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Introduction To Graphs: Multigraph, Other Just Call A Graph

This document provides an introduction to graphs, including basic definitions and terminology. It defines what a graph is comprised of - a set of vertices and edges. It discusses different types of graphs like simple graphs, multigraphs, labeled graphs. The document also gives examples of graphs and defines related concepts like paths, connectedness, subgraphs, degrees of vertices, and spanning trees. It introduces directed graphs and provides an example. Finally, it defines what a tree is and mentions some applications of trees.

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Maitreyee Abhisek Saikia
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109 views

Introduction To Graphs: Multigraph, Other Just Call A Graph

This document provides an introduction to graphs, including basic definitions and terminology. It defines what a graph is comprised of - a set of vertices and edges. It discusses different types of graphs like simple graphs, multigraphs, labeled graphs. The document also gives examples of graphs and defines related concepts like paths, connectedness, subgraphs, degrees of vertices, and spanning trees. It introduces directed graphs and provides an example. Finally, it defines what a tree is and mentions some applications of trees.

Uploaded by

Maitreyee Abhisek Saikia
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction to Graphs

 Graph theory suffers from a large number of


definitions that mathematicians use
inconsistently.
 For instance, what some mathematicians
call a graph, others call a simple graph.
What some mathematicians call a
multigraph, other just call a graph.
 Some mathematicians call a graph labeled if
the vertices are labeled, while others mean
that the edges are labeled.
Introduction to Graphs
 Why are the definitions so confused in graph
theory?
 It is simply a matter of convenience. People
who want to write about simple graphs make
their lives easier by just calling them graphs.
People who want to write about multigraphs
call them graphs.
 The caveat in all of this is clear: when you
start to read a new book on graph theory
read the definitions carefully to make sure of
the ground rules.
Graphs: Basic Definitions
 A graph, G, comprises a set V of vertices and a set E
of edges.
 The vertex set can be anything, but is most commonly
a collection of letters or numbers.
 The set of edges is a set of doubleton subsets of V.
That is E ⊆{{a,b}: a,b∈V and a≠b}.
 We denote the graph by G(V,E).
 If G(V,E) is a graph and {a,b}∈E, then we say
vertices a and b are adjacent and the edge {a,b}
joins them or connects them or is incident on them.
We call a and b the endpoints of the edge.
 Two edges that share one vertex, such as {a,b} and
{b,c} with a≠c, are adjacent to each other.
Graphs: Representation
 Normally we think of a graph as a drawing.
The definition above is a formalization of this
intuition about graphs.
 We think of a graph comprising dots
(vertices) connected by line segments or
curves (edges).
 We give every dot a label and form the
vertex set V out of the labels. If there is a
curve connecting dots a and b, we include
the edge {a,b} in E.
Graphs: Examples
 Let V={a,b,c,d} and E={{a,b},{a,c},
{b,c},{c,d}}
a b

c d
Graphs: Examples

 Let V={a,b,c,d} and E={{a,b},{a,c},


{a,d},{b,c},{b,d},{c,d}}. This is
called the complete graph on four
vertices, denoted K4.
a b

c d
Graphs: Examples
 Let V={a,b,c,d} and E=∅.
Graphs: Variant Definitions
 Above definition of graph does not
allow an edge to join a vertex to itself.
 Such an edge is called a loop, and the
following definition of graph allow them.
 A graph, G, comprises a set V of vertices and a set E of
edges is denoted by G(V,E).
 The set of edges is a set of doubleton subsets of V. That
is E ⊆{{a,b}: a,b∈V }.
 Some definitions of graph allow for multiple
edges between the same two vertices.
Graphs: History
 Texts typically trace the origin of graph
theory to the Königsberg Bridge
Problem and its solution by Leonhard
Euler.
 The book on Graph Theory by Narsingh
Deo gives this solution a date of 1736.
The book describes the problem and
the history behind it.
Graphs: More Definitions
 The degree of a vertex is the number
of edges incident on the vertex. That
is, if G(V,E) is a graph and a∈V, then
degree(a)=|{x:{a,x}∈E}|.
 The degree of a vertex is the number of
vertices adjacent to it.
 If a vertex has no adjacent vertices
(degree 0), then it is isolated.
Graphs: Subgraphs
 A graph G′(V′,E′) is a subgraph of the
graph G(V,E) if
V′⊆V and
E′⊆E.
 Note that this does require G′(V′,E′) to be
a graph.
 One cannot form a subgraph of arbitrary
subsets of V and E.
Graphs: Paths
 The notion of a path in a graph is intuitively
clear but a little hard to pin down formally.
 Suppose G(V,E) is a graph with vertices v0,v1,…,vk
(not necessarily distinct) and edges e1,e2,…,ek (not
necessarily distinct) in which edge ei={vi-1,vi} for
i=1,…,k.
 The alternating sequence of vertices and edges
v0e1v1e2v2…ekvk is a path from v0 to vk of length k
(The length is the number of edges, not vertices).
Graphs: Connectedness
 A graph is connected if it has no parts that are
isolated from each other, i.e. if you can get
from each part to every other part.
 Formally we say a graph is connected if there
exists a path between every pair of distinct
vertices.
 Clearly this is equivalent to saying there is a
simple path between every pair of distinct
vertices.
Directed Graphs (Digraphs)
 A directed graph (digraph, for short) G consists of a
set V of vertices and a set E of directed edges. A
directed edge is an ordered pair of elements of V. Put
another way, the pair G(V,E) with E ⊆V×V is a
digraph.
 Digraphs allow for loops of the form (a,a), It is also
possible to have two edges (a,b) and (b,a) between
vertices a and b.
 We take the ordering of the pairs in E to give each
edge a direction: namely the edge (a,b) goes from
a to b.
 When we draw the digraph, we draw the edge (a,b)
as an arrow from a to b.
Digraphs: Example
 Example: Let V={a,b,c,d} and
E={(a,b),(a,c),(b,a),(c,c),(d,c)}

b
a

d
c
Trees: Definition & Applications
 A tree is a connected graph with no cycles.
 Trees come up in many contexts: tournament
brackets, family trees, organizational charts,
and decision trees, being a few examples.
Spanning Trees of a Graph
 If G(V,E) is a graph and T(V,F) is a
subgraph of G and is a tree, then T is a
spanning tree of G.
 That is, T is a tree that includes every
vertex of G and has only edges to be
found in G.
 Every connected graph has a spanning
tree.

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