Established as per the Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956

Approved by AICTE, COA and BCI, New Delhi

Discrete Mathematical Structures

UNIT 3: Introduction to Graph Theory

School of Applied Sciences

D E PA R T M E N T O F M AT H E M AT I C S
 Unit-3 :Syllabus
Introduction:
Konigsberg’s Bridge problem, Utilities problem, Seating
Problems, Graphs, Representation of graphs, Directed
graphs, incidence, adjacency, degree, Indegree , out degree,
regular graphs, complete graphs, Null graphs, Bipartite
graphs, Isomorphism, Sub graphs, Walk, Trail, Path, Cycle,
Connected and Disconnected graphs, Weakly Connected and
Strongly Connected, Components, Complement of Graph,
Partition , Decomposition.
The Konigsberg Problem

Konigsberg was a city in Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia) .This city was situated in both sides
of the Pregel River and included 2 large islands-which were connected to each other, or to the
mainland portions of the city, by 7 bridges. The old town of Königsberg has seven bridges:
PROBLEM : Can you take a walk through the town, visiting each part of the town and
crossing each bridge exactly once ?
We can simplify the map above as follows:
There are 4 land areas of the town-on the mainland north of the river, on the mainland south of the
river and the 2 islands. Let us label them A,B,C, & D. To visit each part of the town you should visit
the points A,B,C & D. Let us label the bridges p,q,r,s,t,u & v .You should cross each bridge exactly
once.
Now we again simplifying this picture by points and curves(or lines) where land areas are indicated by
points and bridges are indicated by lines.

We call this kind of picture a graph – the points are called vertices and the lines or curves are called edges.
Our goal of finding “a walking tour that crosses each bridge once” is now matter of tracing out all the edges
without lifting our pencil.
Euler’s solution to the original bridge problem : Euler realized that trying to find a path by drawing the
layout of the bridges and connecting them various ways would take a lot of time and would not necessarily
result in a path that fulfilled the criteria. Instead, he made the problem into a graph problem. In the
corresponding graph each vertices are connected with odd number of edges(such vertices are called odd
vertices).
If you start the path at one of the vertices, you can visit each vertices but one of the bridges is left out of the
path as in the below example :

The path can be started at a different vertex or travel in a different order between the vertices, but there will
always be at least one edge left out. This is because if an odd vertex is the starting point, you have to leave,
then come back, then leave again for another vertex. If that other vertex is also an odd vertex, then you have
to leave after coming in and then come back again and there is no other edge to allow you to leave again for
the other vertices. Thus, if there are odd vertices, the path must start and end at an odd vertex. So, there can
be at most 2 odd vertices. This graph has four odd vertices, so it is not possible to have a path where each
edge is used exactly once.
“ THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO PATH OVER THE KONIGSBERG BRIDGES ” Using this
reason, Euler said that.
This problem and solution or lack of solution to it became the start of the famous branch of
Mathematics named “GRAPH THEORY”
Utilities problem: There are three houses H1,H2,and H3each to be connected to
each of utilities-water(W), Gas(G) and electricity(E) by means of conduits (Ex:
Channel, pipe or tube).
Is it possible to make such connections without any crossovers of the conduits?
This problem can be represented by a graph as shown below.

The houses and utility supply centres are vertices and the conduits are shown as edges.
This graph cannot be drawn in the plane without edges crossing over. Thus the answer to
the problem is no.
Seating problem: Nine members of a new club meet each day for lunch at a round table.
They decide to sit such that every member has different neighbours at each lunch. How
many days can this arrangement last?
This situation can be represented by a graph with nine vertices such that each vertex
represents a member and an edge joining two vertices represents the relationship of sitting
next to each other.
Therefore, for the given problem, 4 days of seating arrangement for lunch can make every
member have different neighbours each time.
DIRECTED GRAPH:
Digraph or Directed Graph
A digraph is an ordered pair (V, E), where V is a non-empty vertex set and E is the directed
edge set. A digraph is usually denoted by D  (V, E). The elements of V are called Vertices
(points or nodes).The elements of E are called directed edges.
Example:
Consider a directed graph for which the vertex set is V={A,B,C,D} and the edge set is
E={AB,CD,CA}={(A,B),(C,D),(C,A)}
  It has to be mentioned that in a diagram of a directed graph the directed edges need not be straight line
segments, they can be curve lines (arcs )also.
 For example, a directed edge AB of a directed graph can be represented by an arbitrary arc drawn from
the vertex A to the vertex B as shown in figure.

