Lecture Notes in

Graph Theory
prepared by

Yvette Fajardo-Lim, Ph.D.

Mathematics Department
De La Salle University
Manila
Second Term 2007-2008

1
Contents
1 Introduction 3
1.1 Notations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Digraphs 4
2.1 Directional Duality Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 The Adjacency Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3 Isomorphism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4 Multidigraphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.5 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3 Undirected Graphs 8
3.1 Some Classes of Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2 Adjacency Matrix and Isomorphism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3 Connected Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.4 Subgraphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.5 Hamiltonian Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.6 Eulerian Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.7 Independence Number and Dominance Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.8 Coloring of Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.9 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

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1 Introduction
Graph theory is widely thought to have originated from a puzzle that was posed by
the townsfolk of Königsberg, Prussia in the early 1700s. Königsberg (now known as
Kaliningrad) was built largely on an island in the Pregel river, this island sits near where
two branches of the river join, and the borders of the town spread over to the banks of
the river as well as a nearby promontory. Between these four land masses, seven bridges
had been erected as shown in Figure 1 below. The townspeople supposedly posed the
question, “Is it possible to take a walk through town, crossing each of the seven bridges
just once, and ending up wherever you started?”

Figure 1: The town of Königsberg and its seven bridges.

The famous Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (pronounced “Oiler”) heard of the
problem, solved it (its not possible) and in the process invented Graph Theory. Since
the question involved the connection of land masses by bridges, Euler realized that all
the points on the island (for example) were equivalent as far the question was concerned,
so the island as well as the banks and the promontory could be represented with single
points. In Figure 2 we see what Königsberg and its bridges look like in Eulers abstracted
version.
............
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Figure 2: The graph that corresponds to Königsberg and its seven bridges.

There seem to be no standard notations or even definitions for graph theoretical

objects. This is natural because the names one uses for these objects reflect the appli-
cations. So for instance, if we consider a communications network (say, for e-mail) as a
graph, tehn the computers which take part in this network, are called nodes rather than

3
vertices or points. On the other hand, otehr names are used for the molecular structure
in chemistry, flowcharts in programming, human relations in social sciences, and so on.
These lectures are based on “Graph Theory” by Dr. Severino Gervacio which ap-
peared on the NRCP Research Bulletin Vol. 39, No.2, June 1984 and Vol. 40, No.2,
June 1985

1.1 Notations
• For a finite set X, |X| denotes its cardinality or the number of its elements.
• Let
[1, n] = {1, 2, . . . , n};
and in general,
[i, n] = {i, i + 1, . . . , n}
for integers i ≤ n.
• For a real number x, the floor and the ceiling of x are the integers

bxc = max{k ∈ ZZ|k ≤ x} and dxe = min{k ∈ ZZ|x ≤ k}.

• A family {X1 , X2 , . . . , Xk } of subsets Xi ⊆ X of a set X is a partition of X, if

[
X= Xi and Xi ∩ Xj = ∅ for all i 6= j.
i∈[1,k]

2 Digraphs
Definition 2.1. A digraph D consists of two sets V (D), the vertex set, a nonempty
set of elements called the vertices of D, and A(D), the arc set, a set of elements called
the arcs such that each arc a ∈ A is assigned an ordered pair of vertices (u, v). If V
is finite, then |V (D)| is called the order of D and |A(D)| is called the size of D. The
digraph D is said to be infinite if |V (D)| is infinite.
Definition 2.2. If a is an arc, in the directed graph D, with associated pair of vertices
(u, v), then u is said to be adjacent to v and v is said to be adjacent from u, u is
called the initial vertex of a and v is called the terminal vertex of a. An arc of the
form (v, v) is called a loop.

Definition 2.3. Let D be a digraph and v ∈ V . The outdegree of v denoted by od(v)

is the number of vertices in V that are adjacent from v. The indegree of v denoted by
id(v) is the number of vertices in V that are adjacent to v.
Definition 2.4. Let D be a digraph. A vertex v ∈ V is called
1. a source if od(v) > 0 and id(v) = 0;
2. a sink if id(v) > 0 and od(v) = 0;

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Figure 3: An example of a digraph.

3. a carrier if od(v) = 1 and id(v) = 1;

4. an isolated vertex if od(v) = 0 and id(v) = 0;
Theorem 2.1. Let D be a digraph of finite order. Then
X X
id(v) = od(v) = |A(D)|
v∈V (D) v∈V (D)

Definition 2.5. A walk of length n in a digraph is a sequence of vertices

< x1 , x2 , . . . , xn , xn+1 > such that (xi , xi+1 ) is an arc for each i = 1, 2, . . . , n. A walk is
called a path if x1 , x2 , . . . , xn , xn+1 are distinct. A walk is said to be closed if x1 = xn+1 .
A closed walk is called a circuit if (n + 1) > 1 and < x1 , x2 , . . . , xn > is a path.
The order of a walk is the number of distinct vertices.

