Steinitz's theoremIn polyhedral combinatorics, a branch of mathematics, Steinitz's theorem is a characterization of the undirected graphs formed by the edges and vertices of three-dimensional convex polyhedra: they are exactly the 3-vertex-connected planar graphs. That is, every convex polyhedron forms a 3-connected planar graph, and every 3-connected planar graph can be represented as the graph of a convex polyhedron. For this reason, the 3-connected planar graphs are also known as polyhedral graphs.
Clique-sumIn graph theory, a branch of mathematics, a clique-sum is a way of combining two graphs by gluing them together at a clique, analogous to the connected sum operation in topology. If two graphs G and H each contain cliques of equal size, the clique-sum of G and H is formed from their disjoint union by identifying pairs of vertices in these two cliques to form a single shared clique, and then possibly deleting some of the clique edges. A k-clique-sum is a clique-sum in which both cliques have at most k vertices.
Graphe polyédriqueEn théorie des graphes, une branche des mathématiques, un graphe polyédrique est un graphe non orienté défini en termes géométriques : il représente les sommets et les arêtes d'un polyèdre convexe. On peut aussi définir un graphe polyédrique en termes purement issus de la théorie des graphes : c'est un graphe planaire 3 sommet-connexe. Le diagramme de Schlegel d'un polyèdre convexe représente ses sommets et ses arêtes par des points et des segments de droite dans le plan euclidien.
Strangulated graphIn graph theoretic mathematics, a strangulated graph is a graph in which deleting the edges of any induced cycle of length greater than three would disconnect the remaining graph. That is, they are the graphs in which every peripheral cycle is a triangle. In a maximal planar graph, or more generally in every polyhedral graph, the peripheral cycles are exactly the faces of a planar embedding of the graph, so a polyhedral graph is strangulated if and only if all the faces are triangles, or equivalently it is maximal planar.
Cycle basisIn graph theory, a branch of mathematics, a cycle basis of an undirected graph is a set of simple cycles that forms a basis of the cycle space of the graph. That is, it is a minimal set of cycles that allows every even-degree subgraph to be expressed as a symmetric difference of basis cycles. A fundamental cycle basis may be formed from any spanning tree or spanning forest of the given graph, by selecting the cycles formed by the combination of a path in the tree and a single edge outside the tree.
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.
Graphe cordalthumb|Un cycle, en noir, avec deux cordes, en vert. Si l'on s'en tient à cette partie, le graphe est cordal. Supprimer l'une des arêtes vertes rendrait le graphe non cordal. En effet, l'autre arête verte formerait, avec les trois arêtes noires, un cycle de longueur 4 sans corde. En théorie des graphes, on dit qu'un graphe est cordal si chacun de ses cycles de quatre sommets ou plus possède une corde, c'est-à-dire une arête reliant deux sommets non adjacents du cycle.
Cycle (théorie des graphes)thumb|Dans ce graphe, le cycle rouge est élémentaire. Le cycle bleu ne l'est pas. La chaine verte n'est pas fermée et ne forme donc pas un cycle. Dans un graphe non orienté, un cycle est une suite d'arêtes consécutives distinctes (chaine simple) dont les deux sommets extrémités sont identiques. Dans les graphes orientés, la notion équivalente est celle de circuit, même si on parle parfois aussi de cycle (par exemple dans l'expression graphe acyclique orienté).
Cycle spaceIn graph theory, a branch of mathematics, the (binary) cycle space of an undirected graph is the set of its even-degree subgraphs. This set of subgraphs can be described algebraically as a vector space over the two-element finite field. The dimension of this space is the circuit rank of the graph. The same space can also be described in terms from algebraic topology as the first homology group of the graph. Using homology theory, the binary cycle space may be generalized to cycle spaces over arbitrary rings.
Circuit rankIn graph theory, a branch of mathematics, the circuit rank, cyclomatic number, cycle rank, or nullity of an undirected graph is the minimum number of edges that must be removed from the graph to break all its cycles, making it into a tree or forest. It is equal to the number of independent cycles in the graph (the size of a cycle basis). Unlike the corresponding feedback arc set problem for directed graphs, the circuit rank r is easily computed using the formula where m is the number of edges in the given graph, n is the number of vertices, and c is the number of connected components.