Discrete Mathematics 2013 Problem Set 4 Solutions

1. Prove that every tree with a vertex of degree k has at least k leaves. Solution. We may assume that k 2, as the statement for k = 1 is trivial. Let x denote the number of vertices of degree 1 (leaves) and n denote the number of all vertices. Hence there are n x vertices of degree at least 2, one of which has degree k . Since the sum of all vertex degrees is 2n 2, we have x + 2(n x 1) + k 2n 2. This implies x k . 2. Prove that every acyclic graph with n vertices and n 1 edges is a tree. Solution 1. Let G be a graph with n vertices. Let G1 , . . . , Gk denote the connected components of G, that is, the maximum (in the sense of the subgraph relation) connected subgraphs of G. Let ni denote the number of vertices of Gi . Clearly, each Gi is itself acyclic, so it is a tree and thus has ni 1 edges. Hence the total number of edges in G is k i=1 (ni 1) = n k . Consequently, if G has n 1 edges, then k = 1, which means that G is connected and thus is a tree. Solution 2. It is enough to prove the following statement: every acyclic graph with n vertices and n 1 edges is connected. The proof goes by induction on n. The basic case n = 1 is trivial. Thus assume n 2. Let G be an acyclic graph with n vertices and n 1 edges. The sum of all vertex degrees in G is 2n 2, so there is a vertex v in G with degree 0 or 1. Suppose degG (v ) = 1. Let G denote the graph obtained from G by removing the vertex v and the edge connecting v to its only neighbor. The graph G is acyclic and has n 1 vertices and n 2 edges, so by the induction hypothesis it is connected. Hence G is connected as well. Now, suppose degG (v ) = 0. Let G denote the graph obtained from G by removing the vertex v and an arbitrarily chosen edge xy . The graph G is acyclic and has n 1 vertices and n 2 edges, so by the induction hypothesis it is connected. Hence G contains a path from x to y . This path cannot consist of the single edge xy only, because xy is not in G . Therefore, this path together with the edge xy forms a cycle in G, which is a contradiction. 3. Recall that a path from a vertex u to a vertex v in a graph is a sequence (x0 , x1 , . . . , xk ) of vertices such that x0 = u, xk = v , and xi xi+1 is an edge for 0 i k 1. Prove that a graph is a tree if and only if for any two vertices u and v there exists exactly one path from u to v . Solution. Let G be a graph with the property that for any two vertices u and v there exists exactly one path from u to v . Since any two vertices u and v are connected by a path, the graph G is connected. If there is a cycle (x1 , x2 , . . . , xk ) in G, then (x1 , x2 , . . . , xk ) and (x1 , xk ) are two dierent paths connecting vertices x1 and xk , which cannot exist. Therefore, the graph G is acyclic. Now, let G be a tree, and suppose there are two paths (x0 , x1 , . . . , xk ) and (y0 , y1 , . . . , y ) between two vertices x0 = y0 = u and xk = y = v . Let r be the greatest index such that (x0 , x1 , . . . , xr ) = (y0 , y1 , . . . , yr ) and s be the least index in {r + 1, r + 2, . . . , k } such that xs = yt for some t {r + 1, r + 2, . . . , }. It follows that the vertices xr+1 , xr+2 , . . . , xs1 and yr+1 , yr+2 , . . . , yt1 are pairwise distinct. Therefore, (xr , xr+1 , . . . , xs1 , xs = yt , yt1 , . . . , yr+1 ) is a cycle in G, which is a contradiction. 1

4. Consider an n-vertex complete graph with a selected edge e. Prove that the graph contains 2nn3 spanning trees containing the edge e. Solution. Let G be an n-vertex complete graph. For any edge e of G, let xe denote the number of spanning trees containing the edge e. All the numbers xe are equal, because G is symmetric with respect to any permutation of its vertices. Let x denote the common value of all xe . We count the total number of edges in all spanning trees of G in two ways. On the one hand, it is (n 1)nn2 , as there are nn2 spanning trees, each with n 1 edges. On the other hand, this number is eE xe = n x = n(n 1)x/2. 2 n3 Comparing the two, we obtain x = 2n . 5. Consider a directed graph G whose vertices are sequences (x1 , x2 , . . . , xk1 ) of zeros and ones of length k 1 and whose edges are dened so that for any x1 , x2 , . . . , xk {0, 1} there is a directed edge from (x1 , x2 , . . . , xk1 ) to (x2 , . . . , xk1 , xk ). Prove that the graph G is Eulerian. Using an Euler tour in this graph, construct a sequence (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) of zeros and ones of length n = 2k + k 1 with no two identical blocks of size k , that is, with no two identical subsequences of the form (xi , xi+1 , . . . , xi+k1 ) for 1 i n 1. Solution. The graph G has 2k1 vertices and 2k edges. To show that G is Eulerian, we use the characterization provided by Problem 4 in Problem Set 3. Between any two vertices (x1 , x2 , . . . , xk1 ) and (xk , xk+1 , . . . , x2k2 ), there is a path in G going through vertices (xi , xi+1 , . . . , xi+k2 ) for 1 i k . Thus G is weakly connected. Moreover, every vertex of G has in-degree and out-degree equal to 2. Using the characterization, we conclude that G is Eulerian. An Euler tour in G goes through vertices (xi , xi+1 , . . . , xi+k2 ) for 1 i 2k + 1 and a sequence (x1 , x2 , . . . , x2k +k1 ) of zeros and ones. Since every edge of G occurs in the Euler tour exactly once, every block (xi , xi+1 , . . . , xi+k1 ) occurs in the sequence exactly once.