Paths, cycles, connectivity

Walks and paths, cycles and circuits, distance and diameter, connectivity of a graph, bridges, reachability and strong connectivity in a directed graph.

  • 29 cards
  • 4 topics
  • Free

The outline, topic by topic

Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.

  1. Concepts
  2. Questions
  3. Sort and link
  4. The numbers

A few cards from the deck

  • Chain (walk): what is it?

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    A sequence of vertices in which any two consecutive vertices are joined by an edge; its number of edges is its length.

    A-B-C is a chain of length 2 if A-B and B-C are edges. In an undirected graph it can be read in both directions.

  • A graph has the edges A-B, B-C, C-D, A-E and E-D. What is the distance from A to D?

    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
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    2

    A-E-D links A to D in 2 edges. The chain A-B-C-D (3) also exists, but distance is the shortest one. 5 is the length of the whole cycle, 4 the number of vertices of A-B-C-D.

  • The … of a vertex is its largest distance to another vertex; the … is the largest eccentricity.

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    The eccentricity of a vertex is its largest distance to another vertex; the diameter is the largest eccentricity.

    The diameter is therefore the largest distance in the graph. It is measured with shortest chains, never with the longest chain.

  • Directed path: what is it?

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    A sequence of vertices of a directed structure in which each arc is followed in its own direction, from start to end.

    A chain ignores the direction of arcs, a path respects it: with A → B and C → B, A-B-C is a chain but not a path.