GRAPH

COLORING
Learning Objectives
>At the end of the session, the students are
expected to:
> find a coloring of the graph using a specified number of
colors;
>apply graph coloring to problems in scheduling and other
related area

2
 COLORING MAPS
- In the mid-1800s, Francis Guthrie was trying to color a map of the
counties of England. So that it would be easy to distinguish the
counties, he wanted counties sharing a common border to have
different colors.

- After several attempts, he noticed that four colors were required to

color the map, but not more. This observation became known as
the four-color problem. (It was not proved until over 100 years
later)
 COLORING MAPS
-Here is a map of the
contiguous states of
the United States
colored similarly.
Note that the map
has only four colors
and that no two
states that share a
common border have
the same color.
 REPRESENTING MAPS AS
GRAPHS
- Draw a vertex in each region (country, state, etc.) of the map.
Connect two vertices if the corresponding regions share a common
border
REPRESENTING MAPS AS
GRAPHS
The resulting graph will always
be a planar graph, because the
edges simply connect
neighboring countries.
 The Four Color Theorem
-Every planar graph is 4-colorable. (In some cases less than
four colors may be required. Also, if the graph is not planar,
more than four colors may be necessary.)
-This theorem was finally proved in 1976 by Wolfgang
Haken and Kenneth Appel, two mathematicians at the
University of Illinois. Mathematicians had long hunted for a
short, elegant proof, but it turned out that the proof had to
wait for the advent of computers to help sift through the
many possible arrangements that can occur.
 EXAMPLE
The fictional map below shows the boundaries of countries on a
rectangular continent. Represent the map as a graph, and find a
coloring of the graph using the fewest possible number of colors.
Then color the map according to the graph coloring.
 SOLUTION
Yellow

Red
Green
Blue

Blue Blue
Yellow

Blue

Blue Red
-Representing a map as a graph always
results in a planar graph.
 Applications of Graph Coloring
Determining the chromatic number of a graph
and finding the corresponding coloring of the
graph can solve some practical applications such
as scheduling meetings or events.
 EXAMPLE
Eight different school clubs want to schedule meetings on
the last day of the semester. Some club members, however,
belong to more than one of these clubs, so clubs that share
members cannot meet at the same time. How many different
time slots are required so that all members can attend all
meetings? Clubs that have a member in common are
indicated with an “X” in the table on the next slide.
 Student Debate Honor Student Community Campus Campus
  Ski Club
Government Club Society Newspaper Outreach Democrats Republicans
Ski
- X   X     X X
Club
Student
X - X X X      
Government
Debate
  X - X   X   X
Club
Honor
X X X - X X    
Society
Student
  X   X - X X  
Newspaper
Community
    X X X - X X
Outreach
Campus
Democrats X       X X -  

Campus
X   X     X   -
Republicans
 SOLUTION
We can represent the given information by a graph. Each club is
represented by a vertex, and an edge connects two vertices if the
corresponding clubs have at least one common member.
SC

CR SG

CD DC

CO HS

SN
 SOLUTION
Two clubs that are connected by an edge cannot meet simultaneously. If we let a color
correspond to a time slot, then we need to find a coloring of the graph that uses the
fewest possible number of colors.
The graph is not 2-colorable, because we can find circuits of odd length. However, by
trial and error, we can find a 3-coloring. SC
CR SG

CD DC

CO HS

SN
SOLUTION
Answer:
Each color corresponds to a
time slot, so one scheduling is

First time slot: ski club, debate

club, student newspaper
Second time slot: student
government, community outreach
Third time slot: honor society,
campus Democrats, campus
Republicans