2.1 Directional Duality Principle

Definition 2.6. Let D be a digraph, its converse denoted by D0 has the same vertices
as D and the arc (u, v) is in D0 if and only if the arc (v, u) is in D.
In forming the converse of a digraph, a source becomes a sink and vice versa. For
this reason, two concepts are said to be directionally opposite or converse concepts.
However, a carrier remains a carrier which make it as a self-converse concept.
Definition 2.7. Let P be a statement about digraphs. The statement P 0 obtained from
P by changing every directional concept is called the directional converse of P . The
directional duality principle states that if P is a theorem on digraphs then P 0 is also
a theorem on digraphs.
The following theorems illustrate the directional duality principle.
Theorem 2.2. A finite digraph which does not contain any circuit has at least one
vertex with zero outdegree.
Theorem 2.3. A finite digraph which does not contain any circuit has at least one
vertex with zero indegree.
It will be enough to establish only one of the two theorems because of the directional
duality principle.

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2.2 The Adjacency Matrix
Definition 2.8. Let D be a digraph with vertices x1 , x2 , . . . , xn . The adjacency matrix
of D denoted by A is the n × n matrix [aij ] where


1 if (xi , xj ) is an arc in D
aij =
0 if (xi , xj ) is not an arc in D

Theorem 2.4. Let D be a digraph with vertices x1 , x2 , . . . , xn . For each integer t ≥ 1,

the number of walks of length t from xi to xj is equal to the (i, j)-entry in At .

2.3 Isomorphism
Definition 2.9. Two digraphs D1 and D2 are isomorphic if there exists a bijective
mapping φ : V (D1 ) → V (D2 ) such that (a, b) is an arc in D1 if and only if (φ(a), φ(b))
is an arc in D2 . The mapping φ is called an isomorphism. If D1 is isomorphic to D2 ,
we shall write D1 ∼= D2 , otherwise, we shall write D1 6∼
= D2 .
Theorem 2.5. Let D1 and D2 be digraphs and let φ be an isomorphism of D1 onto D2 .
Then for each vertex v in D1 , id(v) = id(φ(v)) and od(v) = od(φ(v))

Note. Two digraphs with the same size and order and with the same number of outde-
grees and indegrees may not be isomorphic.
Definition 2.10. An automorphism of a digraph D is an isomorphism of D onto D.

Remark. Given any digraph, the set of all automorphisms forms a group under com-
position of mappings.

Definition 2.11. A digraph D is said to be self-converse if D ∼

= D0 .
Definition 2.12. A digraph D with arc set A(D) is said to be symmetric if (b, a) ∈
A(D) whenever (a, b) ∈ A(D) and asymmetric if (b, a) 6∈ A(D) whenever (a, b) ∈
A(D).

2.4 Multidigraphs
Definition 2.13. A multiset is a collection of objects that are not necessarily distinct.
If X is a multiset and a ∈ X, we define the multiplicity of a, denoted by m(a), to be
the number of occurrences of a in X. The underlying set of X, denoted by X 0 is the set
whose elements are precisely the elements of X but with multiplicity 1 only.
Definition 2.14. A multidigraph M consists of a non-empty vertex set V (M ) which
is finite and an arc set A(M ) which is a multiset.

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Definition 2.15. An independent (stable) set S of a multidigraph M is a subset of
V (M ) where no two elements of S are adjacent. An absorbant set T of a multidigraph
M is a subset of V (M ) if every element of V − T is adjacent to at least one element of
T . A set K ⊆ V (M ) of a multidigraph M is called a kernel if K is both independent
and absorbant.

Remarks.
1. A sink is always an element of every kernel.
2. A multidigraph may have no kernel.
3. A multidigraph may have exactly one kernel.
4. A multidigraph may have two or more kernels.
5. For every K ∈ Z+ , there exists a multidigraph with exactly k kernels.

