Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications

Chapter 8.7
Planar Graphs
The House-and-Utilities Problem
 Planar Graphs
• Consider the previous slide. Is it possible
to join the three houses to the three utilities
in such a way that none of the connections
cross?
 Planar Graphs
• Phrased another way, this question is equivalent
to: Given the complete bipartite graph K 3,3, can
K3,3 be drawn in the plane so that no two of its
edges cross?

K3,3
 Planar Graphs
• A graph is called planar if it can be drawn
in the plane without any edges crossing.
• A crossing of edges is the intersection of
the lines or arcs representing them at a
point other than their common endpoint.
• Such a drawing is called a planar
representation of the graph.
 Example
A graph may be planar even if it is usually
drawn with crossings, since it may be
possible to draw it in another way without
crossings.
 Example
A graph may be planar even if it represents a
3-dimensional object.
 Planar Graphs
• We can prove that a particular graph is
planar by showing how it can be drawn
without any crossings.
• However, not all graphs are planar.
• It may be difficult to show that a graph is
nonplanar. We would have to show that
there is no way to draw the graph
without any edges crossing.
 Regions
• Euler showed that all planar representations
of a graph split the plane into the same
number of regions, including an unbounded
region.

R4 R3 R2

R1
 Regions
• In any planar representation of K3,3, vertex
v1 must be connected to both v4 and v5, and
v2 also must be connected to both v4 and v5.
v1 v2 v3

v4 v5 v6
 Regions
• The four edges {v1, v4}, {v4, v2}, {v2, v5},
{v5, v1} form a closed curve that splits the
plane into two regions, R1 and R2.

v1 v5

R2 R1

v v
 Regions
• Next, we note that v3 must be in either R1 or R2.
• Assume v3 is in R2. Then the edges {v3, v4} and
{v4, v5} separate R2 into two subregions, R21 and
R22.

v1 v5 v1 v5

R21

R2 R1 → v3

R22

v v v v
 Regions
• Now there is no way to place vertex v6
without forcing a crossing:
– If v6 is in R1 then {v6, v3} must cross an edge
– If v6 is in R21 then {v6, v2} must cross an edge
– If v6 is in R22 then {v6, v1} must cross an edge
v1 v5

R21

v3 R1

R22
 Regions
• Alternatively, assume v3 is in R1. Then the
edges {v3, v4} and {v4, v5} separate R1 into
two subregions, R11 and R12.

v1 v5

R11

R2 R12 v3

v4 v2
 Regions
• Now there is no way to place vertex v6 without forcing a
crossing:
– If v6 is in R2 then {v6, v3} must cross an edge
– If v6 is in R11 then {v6, v2} must cross an edge
– If v6 is in R12 then {v6, v1} must cross an edge
v1 v5

R11

R2 R12 v3

v4 v2
 Planar Graphs
• Consequently, the graph K3,3 must be
nonplanar.

K3,3
 Regions
• Euler devised a formula for expressing the
relationship between the number of
vertices, edges, and regions of a planar
graph.
• These may help us determine if a graph can
be planar or not.
 Euler’s Formula
• Let G be a connected planar simple graph
with e edges and v vertices. Let r be the
number of regions in a planar
representation of G. Then r = e - v + 2.

R4 R3 R2
# of edges, e = 6
R1 # of vertices, v = 4
# of regions, r = e - v + 2 = 4
 Euler’s Formula (Cont.)
• Corollary 1: If G is a connected planar
simple graph with e edges and v vertices
where v  3, then e  3v - 6.
• Is K5 planar?

K5
 Euler’s Formula (Cont.)
• K5 has 5 vertices and 10 edges.
• We see that v  3.
• So, if K5 is planar, it must be true that e  3v – 6.
• 3v – 6 = 3*5 – 6 = 15 – 6 = 9.
• So e must be  9.
• But e = 10.
• So, K5 is nonplanar.

K5
 Euler’s Formula (Cont.)
• Corollary 2: If G is a connected planar
simple graph, then G has a vertex of degree
not exceeding 5.
 Euler’s Formula (Cont.)
• Corollary 3: If a connected planar simple
graph has e edges and v vertices with v  3
and no circuits of length 3, then e  2v - 4.
• Is K3,3 planar?
 Euler’s Formula (Cont.)
• K3,3 has 6 vertices and 9 edges.
• Obviously, v  3 and there are no circuits of length 3.
• If K3,3 were planar, then e  2v – 4 would have to be true.
• 2v – 4 = 2*6 – 4 = 8
• So e must be  8.
• But e = 9.
• So K3,3 is nonplanar.

