuit or
cycle in G1 if and only if the corresponding set of edges S* in E2 forms a cutest in G2

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and vice versa. The geometric dual of the geometric dual of a planar graph G may or
may not be the abstract dual of the abstract dual of G.

Theorem 1.17 If G* is an abstract dual of G then G is an abstract dual of G*.

Theorem 1.18 A graph G is planar if and only if it has an abstract dual.

2) Combinatorial Dual: Let G1 (V1, E1) and G2 (V2, E2) are two graphs. Graphs G1
and G2 are said to be combinatorial duals of each other if there is a one to one
correspondence between the edges of G1 and G2 such that if H is any subgraph of G1
and K is the corresponding subgraph of G2, then
Rank of (G2 - K) = Rank of G2 – Nullity of H.
A great Mathematician Whitney proved that the combinatorial dual and geometric
dual are equivalent. [20, 33, 44, 51]

Theorem 1.19 If G is a plane connected graph and G* is the geometric dual of G,

then G** is isomorphic to graph G.

1.7 Trees
A graph G is called acyclic graph if G has no cycles. A tree is a connected acyclic
(circuit
free) graph. Any graph without cycles is a forest. Thus, the maximal connected
subgraphs (components) of a forest are trees. Obviously, from the definition, every
tree is a simple graph. That is, every tree is free from loops and parallel edges because
loops and parallel edges form circuits in a graph. [2, 4, 5, 43]
Every edge e of a tree T is an isthmus. Every block of a non trivial tree is the
complete graph on two vertices. Different aspects of trees are used to study or to
present trees in a river with its sub tributaries and tributaries, sorting of mails, flow of
mails, enumeration isomers of saturated hydrocarbons CnH2n+2, electrical networks
and the genealogy of a family (family tree).
Let G be any connected graph. A spanning subgraph of G, which is a tree, is called
the spanning tree T of a graph G. An edge in a spanning tree T is called a branch of T.
An edge of a graph G, which is not an edge of spanning tree, is called a chord of G.

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Thus all branches and chords of a graph are defined only with respect to a given
spanning tree.
An edge that is a branch of one spanning tree T1 in a graph may be a chord with
respect to another spanning tree T2. A connected graph G on n ≥ 3 vertices is said to
be a star graph if and only if graph G has (n –1) pendant vertices.

Theorem 1.20 The following statements are equivalent for a graph G with n vertices.
1. G is a tree.
2. G is a connected graph and it has n – 1 edges.
3. G is an acyclic graph and it has n – 1 edges.
4. There is exactly one path (Trail) between every pair of vertices in G.
5. G is a minimally connected graph.
6. G is connected and each edge of G is a bridge.

1.8 Coloring of Graphs

The coloring of all vertices of a connected graph G such that adjacent vertices have
different colors, is called a proper coloring or vertex coloring or simply a coloring of
G. A graph G is said to be properly colored graph if each vertex of G is colored
according to a proper coloring. For details see [15, 46, 50]
Let k be a natural number. A graph G is said to be k-colorable if all vertices of graph
G can be properly colored using at most k different colors. Obviously, a k-colorable
graph is k+1 colorable.
The chromatic number of a graph G is denoted by χ (G) and defined as the minimum
number of colors required to color the vertices of G so that adjacent vertices get
different colors. If graph G is k- chromatic graph then χ (G) = k.
If G is any graph with χ (G) = k, then by addition or deletion of loops or multiple
edges do not change the chromatic number of that graph. If G is a disconnected graph,
then the coloring of vertices in one component of G has no effect on the coloring of
other components due to non adjacency of vertices. Thus, hereafter for a coloring
problem we consider only simple connected graphs.
In general, proper coloring of graph is very plain but a proper coloring with the
minimum number of colors is not an easy task.
We list some observations about coloring of graph G as follows.

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 1. G is k-colorable if and only if χ (G) ≤ k.
2. G is k-chromatic if and only if χ (G) = k.
3. G is 1-chromatic if and only if G is a null graph.
4. χ (G) is always less than or equal to the number of vertices in G.
5. If H is a subgraph of graph G then χ (H) ≤ χ (G).
6. If d (v) = m, then at most m colors are required to color the vertices adjacent to
vertex v in graph G.
7. The complete graph on n vertices (Kn) is n-colorable and χ (Kn) = n.
8. If Cn is the cyclic graph with n vertices, then χ (C2n) = 2 and χ (C2n+1) = 3.