 In figure every directed edge of a digraph (directed graph) is determined by two vertices of the diagraph- a
vertex from which it begins and a vertex at which it ends.
 Thus, if AB is a directed edge of a digraph D. Then it is understood that this directed edge begins at the
vertex A of D and terminates at the vertex B of D. Here we say that A is the initial vertex and B is the
terminal vertex of AB.
 Directed Loop: A directed edge beginning and ending at the same vertex A is denoted by AA or (A, A)
and is called directed loop. The directed edge shown in Fig is a directed loop which begins and ends at
the vertex A.

 Parallel directed edges: A digraph can have more than one directed edge having the same initial
vertex and the same terminal vertex. Two directed edges having the same initial vertex and the same
terminal vertex are called parallel directed edges.

Two or more directed edges having the same initial vertex and the same terminal vertex are called
“multiple directed edges”.
In a diagraph

 A vertex from which an edge leaves is called the origin or the source for that edge.
 A vertex where an edge ends is called the terminus for that edge.
 Isolated vertex: A vertex which is neither source nor terminus.
 Loop: An edge for which the source and terminus are one and the same vertex.
 In degree of a vertex: No. of edges terminating at a vertex.
 Out degree of a vertex: No. of edges leaving a vertex.
 The out degree of V is denoted by d+ (v) or o d (v) and the in degree of V is denoted by d- (v) or i d (v).

 It follows that
(i) d+ (v) =0, if V is a sink
(ii) d- (v) =0, if V is a source

(iii) d+ (v) = d- (v) =0, if V is an isolated vertex

We further observe that the above digraph has 6 vertices and 8 edges and the
sums of the out-degrees and in-degrees of its vertices are
Graph:
A Graph is an ordered pair (V, E), where V is a non-empty vertex set and E is the edge set.
A graph is usually denoted by G  (V, E).
Example:

Null Graph:
A graph with no edges is called null graph.
Trivial Graph: A graph with only one vertex is called trivial graph.

Finite Graph: A graph with finite number of vertices and finite number of edges is called
finite graph.
Order and Size of a Graph: The number of vertices in a graph is called the order and
the number of edges in the graph is called the size of a graph.
A graph of order n and size m is called (n, m) graph.
Loop: A loop is an edge having the same end vertices in a graph.
Multiple edges:
In a graph if there are two or more edges having the same end vertices are called the
multiple edges.

Simple Graph:
A graph which does not contain any loop and multiple edges is called simple graph.
Multiple Graph:
A graph which contains multiple edges but not loops is called multiple graph.

General Graph:
A graph which contains both multiple edges and loops is called general graph.
Complete graph:
A complete graph is a simple graph with order greater than or equal to two in which there is an edge
between every pair of vertices.
A complete graph with order n greater than or equal to two is denoted by K n.
A complete graph with 2,3,4,5 vertices are shown in fig (a) to (d) respectively. Of these complete
graphs, the complete graph with 5 vertices namely K 5(shown in fig. (d),is of great importance. This
graph is called the Kuratowski’s first graph
Example: Show that the maximum number of edges in a simple graph with n vertices is .
(or) If is a simple graph, prove that .
Solution:
Each edge of a graph is determined by a pair of vertices. In a simple graph there occur no multiple edges.
As such, in a simple graph, the number of edges cannot exceed the number of pair of vertices. The
number of pairs of vertices that can be chosen from n vertices is
n n! n(n  1)
C2  
(n  2)!2! 2
Thus, for a simple graph with n (2) vertices, the number of edges cannot exceed .
Therefore, if a simple graph has n vertices and m edges, then

.
Remark: If a graph is not simple, it can have any number of edges, because in such a graph multiple edges
and loops are allowed.
2. Show that a complete graph with n vertices namely K n has edges. Hence find the
number of edges in K10.
Solution:
In a complete graph there exists exactly one edge between every pair of vertices hence the
number of edges in complete graph is equal to number of pairs of vertices.
If the number of vertices is n, then the number of pairs of vertices is given by

n n! n(n  1)
C2  
(n  2)!2! 2

Hence Kn contains edges.

Thus K10 contains  9 = 45 edges.

3. Show that a simple graph of order n = 4 and size m = 7 and a complete graph of order n = 4 and size
m = 5 does not exist.
Solution:
For n = 4, we have = = 6
Since m = 7 exceeds this number, a simple graph of order n = 4 and size m = 7 does not exists.
Similarly, since m = 5 is not equal to = = 6, a complete graph of order 4 and size m = 5 does not exists.
INCIDENCE AND DEGREE

When a vertex vi is an end vertex of same edge ej , vi and ej are said to be incident with (on or to) each
other.

In the above fig, for examples, edges e2, e6 and e7 are incident with vertex v4.

