Fundamentals of graphs

The Konigsberg bridge problem asks if the seven bridges of the city of Konigs-
berg (below figure; Kraitchik 1942), formerly in Germany but now known as
Kaliningrad and part of Russia, over the river Preger can all be traversed in a
single trip without doubling back, with the additional requirement that the trip
ends in the same place it began. This problem was answered in the negative by
Euler (1736), and represented the beginning of graph theory.

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Definition 3.1.1 (Vertices and Edges)
A graph G = (V, E) is a mathematical structure consisting of two finite sets V
and E. The elements of V are called Vertices (or nodes) and the elements of E
are called Edges. Each edge is associated with a set consisting of either one or
two vertices called its endpoints.

Example 3.1.2
Let G = {V, E} be graph with V = {v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 }, and E =
{e1 , e2 , e3 , e4 , e5 } .
Let γ defined by γ (e1 ) = {v1 , v2 } , γ (e2 ) = {v4 , v3 } , γ (e3 ) =
{v1 , v3 } , γ (e4 ) = {v2 , v4 } , γ (e5 ) = {v1 , v2 }.

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We note that both edges e1 and e5 have same endpoints {v1 , v2 }. The endpoints
of e2 are {v4 , v3 }, the endpoints of e3 are {v1 , v3 } and endpoints of e4 are
{v2 , v4 }. Thus the graph is

The edges e2 and e3 are adjacent edges because they are incident on the same
vertex v3 .

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Definition 3.1.3 (Degree of the graph)
In graph theory, the degree of a vertex of a graph is the number of edges that
are incident to the vertex; in a multigraph, a loop contributes 2 to a vertex’s
degree, for the two ends of the edge. The degree of a vertex v is denoted
deg(v) or deg v. The maximum degree of a graph G, denoted by ∆(G), and the
minimum degree of a graph, denoted by δ(G), are the maximum and minimum
of its vertices’ degrees.

Example 3.1.4
Consider the graph with the vertices A, B , C, D and E pictured in the figure
below. Find the degree of each vertices.

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In this graph, we note that
No. of edges = 5
Degree of vertex A = 4
Degree of vertex B = 2
Degree of vertex C = 3
Degree of vertex D = 1
Degree of vertex E = 0
Sum of the degree of vertices = 4 + 2 + 3 + 1 + 0 =10
Thus, we observe that
X 5
deg (vi ) = 2e ,
i=1

where deg (vi ) denotes the degree of vertex vi and e denotes the number of
edges.
And ∆(G) = 4, δ(G) = 0

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Definition 3.1.5 (Trivial graph)
A graph consisting of one vertex and no edges is called a trivial graph.

Definition 3.1.6 (Null graph)

A graph whose vertex and edge sets are empty is called a null graph.

Definition 3.1.7 (Loop)

An edge with just one end point is called a loop or a self loop. Thus, a loop is
an edge that joins a single endpoint to itself.

Definition 3.1.8 (Proper edge)

An edge that is not a self-loop is called a proper edge.

Definition 3.1.9 (Parallel or Multi-edges)

If two or more edges of a graph G have the same vertices, then these edges are
said to be parallel or multi-edges.

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Definition 3.1.10 (Adjacent vertices)
Two vertices that are connected by an edge are called adjacent.

Definition 3.1.11 (Adjacent vertices of loop)

An endpoint of a loop is said to be adjacent to itself.

Definition 3.1.12 (Incident edge)

An edge is said to be incident on each of its endpoints.

Definition 3.1.13 (Adjacent edges)

Two edges incident on the same endpoint are called adjacent edges.

Definition 3.1.14 (Degree of vertex)

The number of edges in a graph G which are incident on a vertex is called the
degree of that vertex.

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Definition 3.1.15 (Isolated vertex)
A vertex of degree zero is called an isolated vertex. Thus, a vertex on which
no edges are incident is called isolated.

Definition 3.1.16 (Simple graph)

A graph without multiple edges (parallel edges) and loops is called Simple
graph.

