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Concept
Hamiltonian path problem
Summary
In the mathematical field of graph theory the Hamiltonian path problem and the Hamiltonian cycle problem are problems of determining whether a Hamiltonian path (a path in an undirected or directed graph that visits each vertex exactly once) or a Hamiltonian cycle exists in a given graph (whether directed or undirected). Both problems are NP-complete.
The Hamiltonian cycle problem is a special case of the travelling salesman problem, obtained by setting the distance between two cities to one if they are adjacent and two otherwise, and verifying that the total distance travelled is equal to n (if so, the route is a Hamiltonian circuit; if there is no Hamiltonian circuit then the shortest route will be longer).
The problems of finding a Hamiltonian path and a Hamiltonian cycle can be related as follows:
In one direction, the Hamiltonian path problem for graph G can be related to the Hamiltonian cycle problem in a graph H obtained from G by adding a new universal vertex x, connecting x to all vertices of G. Thus, finding a Hamiltonian path cannot be significantly slower (in the worst case, as a function of the number of vertices) than finding a Hamiltonian cycle.
In the other direction, the Hamiltonian cycle problem for a graph G is equivalent to the Hamiltonian path problem in the graph H obtained by adding terminal (degree-one) vertices s and t attached respectively to a vertex v of G and to v', a cleaved copy of v which gives v' the same neighbourhood as v. The Hamiltonian path in H running through vertices s-v-x-\cdots-y-v'-t corresponds to the Hamiltonian cycle in G running through v-x-\cdots-y(-v).
There are n! different sequences of vertices that might be Hamiltonian paths in a given n-vertex graph (and are, in a complete graph), so a brute force search algorithm that tests all possible sequences would be very slow.
An early exact algorithm for finding a Hamiltonian cycle on a directed graph was the enumerative algorithm of Martello.
Official source
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