Two nonparallel edges are said to be adjacent if there are incident on a common vertex(that is they have a
vertex in common). For example, e2 and e7 in fig (a) are adjacent. Similarly, two vertices are said to be

adjacent if there is an edge joining them. From figure, v 4 and v5 are adjacent, but v1 and v4 are not.
The number of edges incident on a vertex vi , with self-loops counted twice, is called the degree, d (vi), of

vertex vi , in below fig for example d(v1) = d(v4) = d(v3) = 3, d(v2) = 4 and d(v5) = 1.

Let us now considered a graph G with e edges and n vertices v1, v2 ,…..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 that is

From above fig once more: d(v1) + d(v2) + d(v3) + d(v4) + d(v5) = 3 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 1 = 14 = twice the number
of edges.
Vertex degree:

In a graph G the number of edges incident on the vertex v with the loops counted twice is called degree of the
vertex v. (or)

Let G = (V,E) be a graph and V be a vertex of G. Then the number of edges of G that are incident on V (that is, the
number of edges that join V to other vertices of G) with the loops counted twice is called the degree of the vertex V
and is denoted by deg(v) or d(V).

The degree of the vertices of a graph arranged in non-decreasing order is called the degree sequence of the graph.
Also, the minimum of the degree of a graph is called the degree of the graph.

Example: d(v1) = 4

d(v2) = 4

d(v3) = 1

d(v4) = 3

Therefore, the degree sequence of the graph is 1,3,4,4 and the degree of the graph is 1.
 Isolated Vertex: A vertex in a graph whose degree is zero is called isolated
vertex.
d(v5) = 0
d(v6) = 0
v5 and v6 are isolated
vertices.
Pendent Vertex: A vertex whose degree is one is called pendent vertex.
Example : Identify the adjacent vertices and adjacent edges in the graph shown in Figure.

Solution :

Adjacent Vertices : V1 & V2, V1 & V3, V1 & V4,V2 & V4.

Adjacent edges : e1 & e2, e1 & e3, e1 & e5, e1 & e6, e2 & e4, e2 & e5, e2 & e6, e3 & e5, e3 and e6.
Regular Graph:
A graph in which all vertices are of same degree is called regular graph. If the degree of each
vertex is k then it is called k – regular.
The graph shown in figures (a) and (b) are 2- regular and 4 - regular graph respectively.

Figure: 1.13

(a) (b)
The graph shown in (c) is a 3-regular graph (cubic graph). This particular cubic graph, which contains
10 vertices and 15 edges, is called the Peterson Graph.

Figure ( d )
Figure ( c )
Hand shaking property:
Let us refer back to degree of the graph shown in fig we have, in this graph,

d(V1) = 3, d(V2) = 4, d(V3) = 4, d(V4) = 3

Also, the graph has 7 edges,
we observe that deg (V1) + deg (V2) + deg (V3) + deg (V4) = 14 = 2 x 7

Property: The sum of degree of all the vertices in a graph is always even and this number is equal to twice
the number of edges in the graph.
Note: If a graph has n vertices and m edges then
In an alternative form, this property reads as follows:

For a graph G = (V,E)

This property is obvious from the fact that while counting the degree of vertices, each edge is
counted twice (once at each end).

The aforesaid property is popularly called the ‘handshaking property’

Because it essentially states that if several people shake hands, then the total number of hands
shaken must be even, because just two hands are involved in each handshake.
Theorem: In any graph the number of vertices of odd degree is even.

Proof:

Consider a graph G with m edges, n vertices and in which k numbers of vertices are of odd degree. i.e. v1,

v2, v3, …..vk are of odd degree vertices and the remaining vertices v k+1, vk+2, vk+3, ….. vn are of even degree
vertices.

(1)

In equation (1) the LHS is even by hand shaking property, and the second term in RHS is even because it is
the sum even numbers. Hence the first term in RHS must be even.

i.e. d(v1) + d(v2) + d(v3) ……. d(vk) = even (2)

This is possible only when the number of terms in the LHS of the equation (2) is even. Thus in any graph the
number of odd degree vertices is even.
 Example-1 : For the graph below, indicate the degree of each vertex and verify
the handshaking property

Solution : By examining the graph, we find that the degrees of its vertices are as given below:

deg (a) = 3, deg (b) = 2, deg (c) = 4, deg (d) = 2, deg(e) = 0, deg (f) = 2, deg (g) = 2, deg (h) = 1.

We note that e is an isolated vertex and h is a pendant vertex.

Further, we observe that the sum of the degrees of vertices is equal to 16. Also, the graph has 8 edges. Thus, the sum of
the degrees of vertices is equal to twice the number of edges.

This verifies the handshaking property for the given graph.