K3,3
 CSE 211
Discrete Mathematics

Chapter 8.8
Graph Coloring
 Introduction

• When a map is colored, two regions with a

common border are customarily assigned
different colors.
• We want to use the smallest number of
colors instead of just assigning every region
its own color.
 4-Color Map Theorem

• It can be shown that any two-dimensional

map can be painted using four colors in
such a way that adjacent regions (meaning
those which sharing a common boundary
segment, and not just a point) are different
colors.
 Map Coloring

• Four colors are sufficient to color a map of the

contiguous United States.
• Source of map: http://www.math.gatech.edu/~thomas/FC/fourcolor.html
 Dual Graph
• Each map in a plane can be represented by a
graph.
– Each region is represented by a vertex.
– Edges connect to vertices if the regions
represented by these vertices have a common
border.
– Two regions that touch at only one point are
not considered adjacent.
• The resulting graph is called the dual graph
of the map.
 Graph Theoretic Foundations
• Dual graph:
 Dual Graph Examples

B
B G A
C D
A F C
D E
E

b
b
c

a d f g a c e

e d
 Graph Coloring
• A coloring of a simple graph is the
assignment of a color to each vertex of the
graph so that no two adjacent vertices are
assigned the same color.
• The chromatic number of a graph is the least
number of colors needed for a coloring of the
graph.
• The Four Color Theorem: The chromatic
number of a planar graph is no greater than
four.
 Example
• What is the chromatic number of the graph
shown below?
The chromatic number
must be at least 3 since
b e
a, b, and c must be
a d g
assigned different colors.
So Let’s try 3 colors
c f
first. 3 colors work, so
the chromatic number of
this graph is 3.
 Example
• What is the chromatic number for each of
the following graphs?

White
White Yellow

Green Yellow
Yellow White

White Yellow Yellow White

Chromatic number: 2 Chromatic number: 3

 Graph Coloring and Schedules
EG: Suppose want to schedule some final exams for CS courses
with following call numbers:
1007, 3137, 3157, 3203, 3261, 4115, 4118, 4156
Suppose also that there are no common students in the
following pairs of courses because of prerequisites:
1007-3137
1007-3157, 3137-3157
1007-3203
1007-3261, 3137-3261, 3203-3261
1007-4115, 3137-4115, 3203-4115, 3261-4115
1007-4118, 3137-4118
1007-4156, 3137-4156, 3157-4156
How many exam slots are necessary to schedule exams?
L25 34
 Graph Coloring and Schedules

Turn this into a graph coloring problem. Vertices

are courses, and edges are courses which cannot
be scheduled simultaneously because of possible
students in common:
3203 3261

3137
4115

1007 4118

3157 4156

L25 35
 Graph Coloring and Schedules

One way to do this is to put edges down

where students mutually excluded…
3203 3261

3137
4115

1007 4118

3157 4156

L25 36
 Graph Coloring and Schedules

…and then compute the complementary

graph:
3203 3261

3137
4115

1007 4118

3157 4156

L25 37
 Graph Coloring and Schedules

…and then compute the complementary

graph:
3203 3261

3137
4115

1007 4118

3157 4156

L25 38
 Graph Coloring and Schedules

Redraw:

3137 3203 3261

4115
1007
3157

4118
4156

L25 39
 Graph Coloring and Schedules

Not 1-colorable because of edge

3137 3203 3261

4115
1007
3157

4118
4156

L25 40
 Graph Coloring and Schedules

Not 2-colorable because of triangle

3137 3203 3261

4115
1007
3157

4118
4156

L25 41
 Graph Coloring and Schedules

Is 3-colorable. Try to color by Red, Green,

Blue.
3137 3203 3261

4115
1007
3157

4118
4156

L25 42
 Graph Coloring and Schedules

WLOG. 3203-Red, 3157-Blue, 4118-Green:

3137 3203 3261

4115
1007
3157

4118
4156

L25 43
 Graph Coloring and Schedules

So 4156 must be Blue:

3137 3203 3261

4115
1007
3157

4118
4156

L25 44
 Graph Coloring and Schedules

So 3261 and 4115 must be Red.

3137 3203 3261

4115
1007
3157

4118
4156

L25 45
 Graph Coloring and Schedules
3137 and 1007 easy to color.

3137 3203 3261

4115
1007
3157

4118
4156

L25 46
 Graph Coloring and Schedules

So need 3 exam slots:

Slot 2
3137 3203 3261

Slot 1 4115
1007
3157

4118
4156 Slot 3

L25 47
 Conclusion

• In this chapter we have covered:

– Introduction to Graphs
– Graph Terminology
– Representing Graphs and Graph Isomorphism
– Graph Connectivity
– Euler and Hamilton Paths
– Planar Graphs
– Graph Coloring