Transcript Relations

Paths and Circuits
Lecture 52
Section 11.2
Wed, Apr 26, 2006
The Seven Bridges of
Königsberg

In the city of Königsberg, two branches of
the Pregel River came together, with an
island at their junction.
The Seven Bridges of
Königsberg

There were seven bridges crossing the
river at various places.
The Seven Bridges of
Königsberg

The challenge was to start at one point,
cross each bridge exactly once, and return
to the starting point.
?
Euler’s Solution

Euler abstracted the bridges as a graph
with four vertices and seven edges.
Euler’s Solution

Each vertex represents a land mass and
each edge represents a bridge.
North Shore
Island
South Shore
Peninsula
Walks and Paths
A walk from vertex v to vertex w is a finite
alternating sequence of adjacent vertices
and edges from v to w:
v0 e1 v1 e2 … en – 1 vn – 1 en vn,
where v0 = v and vn = w.
 A path from v to w is a walk that does not
repeat any edge.

Walks and Paths
A simple path is a path that does not repeat
any vertices.
 A closed walk is a walk that starts and ends
at the same vertex.
 A circuit is a closed path.
 A simple circuit is a circuit that does not
repeat any vertex.

Synopsis
walk = from A to B, no restrictions.
 path = walk, no repeated edge.
 closed = from A to A.
 circuit = closed walk.
 simple = no repeated vertex.

Euler Circuits
An Euler circuit is a circuit that contains
every vertex and every edge of the graph.
 The problem of the Seven Bridges of
Königsberg is to find an Euler circuit.

Connected Graphs
A graph is connected if, for every pair of
vertices v and w, there is a walk from v to
w.
 A connected component of a graph is a
maximal connected subgraph.

Euler’s Solution
Theorem: A graph has an Euler circuit if
and only if it is connected and every vertex
has even degree.
 Thus, an Euler circuit over the Seven
Bridges of Königsberg does not exist.

The Two Bridges of Ashland

At Randolph-Macon College, they have
been trying to solve the Two Bridges of
Ashland problem for decades.
?
King’s Dominion
I-95
RMC
Proof

Proof ():
Suppose a graph G has an Euler circuit.
 Let v  V(G).
 Then as we travel the circuit, each time we
pass through v, we “use up” two of the
edges incident to v.
 When we finish the circuit, we have used all
the edges incident to v.

Proof
Thus, v had an even number of edges.
 Obviously, G must be connected.

Proof

Proof ():
Now suppose that G is connected and that
every vertex of G has even degree.
 Choose a vertex v at which to begin.
 deg(v) > 0 since G is connected, so follow
one of the edges incident to v.
 Let w be the next vertex.
 We used one of w’s edges to get there.

Proof
w has even degree, so there is at least one
more edge available that we can follow.
 This happens at every vertex that we visit.
 Thus, the circuit is forced to terminate only
when we return to the starting vertex v.
 This procedure alone does not necessarily
produce an Euler circuit.

Proof
Suppose there are edges that were not
used.
 Follow the original circuit until a vertex is
reached that is incident to one of the
unused edges.
 Apply the original procedure to produce a
circuit that starts and ends at this vertex.
 “Splice” it into the original circuit.

Proof
Continue in this way, splicing circuits into
the existing circuit, until there are no
unused edges remaining.
 The result is an Euler circuit.

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Euler Paths
Theorem: A graph G has an Euler path
from v to w if G is connected, v and w have
odd degree, and all other vertices have
even degree.
 Proof:

Add an edge from v to w.
 Then the graph has an Euler circuit.
 Remove the new edge from the circuit.

Hamiltonian Circuits
A Hamiltonian circuit is a simple circuit that
includes every vertex of the graph.
 The Traveling Salesman Problem seeks a
Hamiltonian circuit of minimal length.

Hamiltonian Circuits

Theorem: If a graph G has a nontrivial
Hamiltonian circuit, then G has a subgraph
H such that
V(H) = V(G).
 H is connected.
 |E(H)| = |V(G)|.
 deg(v) = 2 for all v  V(H).


These conditions are necessary, but not
sufficient.
Hamiltonian Circuits

The following graph does not have a
Hamiltonian circuit.