Graph Terminology

1. A graph, G, is composed of vertex set, V, and edge set, E. This can be

expressed as G = (V, E).

2. Vertices ~ nodes, edges ~ links.

3. A link between node i and node k can be denoted by ej = (i, k). In this
case, nodes i and k are said to be adjacent, or they are neighbors.

4. A link could be unidirectional such that the order of nodes does matter.
Such a link is referred to as an arc which can be denoted by aj = [i, k].

5. A graph with links is called an undirected graph while one with arcs is
called a directed graph.

6. If two links share the same pair of nodes, then they are called parallel
links. A graph with parallel links is called a multigraph.

7. If a link connects a node to itself, then it is called a self loop. (See

Figure 3.2 for example)

8. A graph without parallel links or self loops is called a simple graph.

9. A path in a network is a sequence of links which begins at some node,

s (which is called source), and ends at some node, t (which is called
destination or sink). Such a path is also referred to as s,t-path.

10. A path can be directed or undirected, but the order of links does matter.

11. A path is said to be simple if a node appears no more than once in the
path, i.e., no loop.

12. If s is the same as t, the path is called a cycle, and if each intermediate
node appears no more than once, the cycle is called a simple cycle. (See
Example 3.1 and Figure 3.1)

13. A graph is connected if there is at least one path between every pair of
nodes.
14. The sets of nodes with paths to one another are connected
components, or more simply, components.

15. If links are bidirectional, the nodes in a component form an equivalent

class, where
a. i ~ i; (by definition)
b. if i ~ j, then j ~ i ; (because links are bidirectional)
c. if i ~ j and j ~ k, then i ~ k (trivial).

16. A directed graph with a directed path from every node to every other
node is called strongly connected.

17. A set of nodes with directed paths from any node to any other node is
called a strongly connected component. (See Example 3.2 and Figure
3.3)

18. Given a graph, G = (V, E), H is a subgraph of G if H = (V’, E’), where

V’ is a subset of V and E’ is a subset of E.

19. A spanning tree is a connected graph without cycles. More simply we

just refer such a graph to as a tree.

20. If the graph is not necessarily connected, it is referred to as a forest.

21. Spanning trees have the following interesting properties which make
them useful in designing communications networks:
a. They are minimally connected, that is, no subset of the edges
forms a connected graph. Thus, a tree would be the optimal
solution when designing a connected network of minimum cost.
b. There is exactly one path between every pair of nodes in a tree,
thus, routing problem is trivial in trees.

22. If a graph has N nodes, any tree spanning the nodes has exactly N-1
nodes. In fact, any forest with k components contains exactly N-k edges.

23. A set of edges, whose removal disconnects a graph, is called a

disconnecting set.

24. A disconnecting set which partitions the set of nodes into two sets, X
and Y, is called an X-Y cutset.
25. An X-Y cutest is called a minimal cutset if it contains minimum number
of edges to partitions nodes into sets X and Y. That is, a minimal cutset
has no subsets that are also a cutset. (See Example 3.3 and Figure 3.4)

26. In a tree, any edge is a minimal cutset.

27. A minimal set of nodes whose removal partitions the remaining nodes
into two sets is called a cut. (See Example 3.3 and Figure 3.4)