Types of graphs

1
Finite graphs and the null graph
• A graph is said to be finite provided that its vertex set and edge set are
finite.
• The null graph is the graph whose vertex set and edge set are empty.
• In this course, all graphs are assumed to be finite non-null graphs.

2
Independent sets
• An independent set in a graph (with no loops) is a set of pairwise
non-adjacent vertices.
• For example, in the graph below, {𝑑, 𝑐, 𝑒} is an independent set.

3
Bipartite graphs
• A graph 𝐺 is said to be bipartite provided that its vertex set 𝑉(𝐺) is
the union of two disjoint independent sets (called partite sets of 𝐺).
• The following graph is bipartite:

4
Another bipartite graph

5
Paths
• A path is a simple graph whose vertices can be ordered so that two
vertices are adjacent if and only if they are consecutive in the list.
• The length of a path is the number of edges it contains.
• A path with 𝑛 vertices is denoted by 𝑃𝑛 .

6
Some paths

𝑃1 (length 0)

𝑃2 (length 1)

𝑃3 (length 2)

𝑃4 (length 3)

7
Cycles
• A cycle is a graph with an equal number of vertices and edges whose
vertices can be placed around a circle so that two vertices are adjacent
if and only if they appear consecutively along the circle.
• The length of a cycle is the number of edges it contains.
• A cycle with 𝑛 vertices is denoted by 𝐶𝑛 .

8
Some cycles