2. If G is a graph with n vertices, m edges and k – regular then show that .
Solution:
If G is a k – regular graph then every vertex is of degree k. Therefore the sum of the
degrees of the vertices is equal to , because G contains n vertices and this number is equal
to twice the number of edges in the graph.
i.e. (By hand shaking property)
.
Example:
(i) Does there exists a cubic graph of 15 vertices?
(ii) Does there exists a 4 – regular graph of 15 edges?
Solution:
(i) Cubic graph means 3 – regular
 k = 3, n = 15

Since 45/2 is not a whole number therefore this graph does not exists.
(ii) If G is 4 – regular
 k = 4, m = 15
 n 4 = 2 15,  n = 30/4 = 15/2
Since 15/2 is not a whole number therefore this graph does not exists.
2. Determine the order of V of the graph G = (V, E) in the following cases
(i) G is a cubic graph with 9 edges.
(ii) G is regular graph with 15 edges.
(iii) G has 10 edges with 2 vertices of degree 4 and all other are of degree 3.
Solution:
(i) Since G is a cubic graph with 9 edges.
 k = 3, m = 9.
nk = 2m  n = (2  9)/3 = 6
 |V| = 6.
(ii) Since G is regular graph with 15 edges.
Given m = 15
nk = 2m  k = (2  15)/n  k = 30/n
Here k is a positive integer and n is positive divisor of 30.
i.e. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 15, 30
The possible number of vertices in G is 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 15, 30.
 (iii) G has 10 edges with 2 vertices of degree 4 and all other are of degree 3.
Let G be the graph with n vertices, then by hand shaking property
(2  4) + (n – 2)3 = 2  10
 8 + (3n – 6) = 20
 3n = 18
n=6
 |V| = 6.

3. Let G = (V, E) be a connected undirected graph. What is the largest possible value for | V | if | E | =
19 and deg(v) ≥ 4 for all v V?
Solution: Since all vertices are of degree greater than or equal to 4, the sum of the degrees of vertices is
greater than or equal to 4n, where n = |V| is the number of vertices. This sum is equal to twice |E|, by
handshaking property. Therefore 2|E|  4n, that is 2  19  4n or n  38/4 < 10.
Thus, the largest possible value of |V| is 9.
4. Define regular graph. Draw a graph which has 10 – vertices and 15 edges and which should be a 3 – regular
graph.
Solution:
5. How many vertices will the following graphs have if they contain?
(i) 16 edges and all vertices of degree 4.
(ii) 12 edges, 6 vertices of degree 3, and other vertices of degree less than 3.
Solution:
(i) If a graph G is 4-regular, then
By data, k=4, m=16,
Thus, n = 8.
(ii) If a graph G has 12 edges, 6 vertices of degree 3, and other vertices of degree less than 3, then the sum of
the degrees of vertices is greater than (6  3) + (n – 6)  3 = 3n.
By handshaking property, this sum must less than 2m = 2  12 = 24, since G has 12 edges.
Thus 3n > 24, i.e., n > 8
Therefore n is at least 9.
6. For a graph with n vertices and m edges, if  is the minimum and  is the maximum of the
degrees of vertices then show that   (2m/n)  .
Solution:
Let d1, d2, d3, ……..dn be the degrees of the n vertices of the graph G which contains m edges.
Then d1 + d2 + d3 +……..+ dn = 2m by hand shaking property.
Since it is given that  is minimum of d1, d2, d3, ……..dn
Therefore  = min of (d1, d2, d3, ……..dn)
 d1  , d2  , d3   …….. dn  
Adding these in equalities we get, d1 + d2 + d3 +……..+ dn  n
 2m  n (1)
And  = max of (d1, d2, d3, ……..dn)
 d1 , d2, d3 …….. dn
Therefore d1 + d2 + d3 +……..+ dn  n
 2m  n (2)
From (1) and (2) we get n  2m  n
Dividing by n we get   (2m/n)  .
 k- dimensional hyper cube

The graph shown in fig (d) is a cubic graph with 8 = 2 3 vertices. This particular graph is called
the three dimensional hyper cube and is denoted by Q3.

In general, for any positive integer k, a loop free k-regular graph with 2k vertices is called k-
dimensional hyper cube / k-cube and is denoted by Qk
Theorem: Prove that the k-dimensional hypercube has k2k-1 edges . Determine the
number of edges in Q8.

Solution: In hypercube , the number of vertices is 2k and each vertex is of degree k.

Therefore, the sum of degree of vertices of , is By handshaking property, we should have
where is the size of .
Thus, This means that has k2k-1 edges .

If has 1024 edges.

2. What is the dimension of the hypercube with 524288 edges .

Solution: For the k-dimensional hypercube the number of vertices is and the number of
edges is .
If has edges, we have
.
Accordingly, holds if k=16.
Thus, the dimension of the hypercube with 524288 edges is k=16.
Bipartite Graph:
A bipartite graph is a simple graph in which the vertex set V is the union of two mutually
disjoint non-empty sets V1 and V2 which are such that each edge in G joins a vertex of V1
and the vertex of V2.

