Menger's theoremIn the mathematical discipline of graph theory, Menger's theorem says that in a finite graph, the size of a minimum cut set is equal to the maximum number of disjoint paths that can be found between any pair of vertices. Proved by Karl Menger in 1927, it characterizes the connectivity of a graph. It is generalized by the max-flow min-cut theorem, which is a weighted, edge version, and which in turn is a special case of the strong duality theorem for linear programs.
Bridge (graph theory)In graph theory, a bridge, isthmus, cut-edge, or cut arc is an edge of a graph whose deletion increases the graph's number of connected components. Equivalently, an edge is a bridge if and only if it is not contained in any cycle. For a connected graph, a bridge can uniquely determine a cut. A graph is said to be bridgeless or isthmus-free if it contains no bridges. This type of bridge should be distinguished from an unrelated meaning of "bridge" in graph theory, a subgraph separated from the rest of the graph by a specified subset of vertices; see bridge.
Strong orientationIn graph theory, a strong orientation of an undirected graph is an assignment of a direction to each edge (an orientation) that makes it into a strongly connected graph. Strong orientations have been applied to the design of one-way road networks. According to Robbins' theorem, the graphs with strong orientations are exactly the bridgeless graphs. Eulerian orientations and well-balanced orientations provide important special cases of strong orientations; in turn, strong orientations may be generalized to totally cyclic orientations of disconnected graphs.
Cut (graph theory)In graph theory, a cut is a partition of the vertices of a graph into two disjoint subsets. Any cut determines a cut-set, the set of edges that have one endpoint in each subset of the partition. These edges are said to cross the cut. In a connected graph, each cut-set determines a unique cut, and in some cases cuts are identified with their cut-sets rather than with their vertex partitions. In a flow network, an s–t cut is a cut that requires the source and the sink to be in different subsets, and its cut-set only consists of edges going from the source's side to the sink's side.
Dual graphIn the mathematical discipline of graph theory, the dual graph of a planar graph G is a graph that has a vertex for each face of G. The dual graph has an edge for each pair of faces in G that are separated from each other by an edge, and a self-loop when the same face appears on both sides of an edge. Thus, each edge e of G has a corresponding dual edge, whose endpoints are the dual vertices corresponding to the faces on either side of e.
Graphic matroidIn the mathematical theory of matroids, a graphic matroid (also called a cycle matroid or polygon matroid) is a matroid whose independent sets are the forests in a given finite undirected graph. The dual matroids of graphic matroids are called co-graphic matroids or bond matroids. A matroid that is both graphic and co-graphic is sometimes called a planar matroid (but this should not be confused with matroids of rank 3, which generalize planar point configurations); these are exactly the graphic matroids formed from planar graphs.
Ear decompositionIn graph theory, an ear of an undirected graph G is a path P where the two endpoints of the path may coincide, but where otherwise no repetition of edges or vertices is allowed, so every internal vertex of P has degree two in G. An ear decomposition of an undirected graph G is a partition of its set of edges into a sequence of ears, such that the one or two endpoints of each ear belong to earlier ears in the sequence and such that the internal vertices of each ear do not belong to any earlier ear.
Robbins' theoremIn graph theory, Robbins' theorem, named after , states that the graphs that have strong orientations are exactly the 2-edge-connected graphs. That is, it is possible to choose a direction for each edge of an undirected graph G, turning it into a directed graph that has a path from every vertex to every other vertex, if and only if G is connected and has no bridge. Robbins' characterization of the graphs with strong orientations may be proven using ear decomposition, a tool introduced by Robbins for this task.
K-vertex-connected graphIn graph theory, a connected graph G is said to be k-vertex-connected (or k-connected) if it has more than k vertices and remains connected whenever fewer than k vertices are removed. The vertex-connectivity, or just connectivity, of a graph is the largest k for which the graph is k-vertex-connected. A graph (other than a complete graph) has connectivity k if k is the size of the smallest subset of vertices such that the graph becomes disconnected if you delete them.
Orientation (graph theory)In graph theory, an orientation of an undirected graph is an assignment of a direction to each edge, turning the initial graph into a directed graph. A directed graph is called an oriented graph if none of its pairs of vertices is linked by two symmetric edges. Among directed graphs, the oriented graphs are the ones that have no 2-cycles (that is at most one of (x, y) and (y, x) may be arrows of the graph). A tournament is an orientation of a complete graph. A polytree is an orientation of an undirected tree.