Definition 3.1.17
In pictorial representations of a graph, the vertices will be denoted by dots and
edges by line segments.

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Note
1 In drawing a graph, it is immaterial whether the edges are drawn straight
line or curved, long or short, the important point is how the vertices are
joined up.

The graph G1 , G2 and G3 represent the same graph.

2 In graphs, an edge should not pass through any vertices other than the two
end vertices.

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Definition 3.1.18 (Trivial Graph)
A trivial graph is the graph which has only one vertex.

In the above graph, there is only one vertex ’v’ without any edge. Therefore, it
is a trivial graph.

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Definition 3.1.19 (Simple Graph)
A simple graph is the undirected graph with no parallel edges and no loops. A
simple graph which has n vertices, the degree of every vertex is at most n − 1.

In the above example, First graph is not a simple graph because it has two
edges between the vertices A and B and it also has a loop.
Second graph is a simple graph because it does not contain any loop and par-
allel edges.

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Definition 3.1.20 (Undirected Graph)
An undirected graph is a graph whose edges are not directed.

In the above graph since there is no directed edges, therefore it is an undirected

graph.

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Definition 3.1.21 (Directed Graph)
A directed graph is a graph in which the edges are directed by arrows. Directed
graph is also known as digraphs.

In the above graph, each edge is directed by the arrow. A directed edge has an
arrow from A to B, means A is related to B, but B is not related to A.

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Definition 3.1.22 (Complete Graph)
A graph in which every pair of vertices is joined by exactly one edge is called
complete graph. It contains all possible edges.
A complete graph with n vertices contains exactly nC2 edges and is represented
by Kn .

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In the above example, since each vertex in the graph is connected with all the
remaining vertices through exactly one edge therefore, both graphs are com-
plete graph.

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Definition 3.1.23 (Connected Graph)
A connected graph is a graph in which we can visit from any one vertex to any
other vertex. In a connected graph, at least one edge or path exists between
every pair of vertices. Example

In the above example, we can traverse from any one vertex to any other vertex.
It means there exists at least one path between every pair of vertices therefore,
it a connected graph.

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Definition 3.1.24 (Disconnected Graph)
A disconnected graph is a graph in which any path does not exist between every
pair of vertices.

The above graph consists of two independent components which are discon-
nected. Since it is not possible to visit from the vertices of one component to
the vertices of other components therefore, it is a disconnected graph.

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Definition 3.1.25 (Cyclic Graph)
A graph with n vertices (where, n ≥ 3) and n edges forming a cycle of n with
all its edges is known as cycle graph.
A graph containing at least one cycle in it is known as a cyclic graph.
In the cycle graph, degree of each vertex is 2.
The cycle graph which has n vertices is denoted by Cn .

In the above example, all the vertices have degree 2. Therefore they all are
cyclic graphs.
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Definition 3.1.26 (Acyclic Graph)
A graph which does not contain any cycle in it is called as an Acyclic graph.

Since, the above graph does not contain any cycle in it therefore, it is an acyclic
graph.

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Definition 3.1.27 (Bipartite Graph)
A bipartite graph is a graph in which the vertex set can be partitioned into two
sets such that edges only go between sets, not within them.
A graph G(V, E) is called bipartite graph if its vertex-set V(G) can be decom-
posed into two non-empty disjoint subsets V1 (G) and V2 (G) in such a way
that each edge e ∈ E(G) has its one last joint in V1 (G) and other last point in
V2 (G).
The partition V = V1 UV2 is known as bipartition of G.

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Definition 3.1.28 (Complete bipartite graph)
A complete bipartite graph is a bipartite graph in which each vertex in the first
set is joined to each vertex in the second set by exactly one edge.
A complete bipartite graph is a bipartite graph which is complete.
Complete Bipartite graph = Bipartite graph + Complete graph

The above graph is known as K4,3 .

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Definition 3.1.29 (Weighted Graph)
A weighted graph is a graph whose edges have been labeled with some weights
or numbers.
The length of a path in a weighted graph is the sum of the weights of all the
edges in the path.