Theorem 1.21 A graph G is 2-colorable if and only if G is bipartite graph.

Theorem 1.22 Every tree with two or more vertices is 2-chromatic.

Theorem 1.23 A graph G is 2-chromatic if and only if every circuit of G has even
length. (i. e. G has no circuit of odd length).

1.8.1 Independent Set

Let G be a connected graph. A set of vertices in G is said to be an independent set of
vertices or internally stable set if no two vertices in the set are adjacent. An
independent set is said to be the maximal independent set if the addition of any other
vertex losses its independent property.
The independent number of a graph G is the size of the maximal independent set with
the largest number of vertices in graph G. It is also known as the coefficient of
internal stability of G. The independent number of a null graph on n vertices is n. The
independent number of a complete graph on n vertices is zero.
If G is a simple connected graph, then the partition of all vertices of graph G into the
smallest possible number of disjoint independent sets is called the chromatic
partitioning of graph G. [30, 31]

1.8.2 The Four Color Theorem

A map or atlas is a plane representation of a connected planar graph. Two regions of
a planar graph G are said to be adjacent if they have an edge in common.

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The coloring of the map means an assignment of a color to each region of a planar
graph G such that adjacent regions have different colors. A planar graph is n-colorable
if n different colors are required to color the graph G. By using the concept of the
geometric dual of a graph, the coloring of map of a planar graph G is equivalent to the
coloring of vertices in G*. For more details refer [1, 7, 8, 29, 39, 40]

Theorem 1.24 (The Four Color Conjecture or the Four Color Theorem)
Every planar graph is four colorable.
Initially, it was a conjecture, but in 1979, Appel and Haken proved this. That's why
this conjecture became theorem.

Theorem 1.25 Every planar graph with fewer than four triangles is 3-colorable.

1.9 Different Isomorphisms

Depending upon the nature of vertices, edges and connectivity, we have different
graph isomorphisms.
1. Isomorphism: Let G1 (V1, E1) and G2 (V2, E2) be two graphs. Graphs G1 and G2 are
said to be isomorphic graphs if
1. There exists a bijective function (one to one and onto function) Ф: V1→ V2.
2. There exists a bijective function Ψ : E1→ E2, such that an edge e is incident on
vertices x and y in G1 if and only of the edge Ψ (e) is incident on vertices Ф
(x) and Ф (y) in G2. i.e. (x, y) is an edge in G1 if and only if (Ф (x), Ф (y)) is
an edge in G2.
The pair of functions Ф and Ψ, is called an isomorphism of G1 and G2.
Suppose two graphs G1 (V1, E1) and G2 (V2, E2) are isomorphic graphs. Then it is clear
that
• │V1│= │V2│i. e. Graphs G1 and G2 must have the same number of vertices.
• │E1│= │E2│i. e. Graphs G1 and G2 must have the same number of edges.
• Graphs G1 and G2 must have an equal number of vertices with the same
degree.
• Both are either connected or disconnected graphs.
• Both must have the same number of connected components.
• Graphs G1 and G2 must have the same number of loops.

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 • Graphs G1 and G2 must have same number of pendant vertices or pendant
edges.
• Graphs G1 and G2 must have the same number of parallel edges.
• If vertices u and v are adjacent in G1, then the corresponding vertices in G2 are
also adjacent.
In general it is easier to prove two graphs are not isomorphic by proving that any one
of the above property fails. Above conditions are necessary for two graphs to be
isomorphic. However, they are not sufficient. [18, 28, 43, 47]
2. Separable Graphs
Let G be a connected graph. An edge e of G is said to be a bridge or an isthmus if
subgraph G – {e} is a disconnected graph. Every edge of a tree is an isthmus. An edge
of a connected graph is an isthmus if and only if e does not lie on any cycle of G.
Let G be a connected graph. A set of edges S of G, whose removal from G
disconnects graph G, is called a disconnecting set of G. A cut set of a connected graph
G is defined as a minimal disconnecting set i. e. no proper subset of a disconnecting
set is a disconnecting set of graph.
Let G be a connected graph. The number of edges in a smallest cut set of G is called
the edge connectivity of G and it is denoted by λ (G). Thus λ (G) is the smallest
number of edges of connected graph G whose removal disconnects G.
Let G be a connected graph. A vertex v in V (G) is said to be a cut vertex or cut node
or articulation point of graph G if subgraph G – {v} is a disconnected graph. If v is a
cut vertex of G then subgraph G – {v} has two or more components.
Let G be a connected graph. The vertex connectivity of G is denoted by k (G) and
defined as the smallest number of vertices whose removal leaves a disconnected graph
or the complete graph K1.
A connected graph is said to be separable if its vertex connectivity is one. All other
connected graphs are called non separable. A connected graph G is said to be
separable if there exists a subgraph G1 in G such that G1 (the complement of G1 in G
with respect to set theory) and G1 have only one vertex in common. A separable graph
consists of two or more nonseparable subgraphs. Each of the largest nonseparable
subgraphs is called a block.
Theorem 1.26 If G is a non trivial simple connected graph then λ (G) ≤ δ (G), where
δ (G) = min {d (v) / for all vertices v in G}.
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Theorem 1.27 If G is a simple and non trivial connected graph, then k (G) ≤ δ (G).

