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40 - Data Structure & Algorithms - Spanning Tree

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11 views

40 - Data Structure & Algorithms - Spanning Tree

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laraib
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Data Structure & Algorithms -

Spanning Tree

Bhabani Shankar Pradhan


A spanning tree is a subset of Graph G, which has all the vertices covered with
minimum possible number of edges. Hence, a spanning tree does not have
cycles and it cannot be disconnected..

By this definition, we can draw a conclusion that every connected and


undirected Graph G has at least one spanning tree. A disconnected graph
does not have any spanning tree, as it cannot be spanned to all its vertices.

We found three spanning trees off one complete graph. A complete undirected
graph can have maximum nn-2 number of spanning trees, where n is the
number of nodes. In the above addressed example, n is 3, hence 33−2 =
3 spanning trees are possible.

General Properties of Spanning Tree

We now understand that one graph can have more than one spanning tree.
Following are a few properties of the spanning tree connected to graph G −

 A connected graph G can have more than one spanning tree.

 All possible spanning trees of graph G, have the same number of edges
and vertices.
 The spanning tree does not have any cycle (loops).

 Removing one edge from the spanning tree will make the graph
disconnected, i.e. the spanning tree is minimally connected.

 Adding one edge to the spanning tree will create a circuit or loop, i.e. the
spanning tree is maximally acyclic.

Mathematical Properties of Spanning Tree

 Spanning tree has n-1 edges, where n is the number of nodes (vertices).

 From a complete graph, by removing maximum e - n + 1 edges, we can


construct a spanning tree.

 A complete graph can have maximum nn-2 number of spanning trees.

Thus, we can conclude that spanning trees are a subset of connected Graph G
and disconnected graphs do not have spanning tree.

Application of Spanning Tree

Spanning tree is basically used to find a minimum path to connect all nodes in
a graph. Common application of spanning trees are −

 Civil Network Planning

 Computer Network Routing Protocol

 Cluster Analysis

Let us understand this through a small example. Consider, city network as a


huge graph and now plans to deploy telephone lines in such a way that in
minimum lines we can connect to all city nodes. This is where the spanning
tree comes into picture.

Minimum Spanning Tree (MST)


In a weighted graph, a minimum spanning tree is a spanning tree that has
minimum weight than all other spanning trees of the same graph. In real-world
situations, this weight can be measured as distance, congestion, traffic load or
any arbitrary value denoted to the edges.

Minimum Spanning-Tree Algorithm

We shall learn about two most important spanning tree algorithms here −

 Kruskal's Algorithm

 Prim's Algorithm

Both are greedy algorithms.

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