A bipartite graph is usually denoted by G = (V1, V2, E). The sets V1 and V2are called
bipartite’s (or partitions) of the vertex set V.
Note: In a bipartite graph V = V1 V2 and V1 V2 = 
 For example, consider the graph G as follows

We have vertex set is V={A,B,C,P,Q,R,S}

Edge set is E= {AP,AQ,AR,BR,CQ,CS}.

Note that the set V is the union of two of its subsets V 1={ A,B,C} and V2={P,Q,R,S} which are such that

i) V1 and V2 are disjoint.

ii) Every edge in G joins a vertex in V1 and a vertex in V2.

iii) G contains no edge that joins two vertices both of which are in V 1 or V2. This graph is a bipartite graph with

V1={ A,B,C} and V2={P,Q,R,S} as bipartites (or partitions) .

Complete bipartite graphs:
A complete bipartite graph is a bipartite graph G = (V1, V2, E) in which there is an edge
between every vertex of V1 and every vertex of V2.
A complete bipartite graph G = (V1, V2, E) in which the bipartites V1 and V2 contain r and s
vertices respectively, with r  s, is denoted by K r, s.
Note: A complete bipartite graph K r, s has r + s vertices and r * s edges.
K3,3 is called as Kuratowski’s second graph.
1. How many vertices and edges are there in the complete graph K 4,7 and K7,11.

Solution:
Since, Kr,s has r + s vertices and r  s edges.

Therefore K4,7 has 4 + 7 = 11 vertices and 4  7 = 28 edges.

K7,11 has 7 + 11 = 18 vertices and 7  11 = 77 edges.

Isomorphism:
Let G1 = {V1, E1} and G2 = {V2, E2} be the given graphs, the graph G1 is said to be
isomorphic to G2 if it satisfies the following conditions
(i) If there exists a function f: V1 V2 is both one – one and on to.
(ii) f should preserves adjacency of the vertices i.e if the edge AB in G 1 then there must
be an edge {f(A), f(B)} in G2 then G1 G2
Example: Prove that the following graphs are
isomorphic.

Solution:
We first note that both the graphs have four vertices and four edges.
Consider the following 1-1 correspondence between the vertices of these two graphs
i.e. u1 v1, u2 v2, u3 v3, u4 v4

This correspondence gives the following correspondence between the edges:

{u1, u2}  {v1, v2}, {u2, u3}  {v2, v3}, {u3, u4}  {v3, v4}, {u1, u4}  {v1, v4}

This represent one to one correspondence between the edges of the two graphs under the adjacent
vertices in the first graph to adjacent vertices in the second graph and vice versa.
Hence the given graphs are isomorphic to each other.
2. Prove that the following graphs are isomorphic.

Solution: We first note that both the graphs have six vertices each of degree 3, and nine edges.
Consider the following 1-1 correspondence between the vertices of these two graphs
i.e., ui vi for i = 1,2,3,4,5,6.

Under this correspondence the edges in the two graphs correspond with each other as indicated below.
{u1, u4}  {v1, v4},{u1, u5}  {v1, v5}, {u1, u6}  {v1, v6},

{u2, u4}  {v2, v4}, {u2, u5}  {v2, v5}, {u2, u6}  {v2, v6},

{u3, u4}  {v3, v4}, {u3, u5}  {v3, v5}, {u3, u6}  {v3, v6}

Hence the given graphs are isomorphic to each other.

 3. Verify that the following graphs are isomorphic or not.

Solution:
We first note that both the graphs have 6 vertices each of degree 3, and 9 edges.
Consider the following 1-1 correspondence between the vertices of these two graphs i.e.,
ui vi for i = 1,2,3,4,5,6.

Under this correspondence the edges in the two graphs correspond with each other as indicated below.
{v1, v4} {u1, u4},{v1, v5} {u1, u5} , {v1, v3}  {u1, u3},

{v2, v4} {u2, u4} ,{v2, v5}  {u2, u5}, {v2, v6}  {u2, u6},

{v3, v1}{u3, u1} , {v3, v5}  {u3, u5}, {v3, v6}  {u3, u6}

Hence the given graphs are isomorphic to each other.

4. Show that the following graphs are isomorphic.

Solution:
We first note that both the graphs have 10 vertices each of degree 3, and 15 edges.
Consider the following 1-1 correspondence between the vertices of these two graphs i.e.,
ui vi for i = 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.

