Scribd
Upload
16 views2 pages

5 Color Theorem2

The document discusses the four-color problem and establishes that every planar graph is 6-vertex-colorable, with a proof by induction. It also presents Heawood's five-color theorem, demonstrating that every planar graph can be colored with at most five colors, and provides a detailed proof for this theorem. Additionally, it mentions exercises related to bipartite graphs, Eulerian graphs, Hamiltonian graphs, and Grötzsch's theorem on triangle-free planar graphs.

Uploaded by

Lokesh Agarwal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
16 views2 pages

5 Color Theorem2

The document discusses the four-color problem and establishes that every planar graph is 6-vertex-colorable, with a proof by induction. It also presents Heawood's five-color theorem, demonstrating that every planar graph can be colored with at most five colors, and provides a detailed proof for this theorem. Additionally, it mentions exercises related to bipartite graphs, Eulerian graphs, Hamiltonian graphs, and Grötzsch's theorem on triangle-free planar graphs.

Uploaded by

Lokesh Agarwal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

190 8 Planarity

Although the computer-oriented proof of Appel, Haken, and Koch settled the
conjecture in 1976 and has stood the test of time, a theoretical proof of the four-
color problem is still to be found.
Even though the solution of the 4CC has been a formidable task, it is rather easy
to establish that every planar graph is 6-vertex-colorable.
Theorem 8.6.1. Every planar graph is 6-vertex-colorable.
Proof. The proof is by induction on n; the number of vertices of the graph.
The result is trivial for planar graphs with at most six vertices. Assume the result
for planar graphs with n  1; n  7; vertices. Let G be a planar graph with n
vertices. By Corollary 8.3.5, ı.G/  5; and hence G has a vertex v of degree at
most 5. By hypothesis, G  v is 6-vertex-colorable. In any proper 6-vertex coloring
of G  v; the neighbors of v in G would have used only at most five colors,
and hence v can be colored by an unused color. In other words, G is 6-vertex-
colorable. 
It involves some ingenious arguments to reduce the upper bound for the
chromatic number of a planar graph from 6 to 5. The upper bound 5 was obtained
by Heawood [103] as early as 1890.
Theorem 8.6.2 (Heawood’s five-color theorem). Every planar graph is 5-vertex-
colorable.
Proof. The proof is by induction on n.G/ D n: Without loss of generality, we
assume that G is a connected plane graph. If n  5; the result is clearly true.
Hence, assume that n  6 and that any planar graph with fewer than n vertices is
5-vertex-colorable. G being planar, ı.G/  5 by Corollary 8.3.5, and so G contains
a vertex v0 of degree not exceeding 5. By the induction hypothesis, G  v0 is 5-
vertex-colorable.
If d.v0 /  4; at most four colors would have been used in coloring the neighbors
of v0 in G in a 5-vertex coloring of G  v0 : Hence, an unused color can then be
assigned to v0 to yield a proper 5-vertex coloring of G:
If d.v0 / D 5; but only four or fewer colors are used to color the neighbors of v0
in a proper 5-vertex coloring of G  v0 ; then also an unused color can be assigned
to v0 to yield a proper 5-vertex coloring of G:
Hence assume that the degree of v0 is 5 and that in every 5-coloring of G  v0 ;
the neighbors of v0 in G receive five distinct colors. Let v1 ; v2 ; v3 ; v4 ; and v5 be the
neighbors of v0 in a cyclic order in a plane embedding of G: Choose some proper
5-coloring of G v0 with colors, say, c1 ; c2 ; : : : ; c5 : Let fV1 ; V2 ; : : : ; V5 g be the color
partition of G  v0 ; where the vertices in Vi are colored ci ; 1  i  5: Assume
further that vi 2 Vi ; 1  i  5:
Let Gij be the subgraph of G  v0 induced by Vi [ Vj : Suppose vi and vj ; 1 
i; j  5; belong to distinct components of Gij : Then the interchange of the colors
ci and cj in the component of Gij containing vi would give a recoloring of G  v0
in which only four colors are assigned to the neighbors of v0 : But this is against our
assumption. Hence, vi and vj must belong to the same component of Gij : Let Pi;j
8.7 Kuratowski’s Theorem 191

Fig. 8.14 Graph for proof C


of Theorem 8.6.2

v1 P13

v5 v2

v0
v4
v3
P24

be a vi -vj path in Gij : Let C denote the cycle v0 v1 P13 v3 v0 in G (Fig. 8.14). Then C
separates v2 and v4 I that is, one of v2 and v4 must lie in int C and the other in ext C:
In Fig. 8.14, v2 2 int C and v4 2 ext C: Then P24 must cross C at a vertex of C: But
this is clearly impossible since no vertex of C receives either of the colors c2 and
c4 : Hence this possibility cannot arise, and G is 5-vertex-colorable. 
Note that the bound 4 in the inequality .G/  4 for planar graphs G is best
possible since K4 is planar and .K4 / D 4:
Exercise 6.1. Show that a planar graph G is bipartite if and only if each of its faces
is of even degree in any plane embedding of G:
Exercise 6.2. Show that a connected plane graph G is bipartite if and only if G  is
Eulerian. Hence, show that a connected plane graph is 2-face-colorable if and only
if it is Eulerian.
Exercise 6.3. Prove that a Hamiltonian plane graph is 4-face-colorable and that its
dual is 4-vertex-colorable.
Exercise 6.4. Show that a plane triangulation has a 3-face coloring if and only if it
is not K4 : (Hint: Use Brooks’ theorem.)
Remark 8.6.3. (Grötzsch): If G is a planar graph that contains no triangle, then G
is 3-vertex-colorable.

8.7 Kuratowski’s Theorem

Definition 8.7.1. 1. A subdivision of an edge e D uv of a graph G is obtained by


introducing a new vertex w in e; that is, by replacing the edge e D uv of G by
the path uwv of length 2 so that the new vertex w is of degree 2 in the resulting
graph (see Fig. 8.15a).

You might also like