3. 1-isomorphism: Two graphs G1 and G2, said to be 1- isomorphic if they become

isomorphic to each other under repeated application of the following operation 1.
Operation 1: Split a cut vertex into two vertices to produce two disjoint subgraphs.
Therefore, two graphs G1 and G2 are said to be 1-isomorphic if and only if the blocks
or components of the graph G1 are isomorphic to the blocks or components of the
graph G2. From this definition, it is clear that two non-separable graphs are
1 isomorphic iff they are isomorphic.

Theorem 1.28 If G1 and G2 are 1-isomorphic graph then the rank of G1 equals to the
rank of G2 and nullity of G1 equals to the nullity of G2.

4. 2-isomorphism: Two graphs are said to be 2-isomorphic if they become

isomorphic after undergoing operation 1 or operation 2 or both operations any number
of times.
Operation 2: Let G be a 2-connected graph and x and y be a pair of vertices whose
removal from G will leave the remaining graph disconnected. Split the vertex x into
x1 and x2, and the vertex y into y1 and y2 such that G is split into G1 and G1 . Let

vertices x1 and y1 go with G1 and x2 and y2 with G1 . Now rejoin the graphs G1 and

G1 by merging x1 with y2 and x2 with y1.

From the definition, it follows that graphs with connectivity three or more
isomorphism, 1 isomorphism and 2 isomorphism are synonymous. [31, 32, 54]
5. Circuit Correspondence: Two graphs H (V1, E1) and K (V2, E2) are said to have a
circuit correspondence if they satisfy following conditions.
1) There is a one to one correspondence between the edges of H and K.
2) There is a one to one correspondence between the circuits of graphs H and K, such
that a circuit in H formed by certain edges of H has a corresponding circuit in K
formed by corresponding edges of K and vice versa. [43]

Theorem 1.29 Two isomorphic graphs or 1-isomorphic graphs H and K have a

circuit correspondence.

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Theorem 1.30 Two graphs H and K are 2-isomorphic if and only if they have circuit
correspondence.

6. Edge isomorphism: Two graphs G1 and G2 are said to be edge isomorphic if there
is a one to one correspondence between the edges of G1 and G2 such that two edges
are incident (at a common vertex ) in G1 if and only if the corresponding edges are
also incident in G2.
7. Vertex isomorphism: Two graphs G1 and G2 are said to be vertex isomorphic if
there is a one to one correspondence between the vertices of G1 and G2 such that two
vertices are adjacent in G1 if and only if the corresponding vertices are also adjacent
in G2.
8. Isomorphism by Matroid: A Matroid M (E,B) consists of a non-empty finite set
E, together with a non-empty collection B of subsets of E, called bases, satisfying the
following properties:
i) No base properly contains another base.
ii) If B1 and B2 are two bases, and x is an element of B1, then there exists an
element y of B2 with the property that (B1-{x}) U {y} is also a base.
We have, two matroids M1 and M2 are isomorphic if there is a one to one
correspondence between their underlying sets E1 and E2, with the property that a set
of elements of E1 is independent in M1 if and only if the corresponding set of elements
of E2 is independent in M2. A Matroid M is said to be graphic if there is a graph,
corresponding to M. [26, 42, 53, 55]

Theorem 1.31 Let G1 and G2 be two graphs. The corresponding matroids are
isomorphic if and only if G1 and G2 are 2 isomorphic.

