Graph homomorphismIn the mathematical field of graph theory, a graph homomorphism is a mapping between two graphs that respects their structure. More concretely, it is a function between the vertex sets of two graphs that maps adjacent vertices to adjacent vertices. Homomorphisms generalize various notions of graph colorings and allow the expression of an important class of constraint satisfaction problems, such as certain scheduling or frequency assignment problems.
Handshaking lemmaIn graph theory, a branch of mathematics, the handshaking lemma is the statement that, in every finite undirected graph, the number of vertices that touch an odd number of edges is even. For example, if there is a party of people who shake hands, the number of people who shake an odd number of other people's hands is even. The handshaking lemma is a consequence of the degree sum formula, also sometimes called the handshaking lemma, according to which the sum of the degrees (the numbers of times each vertex is touched) equals twice the number of edges in the graph.
Chromatic polynomialThe chromatic polynomial is a graph polynomial studied in algebraic graph theory, a branch of mathematics. It counts the number of graph colorings as a function of the number of colors and was originally defined by George David Birkhoff to study the four color problem. It was generalised to the Tutte polynomial by Hassler Whitney and W. T. Tutte, linking it to the Potts model of statistical physics. George David Birkhoff introduced the chromatic polynomial in 1912, defining it only for planar graphs, in an attempt to prove the four color theorem.
Trapezoid graphIn graph theory, trapezoid graphs are intersection graphs of trapezoids between two horizontal lines. They are a class of co-comparability graphs that contain interval graphs and permutation graphs as subclasses. A graph is a trapezoid graph if there exists a set of trapezoids corresponding to the vertices of the graph such that two vertices are joined by an edge if and only if the corresponding trapezoids intersect. Trapezoid graphs were introduced by Dagan, Golumbic, and Pinter in 1988.