In the above graph, if path is a → b → c → d → e → g then the length of the

path is 5 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 5 = 25.

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Definition 3.1.30 (Planar Graph)
A planar graph is a graph that we can draw in a plane in such a way that no two
edges of it cross each other except at a vertex to which they are incident.

The above graph may not seem to be planar because it has edges crossing each
other. But we can redraw the above graph.

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The three plane drawings of the above graph are:

The above three graphs do not consist of two edges crossing each other and
therefore, all the above graphs are planar.

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Definition 3.1.31 (Non - Planar Graph)
A graph that is not a planar graph is called a non-planar graph. In other words,
a graph that cannot be drawn without at least on pair of its crossing edges is
known as non-planar graph.

The above graph is a non - planar graph.

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Definition 3.1.32 (Pendent Vertex or End Vertex)
A vertex of a graph is said to be pendant if its degree is 1.

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Definition 3.1.33 (Multi-graph)
A graph having loops and parallel edges is called Multi-graph.

Definition 3.1.34 (Pseudograph)

A graph having loops or multiple edges but not both is called psuedograph.

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Definition 3.1.35 (Finite and Infinite Graph)
A finite graph is a graph G = (V, E) such that V and E are finite sets. An
infinite graph is one with an infinite set of vertices or edges or both.

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Definition 3.1.36 (Applications of Graph Data Structure)
1 In Computer science graphs are used to represent the flow of computation.
2 Google maps uses graphs for building transportation systems, where in-
tersection of two(or more) roads are considered to be a vertex and the road
connecting two vertices is considered to be an edge, thus their navigation
system is based on the algorithm to calculate the shortest path between
two vertices.
3 In Facebook, users are considered to be the vertices and if they are friends
then there is an edge running between them. Facebook’s Friend sugges-
tion algorithm uses graph theory. Facebook is an example of undirected
graph.
4 In World Wide Web, web pages are considered to be the vertices. There is
an edge from a page u to other page v if there is a link of page v on page u.
This is an example of Directed graph. It was the basic idea behind Google
Page Ranking Algorithm.
5 In Operating System, we come across the Resource Allocation Graph
where each process and resources are considered to be vertices. Edges are
drawn from resources to the allocated process, or from requesting process
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Definition 3.1.37 (Maximum and Minimum Degrees of a Graph)
For a graph G = (V(G), E(G)), the Maximum Degree of G denoted by ∆(G),
is the degree of the vertex with the greatest number of edges incident to it. The
Minimum Degree of G denoted by δ(G), is the degree of the vertex with the
least number of edges incident to it.

Here ∆(G) = 5 and δ(G) = 1.

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Problem 3.1.38
Find d(B), d(c), ∆(G) and δ(G) of the following graph G.

Here d(B) = 3, d(C) = 2, ∆(G) = 3 and δ(G) = 2.

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Theorem 3.1.39
In any graph the sum of degree of its vertices is equal to twice the number of
edges. X
i.e., d (V) = 2|E|
v∈V

Let us consider a graph G with E edge set and V vertex set of vertices v1 , v2 ,
v3 , . . . , vn . Since each edge contributes two degrees, the sum of the degrees of
all vertices in G is twice the number of edges in G.
X
i.e., d (V) = 2|E|
v∈V

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Theorem 3.1.40
Number of odd degree vertices in a graph G is always even.

Let G be a graph. By hand-shaking theorem.

X
d (V) = 2|E|
v∈V
Partition the vertex set V into two sets v1 , v2 such that v1 has odd degree
vertices and v2 has even degree vertices.
X X
d (V) + d (V) = 2|E|
v∈V1 v∈V2
Since v2 is the set of even degree vertices
X
d (V) = even
v∈V2
Since the total degree is even
X
⇒ d (V) = even
v∈V1
⇒ The number of odd degree vertices is even.
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Definition 3.1.41 (Regular Graph)
A Regular graph is a graph in which degree of all the vertices is same. If the
degree of all the vertices is k, then it is called k-regular graph.