Also, there is one to one correspondence between the edges of the two graphs under the adjacent vertices in the first
graph to adjacent vertices in the second graph and vice versa
Hence the given graphs are isomorphic to each other (G 1 ).
 5. Show that the following graphs are isomorphic

Solution:
We first note that both the graphs have 10 vertices each of degree 3, and 15 edges.
Consider the following 1-1 correspondence between the vertices of these two graphs i.e.,
ui vi for i = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

Also, there is one to one correspondence between the edges of the two graphs under the adjacent
vertices in the first graph to adjacent vertices in the second graph and vice versa
Hence the given graphs are isomorphic to each other (G 1 ).
 6. Determine whether the following graphs are isomorphic or not:

Solution:
G1 and G2 are not isomorphic because G2 contains 4 pair of vertices of degree 3 are adjacent, where as in G 1 this
adjacency is not preserved.
 7. Show that the following graphs are not isomorphic

Solution:
G1 and G2 are not isomorphic because these graphs contain unequal edges.

G1 and G3 are not isomorphic because these graphs contain unequal edges.

G2 and G3 are not isomorphic because degree 3 vertex in G 2 is adjacent to 3 vertices of degree

2 and in G3 degree 3 vertex is adjacent to 1 degree vertex.

The vertex adjacency is not preserved.

8. Define isomorphism of graphs. Determine whether the following graphs are isomorphic.

Solution:
G1 and G2 are not isomorphic because G2 contains one pair of vertices of degree 3 are adjacent,
where as in G1 this adjacency is not preserved.
Exercise:
1. Show that the following graphs are isomorphic.

2. Verify that the following graphs are isomorphic or no t.

3. Verify that the following graphs are isomorphic or not

Subgraph
A graph G1 = (V1, E1) is said to be the sub graph of G = (V, E) if the following conditions satisfies

i) All the vertices and edges of G1 are in G

ii) Each edge of G1 has the same end vertices in G as in G1.

Example:
Note:
1) Every graph is a subgraph of itself.
2) Every simple graph of n vertices is a subgraph of the complete graph Kn.

3) If G1 is a subgraph of G2 and G2 is a subgraph of G, then G1 is a subgraph of G.

4) A single vertex in a graph G is a subgraph of G.
5) A single edge in a graph G, together with its end vertices, is a subgraph of G.
Spanning Subgraph
A subgraph G1 of a graph G is said to be Spanning subgraph of G, if G1 contains all
vertices of G.

In other words , a subgraph G1 of a graph G is a spanning subgraph of G whenever

the vertex set of G1 contains all vertices of G. Thus a graph and all its spanning
subgraphs have the same vertex set. Obviously every graph is its own spanning
subgraph.
Induced Subgraph

Given a graph G = (V, E), suppose there is a subgraph G 1 = (V1, E1) of G such that every edge (A, B) of G,

where A, B  V1 is an edge of G1 also. Then G1 is called an induced subgraph of G and is denoted by < V 1>.

It follows that a subgraph G1=(V1,E1) of a graph G=(V,E) is not an induced subgraph of G, if for some A,B є

V1,there is an edge{A,B} which is in G but not in G 1.

For example, for the graph shown in the figure (a), the graph shown in the figure (b), is an induced
subgraph, induced by the set of vertices V1= {v1,v2,v3,v5} where as the graph shown in the figure (c) is not
an induced subgraph
Edge disjoint and vertex disjoint subgraphs:
Let G be a graph and G1 and G2 be two subgraphs of G then

(i) G1 and G2 are said to be edge disjoint if they do not have any edge common.
(ii)G1 and G2 are said to be vertex disjoint if they do not have any edge common and any
common vertex.

Graph (b) and (c) are edge disjoint but not vertex disjoin subgraphs.
Example: For the following graph shown in the fig. , Find two edge disjoint subgraphs and two vertex
disjoint subgraphs.

Solution:
Example: Consider the graph G shown in the figure
a)Verify that the graph G1 shown in the figure is induced subgraph of G. Is this a spanning subgraph
of G?
b) Draw a subgraph G2 of G induced by the set V2 = {v3, v4, v6, v8, v9}.

Solution:
a) G1 is an induced subgraph of G but not spanning subgraph of G.

b) V2 = {v3, v4, v6, v8, v9}

Deletion:

If v is a vertex in a graph G then (G − v) denotes the of a sub graph of G obtained by

removing a vertex v and the corresponding edges which are incident on vertex. This sub
graph G − V is refereed to as Vertex- deleted sub graph of G.