2.5 Exercises
1. Consider Figure 3,
(a) Find the order and size of the digraph.
(b) Find the outdegree and indegree of each vertex in the digraph.
(c) Find a source, a sink, a carrier and an isolated vertex if there are any.
(d) Find a walk of length 6.
(e) Find a path of length 3.
(f) Find a circuit.
2. Let D be the digraph with vertex set V (D) = [3, 8] and where (A, B) ∈ A(D) if
and only if A is a factor of B. Draw the digraph D and find its size.
3. Write down the adjacency matrix for the digraph in Exercise 2.
4. Let D be a finite digraph such that for every v ∈ V (D), od(v)+id(v) is odd. Prove
that D is of even order.
5. Let D be a finite digraph. Let (u, v) be an arc in D if and only if x > y. Prove
that there are no circuits.
6. Given D1 and D2 below, show that D1 ∼
6 D2 .
=

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D1 D2

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 7. Given D1 and D2 below, show that D1 6∼
= D2 .
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1 2 3 4 5 a b c d e
D1 D2
8. Give an example of a digraph that is isomorphic to its converse.

9. Give an example of a self-converse digraph of order 5 having 6 arcs but no loops.

10. Give an example of a self-converse digraph of order 5 having 6 arcs but no loops
and asymmetric.
11. Write the dual of each statement below.

(a) If D has a sink then D0 has a source.

X
(b) In any digraph D with size m, od(x) = m.
x∈V (D)

(c) If a digraph has an even number of arcs, then the number of vertices with
odd outdegree is even.
12. Construct a digraph of order 6 with 3 kernels.

13. Find a kernel of the digraph D below.

................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................
.......... ................ ............... ................ ............... ................ ............... ................ ............... ................ ............... ................ ............... ................ ............... ................ ............... ................ ............... ................
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

3 Undirected Graphs
Definition 3.1. A multigraph G consists of two sets V (G), the vertex set, a
nonempty set of elements called the vertices of G, and E(G), the edge set, a mul-
tiset of elements called the edges such that each edge e ∈ E is assigned an unordered
pair of vertices [u, v]. If V is finite, then |V (G)| is called the order of G and |E(G)| is
called the size of G. The multigraph G is said to be infinite if |V (G)| is infinite.

Definition 3.2. If e is an edge, in the multigraph G, with end vertices u and v, then e
is denoted by [u, v] or [v, u] where u and v are said to be adjacent or u is adjacent to
v. An edge of the form (v, v) is called a loop.
Definition 3.3. Let G be a multigraph. The degree of a vertex v, denoted by deg(v), is
the number of edges incident with it. A loop is counted twice in determining the degree.

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Theorem 3.1. Let G be a multigraph of size m. Then
X
deg(v) = 2m
v∈V (G)

Corollary 3.1.1. In any multigraph, the number of vertices with odd degree is even.
Definition 3.4. A (simple) graph G consists of two sets V (G), the vertex set, a
nonempty set of elements called the vertices of G, and E(G), the edge set, a set of
elements called the edges.

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Figure 4: Petersen graph.

Definition 3.5. A walk of length n in a multigraph is a sequence of vertices

[x1 , x2 , . . . , xn , xn+1 ] such that [xi , xi+1 ] is an edge for each i = 1, 2, . . . , n. A walk is
called a path if x1 , x2 , . . . , xn , xn+1 are distinct. A walk is said to be closed if x1 = xn+1 .
A closed walk is called a cycle if (n + 1) > 1 and [x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ] is a path. The order
of a walk is the number of distinct vertices.

3.1 Some Classes of Graphs

Definition 3.6. A complete graph, denoted by Kn , is the graph with n vertices such
that any two distinct vertices are adjacent .
Definition 3.7. A path of order n, denoted by Pn , is the graph [1, 2, 3, . . . , n].

Definition 3.8. A cycle of order n, denoted by Cn , is the graph [1, 2, 3, . . . , n, 1].

Definition 3.9. A wheel of order n, denoted by Wn is the graph formed by connecting
a single vertex, called the hub, to all the vertices of an (n − 1) cycle. The edges of the
wheel which include the hub are called spokes.

Definition 3.10. A graph is said to be r-regular if every vertex has degree r.

9
Definition 3.11. A graph G is said to be bipartite if its vertex set can be partitioned
into nonempty subsets X and Y in such a way that each edge consists of one vertex from
each set.
A complete bipartite graph is a bipartite graph in which every vertex in X is
adjacent to each vertex in Y . Km,n denotes the complete bipartite graph with partite
sets of sizes m and n.
Definition 3.12. A connected graph without cycles is called a tree.

3.2 Adjacency Matrix and Isomorphism

Definition 3.13. Let G be a graph with vertices x1 , x2 , . . . , xn . The adjacency matrix
of G denoted by A is the n × n matrix [aij ] where


1 if xi and xj are adjacent
aij =
0 otherwise.

Unless otherwise specified, by a graph we shall understand a finite undirected graph

without multiple edges or loops.
Definition 3.14. The complement of a graph G, denoted by G, is the graph having
the same vertex set as G and where two distinct vertices are adjacent if and only if they
are not adjacent in G.