In the above example, all the vertices have degree 2. Therefore they are called
2-Regular graph.

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The above diagram is 3-regular.

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Theorem 3.1.42
Let G be a regular graph with degree k, k being odd, then number of edges in
a graph is a multiple of k.

Since G is a regular graph, all vertices have same degree k.

Assume n is the number of vertices in G.
By hand-shaking theorem
X
d (V) = 2|E|
v∈V

i.e.,deg (v1 ) +deg (v2 ) + · · · +deg (vn ) = 2 |E| .

k + k + k + · · · + k (n − times) = 2|E|

nk = 2|E|

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Since k is odd, n must be even.
Let n = 2m
2m (k) = 2|E|

|E| = km
Therefore number of edges is a multiple of k.

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Theorem 3.1.43
The maximum degree of any vertex in a simple graph with n vertices is n − 1.

Let v be a vertex of a simple graph G.

⇒ No multiple edges or loops are allowed in G.
Thus V can be adjacent to almost all the remaining n − 1 vertices of G.
Hence, V may have maximum degree n − 1 in G.

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Theorem 3.1.44
A simple graph with atleat two vertices has atleast two vertices of same degree.

Let G be a simple graph with n ≥ 2 vertices.

The graph G has no loop and parallel edges.
Hence, the degree of each vertices is ≤ n − 1.
Suppose that all vertices of G are of different degrees.
Following degrees 0, 1, 2, 3, · · · , n − 1 are possible for n vertices of G.
Let u be the vertex with degree 0. Then u is an isolated vertex.
Let v be the vertex with degree n − 1 then v has n − 1 adjacent vertices.
Because v is not an adjacent vertex of itself, therefore every vertex of G other
than u ia an adjacent vertex of G.
Hence, u cannot be an isolated vertex, this contradiction proves that a simple
graph contains two vertices of the same degree.

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Problem 3.1.45
How many edges are there in a graph with 10 vertices each of degree six?

n
X
2|E| = d(vi ) = d(v1 ) + d(v2 ) + d(v3 ) + · · · + d(v1 0)
i=1
= 6 + 6 + 6 + · · · + 6(10 − times)
= 6(10)
2|E| = 60
|E| = 30

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Problem 3.1.46
Can simple graph exist with 5 vertices each of degree 5?

n
X
2e = d(vi ) = d(v1 ) + d(v2 ) + d(v3 ) + d(v4 ) + d(v5 )
i=1
=5+5+5+5+5
2e = 25
e = 12.5(Not an integer)

∴ Such a graph does not exist.

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Problem 3.1.47
For the following degree sequence 1, 1, 2, 3 verify whether there exists a graph
or not?

Sum of the degree of all vertices = even

1 + 1 + 2 + 3 = 7 6= even

∴ such a graph does not exist.

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Theorem 3.1.48
Let G be a (p, q) graph such that all the vertices have degree k or k + 1. If G
has t(t > 0) vertices of degree k, then t = p(k + 1) − 2q.

If G has t vertices of degree k, then the remaining (p − t) vertices have degree

k + 1.
Thus, X
d(v) = tk + (p − t)(k + 1) (1)
v∈V
But, X
dv = 2q (2)
v∈V
From (1) and (2), we get
tk + (p − t)(k + 1) = 2q
tk + pk − tk + p − t = 2q
p(k + 1) − t = 2q
t = p(k + 1) − 2q

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Problem 3.1.49
2q
Consider a graph (p, q) then, δ ≤ p ≤ ∆.

Let G be a (p, q) graph and let the vertices of G be v1 , v2 , · · · , vp . We know

that,

δ(G) = min{degvi : vi ∈ G}
∆(G) = max{degvi : vi ∈ G}

Clearly, δ ≤ degV ≤ ∆, for all i

p
X
pδ ≤ deg(vi ) ≤ p∆
i=1
pδ ≤ 2q ≤ p∆
2q
δ≤ ≤∆
p

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