If e is an edge in a graph G, then G − e denotes the sub graph of G obtained by deleting e

from G. This sub graph G − e is refereed to as Edge - deleted sub graph
Walk and their classification:
Walk:
A walk of a graph G is a sequence containing alternately vertices and edges. In a walk the
vertices and edges can be repeated any number of times.
Open Walk:
In a walk if the end vertices are distinct then it is called open walk.
Closed Walk:
A walk in which the starting and ending vertex is same is called a closed walk.
Length of the Walk:
The number of edges in a walk is called the length of the walk.
 Example:

The sequence v1e1v2e2v3e5v1e4v4e3v3e5v1 is a closed walk of length 6.

v1e1v2e2v3e3v4e4v1e5v3e6v8e7v5e8v6e9v7e10v8e11v9e14v10e13v11e12v9e11v8e6v3 is an open walk of length 16

TRAIL AND CIRCUIT:

In a walk, vertices and /or edges may appear more than once, if in an open walk no edge
appears more than once, than the walk is called a trail.

For example: In fig (a) the open walk v1e1v2e3v4e3v2e2v3 is not a trail (because, in this

walk, the edge e3 is repeated) where as the open walk v1e4v5e3v2e2v3e5v5e6v4 ( fig (b) is
trail).
 A closed walk in which no edge appears more than once is called a circuit.

Also, in the below fig closed walk v1 e1v2 e3 v5 e3 v2 e2 v3 e5 v5 e4 v1 (shown separately in fig

(a) is not a circuit (because e3 is repeated) where as the closed walk v1e1v2e3v5e5v3e7v4e6v5e4v1
(shown separately in fig(b)) is a circuit.
PATH AND CYCLE:

A trail in which no vertex appears more than once is called a path.

In figure the trail v1e1v2e3v5e5v3e7v4 fig (a)) is a path where as the trail v1e4v5e3v2e2e5v5e6v4 (shown
separately in fig (b) is not a path (because in this trail, v5 appears twice).
A Circuit in which the terminal vertex does not appear as an internal vertex (also) and no internal vertex is
repeated is called a ‘cycle’.

Also, the circuit v2e2v3e5v5e3v2 (shown separately in fig (a)) is a cycle where as the circuit

v2e1v1e4v5e5v3e7v4e6v5e3v2 (shown separately in fig (b) is not a cycle (because, in this circuit, v5 appears
twice)
 The following facts are to be emphasized.

1. A walk can be open or closed. In a walk (closed or open), a vertex and / or an edge can appear
more than once.

2. A trail is an open walk in which a vertex can appear more than once but an edge cannot appear
more than once.

3. A circuit is a closed walk in which a vertex can appear more than once but an edge cannot
appear more than once.

4. A path is an open walk in which neither a vertex nor an edge can appear more than once.
Every path is a trail; but a trail need not be a path.

5. A cycle is a closed walk in which neither a vertex nor an edge can appear more than once.

Every cycle is a circuit; but, a circuit need not be a cycle.

Example:1: Let G = (V,E) be a graph shown in the figure. How many paths are there in G from a
– h?. How many of these paths have a length of 5.
Solution:
i) a c b g h of length 4
ii) a b g f h of length 4
iii) a c d b g f h of length 6
iv) a b g h of length 3
v) a c d b g h of length 5
vi) a c b g f h of length 5
vii) a c d b g e f h of length 7
viii) a b g e f h of length 5
ix) a c b g e f h of length 6
There are 9 paths from a to h and three paths of these are of length 5.
2. For the graph shown in figure indicate the nature of the following walks.
v1e1v2e2v3e2v2
v4e7v1e1v2e2v3e3v4e4v5
v1e1v2e2v3e3v4e4v5
v1e1v2e2v3e3v4e7v1
V6e5v5e4v4e3v3e2v2e1v1e7v4e6v6
Solution:
1. Open walk which is not a trail the edge e2 is repeated.
2. Trail which is not a path (the vertex v4 is repeated)
3. Trail which is a path
4. Closed walk which is a cycle.
5. Closed walk which is a circuit but not a cycle (the vertex v 4 is repeated)
3. How many different paths of length 2 are there in the undirected graph G in the
figure?

Solution:

The number of paths of length 2 that pass through the vertex a is the number of pairs of edges
incident on a. Since 3 edges are incident on a, thus number is = 3C2 =3.

Similarly the number of paths of length 2 that pass through the vertices b, c, d, e and f are
respectively 3C2 = 3, 4C2 =6, 3C2 = 3, 2C2 =1 and 3C2 =3.

Therefore the total number of paths of length 2 in the given graph is 3+3+6+3+1+3 = 19
Prove the following:
(i) A path with n vertices is of length n-1.
(ii) If a cycle has n vertices, it has n edges.
(iii)The degree of every vertex in a cycle is two.
Solution:
(iv) In a path, every vertex, except the last vertex is followed by precisely one edge. Therefore, if a
path has n vertices, it must have n-1 edges which is length . Therefore, the length is n-1
(v) In a cycle, every vertex is followed by precisely one edge. Therefore if a cycle has n vertices,
it must have n edges.
(vi) In a cycle, exactly 2 edges are incident on every vertex( one edge through which we enter the
vertex and one edge through which we leave the vertex). Therefore, The degree of every vertex
in a cycle is two.
Connected and Disconnected graphs

Connected Graph

A graph is connected if there must be a path between every pair of vertices.