Remark. If J is the n × n matrix of 1’s and In is the n × n identity matrix, then

A = J − In − A, where A is the adjacency matrix of the complement of the graph G.
Definition 3.15. Two graphs G1 and G2 are isomorphic if there exists a bijective
mapping φ : V (G1 ) → V (G2 ) such that [a, b] is an edge in G1 if and only if (φ(a), φ(b))
is an edge in G2 . The mapping φ is called an isomorphism. If G1 is isomorphic to
G2 , we shall write G1 ∼
= G2 , otherwise, we shall write G1 ∼6 G2 .
=

3.3 Connected Graphs

Definition 3.16. A graph G is said to be connected if for every pair of vertices in it,
there exists a path joining the two vertices. Otherwise, the graph is said to be discon-
nected.
Theorem 3.2. A graph G is connected if and only if for every partition of its vertex set
V (G) into two non-empty subsets A and B, there exists an edge [a, b] such that a ∈ A
and b ∈ B.

3.4 Subgraphs
Definition 3.17. A graph H is a subgraph of G if V (H) ⊆ V (G) and E(H) ⊆ E(G).
If V (H) = V (G) and E(H) ⊆ E(G), then H is called a spanning subgraph of G. For
a set of vertices V (H), we use G[V (H)] to denote the induced subgraph of G whose

10
vertex set is V (H) and whose edge set is the subset of E(G) consisting of those edges
with both ends in V (H).
If H is a subraph of G, we write in symbols H ⊆ G. If H 6= G, then H is called a
proper subgraph of G.
Theorem 3.3. A graph of size m has exactly 2m spanning subgraphs.
Definition 3.18. Let P be a graph property or condition. We say that a subgraph H of
G is maximal with respect to the property P if
1. H has the property P and
2. For every subgraph H ∗ of G which contains H properly, H ∗ does not have property
P.

Definition 3.19. Let P be a graph property or condition. We say that a subgraph H of

G is minimal with respect to the property P if
1. H has the property P and
2. No proper subgraph of H satisfies property P .

Definition 3.20. A connected component (or simply component) of a graph G is

any maximal connected subgraph of G.

Remarks.

1. If Gi and Gj are distinct connected components of a graph G, then V (Gi ) ∩

V (Gj ) = ∅.
2. A graph G is connected if and only if it has only one connected component.

3.5 Hamiltonian Graphs

Definition 3.21. A graph G is called Hamiltonian if it has a spanning cycle. A
spanning cycle in a Hamiltonian graph is also called a Hamiltonian cycle.
Definition 3.22. A cut vertex of a connected graph is a vertex whose removal, together
with all the edges containing it, results in a disconnected graph. A bridge of a connected
graph is an edge whose removal disconnects the graph.
Definition 3.23. A connected graph is called a block if it does not contain any cut
vertex. A block of a graph is a maximal connected subgraph having no cut vertex.
Theorem 3.4. If a graph is Hamiltonian, then it is a block.

11
3.6 Eulerian Graphs
Definition 3.24. An Eulerian walk in a graph G is a spanning walk containing each
edge of G exactly once. A graph is Eulerian if it has a closed Eulerian walk.
Theorem 3.5. The following statements are equivalent for a connected graph G:
1. G is Eulerian.

2. The edges of G can be partitioned into cycles.

3. Each vertex of G has an odd degree.
Corollary 3.5.1. A connected graph has an Eulerian walk if and only if the number of
odd vertices in it is either 0 or 2.

3.7 Independence Number and Dominance Number

Definition 3.25. An independent (stable) set S of a graph G is a subset of V (G)
where no two elements of S are adjacent. The independence (stability) number of
G, denoted by α(G), is defined by:

α(G) = max{|S| : S is an independent set in G}

Definition 3.26. A dominating set S of a graph G is a subset of V (G) where every

element of V (G) − S is adjacent to at least one element of S. The dominance number
of G, denoted by β(G), is defined by:

β(G) = min{|S| : S is a dominating set in G}

Theorem 3.6. A connected graph G of order at least two contains two disjoint minimal
dominating sets.
n
Corollary 3.6.1. Let G be a connected graph G of order n. If n ≥ 2, then β(G) ≤ .
2
Theorem 3.7. Let G be a graph and let S be an independent set in G. Then S is a
maximal independent set if and only if S is a dominating set.
Corollary 3.7.1. For any graph G, β(G) ≤ α(G) .