9. Cycle isomorphism: Two graphs G1 and G2 are cycle isomorphic if there is a

bijection Φ between E(G1) and E(G2) such that for any S ⊂ E(G1), G1(S) is a cycle if
and only if G2{Φ (S)} is a cycle. Whitney proved the following theorem that would
provide all of the heavy liftings that we will need in this thesis.

Theorem 1.32 Two graphs are cycle isomorphic if and only if they are 2-isomorphic.

10. d-measurement isomorphism: The d-dimensional measurement set Md(G) of a

graph G is defined to be the image in Re of the space of configurations C d(V) of
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vertex set in E d under the map ψ : Cd(V) → Re . These are nested by Md(G) ⊂
Md+1(G) and eventually stabilized by Mv-1(G).
Two graphs G1 and G2 , both with e edges , are d-measurement isomorphic if there is
an identification of each edge in E(G1) with an associated coordinated axis in Re and
an identification of each edge in E(G2) with an associated coordinated axis in Re,
under which Md(G1) = Md(G2) .

Theorem 1.33 For any d, two graphs are d-measurement isomorphic if and only if
they are 2-isomorphic.

1.10 The Rank and Nullity of Graphs

The rank of a graph G is denoted by r (G) and defined as
r (G) = Number of vertices in G – Number of components in G.
And nullity of G = n (G) = Number of edges in G – Rank of G.
If G is any connected graph G on n vertices and m edges, then the rank of a graph G is
equal to n-1 and its nullity is equal to m- (n-1).

1.11 Floor Function

Let n be any positive real number and then the floor function of n is denoted ⎣n⎦ and

defined as the greatest integer which is less than or equal to n.

1. Partitions of an integer: A partition of an integer n, is one way of writing n as the

sum of positive integers where the order of the addends (terms being added) does not
matter. For the integer n, the function giving the number of partitions, is denoted by
p(n). As shown below, there are 7 partitions of 5. Thus, 5 = 5, 4 + 1, 3 + 2, 3 + 1 + 1,
2 + 2 + 1, 2 + 1 + 1 + 1, 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1. Therefore p (5) = 7.
The subject of partitioning integers is very rich and quite deep. [38]
2. Bipartitions of an integer: Let n be a positive integer. Bipartitions of n means
divide n into two positive integers n1 and n2 such that n1 + n2 = n. For example, the
bipartitions of 5 are 4+1, 3+2. There are only 2 bipartitions for 5.

1.12 Organization of the Thesis

The very first chapter is an introduction of the graph theory and literature survey
related to the geometric dual of graphs and related aspects.
23
The second chapter consists of three sections. In the first section, we have defined
*isomorphism of graphs and proved the related interesting properties. The second
section defines a geometric dual, boundary matrix and region matrix with some
theorems and examples. At last we have given an algorithm for *isomorphic graphs.
All our results are supported by examples.
In the third chapter, we have defined the different types of totally disconnected graphs
and studied the perspective of the geometric dual. We have investigated the bridge
between these graphs and * isomorphic graphs. There is a correlation between trees
and the geometric dual of Haary graphs, which is explained meticulously, in this
chapter.
With the help of the geometric dual of graphs, in the fourth chapter, we have defined
SD graphs, the first geometric number and the greatest geometric number of planar
graphs with appropriate examples and proved the associated results. We have proved
formulae for these geometric numbers.
In chapter five, we have enlightened the special kind of planar graphs with suitable
examples. The innovative and an important concept of HB graph, maximal HB graph,
*HB graph and the problems of coloring of planar graphs have been explained keenly
in this chapter. We have presented a short proof of the four color problem. By using
the various aspects of graph coloring, we define PRN of a planar graph, perfect
coloring and prove the other related results.
In chapter six, we have defined the different types of triangular graphs and proved the
related results. We have defined *outerplanar graph and proved the necessary and
sufficient condition for * outer planarity of graphs. Our results are supported with
appropriate examples.
We have defined the R-complement of planar graphs, in chapter seven, which is
analogous to the geometric dual of graphs. We have studied the different graphs
according to this new concept of a planar graph and have investigated some
interesting results.
In the end, we have explained the conclusion and further improvement of our thesis.

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