Vertex 1 Vertex 2 PATHS
a b ab
a c a b c, a c
a d a b c d, a c d
b c bac,bc
c d cd
Disconnected graph
A graph is disconnected if at least one pair of vertices of the graph are not connected by a path.

Vertex 1 Vertex 2 PATH

a b ab
a c Not Available
a d Not Available
b c Not Available
c d cd
Strongly connected graph: A digraph G is said to be strongly connected if there is at least one
directed path from every vertex to every other vertex.
Weakly connected graph: A digraph G is said to be weakly connected if it is corresponding
undirected graph is connected but G is not strongly connected.
Component: Every graph G consists of one or more connected graphs , each such connected
graph is subgraph of G and is called a component of G. The number of components of a graph G
is denoted by K(G).

Therefore , K(G1)=1 and K(G2)=2.

Decomposition of a graph: We say that a graph G is decomposed (or partitioned) into subgraphs
of G1and G2 if G1 Ù G2 = G & G1∩G2 = null graph
Complement of a graph G
Complement of a simple graph G is denoted by G which is obtained by deleting all the edges of G
and drawing the edges between the vertices which are not there in G.
Example:
Theorem: A simple graph with n-vertices and k-components can have at most number of
edges.

Solution: Let n1 , n2 , n3 ,..., nk be the number of vertices in the 1st, 2nd , 3rd ,.., kth component
respectively. Therefore, we have n n1  n2  n3  ...  nk -----------------------(1)

Since G is a simple graph, each of the component of G is a simple graph. The maximum number
of edges in G is given by

1 1 1 1
N  n1 n1  1  n21 n2  1  n3 n3  1  ...  nk nk  1
2 2 2 2

1 k 1 k 1 k
  ni ni  1   ni  ni    ni 2  n  ----------------------------- (2)
2

2 i 1 2 i 1 2 i 1

Consider, n1  n2  n3  ...  nk n

 n1  1  n2  1  n3  1  ...  nk  1 n  (1  1  1...  k times ) n  k

By squaring on both sides, we get

n1  1  n2  1  n3  1  ...  nk  1  2 (ni  1)( n j  1) n  k 2       (3)
2 2 2 2

i j

n1  1  n2  1  n3  1  ...  nk  1  S n  k 2

2 2 2 2

Where S is the sum of products of the form (ni  1)( n j  1), i 1to k , j 1 to k & i  j

Since each of n1 , n2 , n3 ,...nk is 1, we have S 0. Equation (3) becomes

n12  n2 2  .....  nk 2  (1 1  ...  k times )  2(n1  n2  n3  ...  nk ) n  k 2

 i
2 2
n  k  2 n  
n  k | AsS 0 and using (1)

 i
22 2
n n  k  2nk  k  2n          (4)
 Using (4) in (2), we get

1
N   n 2  k 2  2nk  k  2n  n 
2
1
N   n 2  k 2  2nk  k  n 
2
1
  (n  k ) 2  n  k 
2
1
N   (n  k )(n  k  1) 
2

Thus, the number of edges in simple graph G cannot exceed Hence the proof.
Theorem:

A connected graph with n vertices has at least (n – 1) edges.

Proof:

Since the graph is connected n 2. If m denotes the number of edges, we have to prove that m  n
– 1, for every positive integer n  2. We employ the method of induction to prove this result.

Suppose n = 2, then there are exactly two vertices in the graph and since the graph is connected,
there must be at least one edge joining these vertices.

Thus now, m  1 = (2 – 1) = (n – 1).

This verifies the required result for n = 2.

Assume that the result m  n – 1 holds for all connected graphs with n = k number of vertices,
where k is a positive integer  2.
Now, consider a connected graph, say Gk+1, with k + 1 vertices. Choose a vertex v of this graph

and consider the graph Gk obtained by deleting an edge from Gk+1 for which v is an end vertex.

Then Gk is a connected graph with k vertices. Let mk be the number of edges in Gk. Then from the

assumption made in the preceding paragraph, we have m k k-1.

Consequently mk+1  (k + 1) – 1.

But mk+1 is the number of edges in Gk+1 and k + 1 is the number of vertices in Gk+1.

Thus, the result m  n – 1 holds for n = k + 1.

Hence by induction the result hold for all integers n  2. This completes the proof.
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