3.8 Coloring of Graphs

Definition 3.27. Let G be a graph. A k-coloring of G is a mapping Λ : V (G) →
{1, 2, . . . k}, k > 0 satisfying the following condition:

[x, y] ∈ E(G) ⇒ Λ(x) 6= Λ(y).

Definition 3.28. The chromatic number of a graph G, denoted by χ(G) is the least
integer λ such that there exists a λ-coloring of G.

12
Definition 3.29. The chromatic polynomial of a graph G, denoted by P (G, λ) rep-
resents the number of ways of coloring the graph using at most λ colors.
Theorem 3.8. Chromatic Reduction Formula 1
Let G be a graph and let a, b be non-adjacent vertices in G. Let G0 be the graph
obtained from G by adding the edge [a, b] and let G00 be the graph obtained from G by
identifying a and b. Then,

P (G, λ) = P (G0 , λ) + P (G00 , λ).

Theorem 3.9. Chromatic Reduction Formula 2

Let H be a graph and let a, b be adjacent vertices in G. Let H ∗ be the graph obtained
from H by deleting the edge [a, b] and let H ∗∗ be the graph obtained from H by identifying
a and b. Then,
P (H, λ) = P (H ∗ , λ) − P (H ∗∗ , λ).
Theorem 3.10. Let G be a graph of order n with chromatic polynomial

P (G, λ) = λn + an−1 λn−1 + an−2 λn−2 + . . . + +a1 λ + a0 .

Then the size of G is −an−1 .

Theorem 3.11. P (Cn , λ) = (λ − 1)n + (−1)n (λ − 1).
Theorem 3.12. The term with highest degree in P (G, λ) is λn where n is the order of
G.

Theorem 3.13. The constant term of P (G, λ) is 0.

Theorem 3.14. If a graph G has at least one edge, then the sum of the coefficients in
P (G, λ) is 0.
Theorem 3.15. If a graph G is connected, P (G, λ) is a sum of consecutive powers of
λ. Moreover, the coefficient of these powers of λ alternate in sign.
Corollary 3.15.1. The number of edges of a graph G of order n is equal to the absolute
value of the coefficient of λn−1 in its chromatic polynomial.
Theorem 3.16. A graph G is a tree if and only if P (G, λ) = λ(λ)n−1 for some integer
n > 0.

Corollary 3.16.1. For any connected graph G of order n, P (G, λ) ≤ λ(λ)n−1

3.9 Exercises
1. Consider the graph below.

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c
(a) Find the order and size of the graph.
(b) Find the degrees of each vertex in the graph.
(c) Find a walk of length 12.
(d) Find a path of length 3.
(e) Find a cycle.

2. Draw the graph corresponding to the family tree below.

GMA
|
..................................................................................................

| | |
Luli Mikey Dato
|
Mikaela

3. Write down the adjacency matrix for the graphs in Exercises 1 and 2.
4. Draw the graph whose adjacency matrix is given below.
 
0 0 1 1 1
0 1 0 1 0
 
0 0 0 0 0
 
1 0 1 0 1
1 1 0 0 0

5. Draw the following graphs:

(a) the complete graph K9
(b) the complete bipartite graph K2,4
(c) the complement of the path graph P3
(d) the complement of the cycle graph C4
6. How many edges has each of the following graphs

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 (a) C10 (b) K10 (c) the Petersen graph

7. In the Petersen graph, find

(a) a path of length 9 (b) cycles of lengths 5,6,8 and 9

8. Which of the following graphs are Eulerian?

(a) the complete graph K5 (c) the Petersen graph

(b) the complete bipartite graph K2,3

9. Which of the following graphs are Hamiltonian?

(a) the complete graph K5 (c) the graph of the octahedron

(b) the complete bipartite graph K2,3

10. Write down the chromatic polynomials of

(a) the complete graph K6 (b) the complete bipartite graph K1,5

11. Find a counterexample to show that if G and H have the same order and are both
3-regular then G ∼
=H
12. Determine if the polynomial λ3 − 4λ2 + 3λ is chromatic.
13. Determine the chromatic polynomial of the following graph.

................
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................................................................
.... ...

14. Let G be a connected graph and [a, b] a bridge of G. Prove that the graph G0
obtained by removing [a, b] has exactly two components.
15. If [a, b] is a bridge of a connected graph G of order n ≥ 3, prove that a or b is a
cut vertex.
16. Let G be a connected graph and [a, b] ∈ E(G). Prove that [a, b] is a bridge if and
only if it does not lie an any cycle of G.
17. Prove that, if G is a bipartite graph with an odd number of vertices, then G is
non-Hamiltonian.
18. Prove that every tree is a bipartite graph.

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