Graph Theory Exam Questions 2025
Graph Theory Exam Questions 2025
Graph isomorphism occurs when two graphs G and H can be transformed into each other merely by renaming vertices. Formally, G = (V, E) is isomorphic to H = (V', E') if there is a bijection f: V -> V' such that (u, v) is in E if and only if (f(u), f(v)) is in E'. For example, consider graph G with vertices {a, b, c} and edges {(a, b), (b, c), (a, c)}. Graph H with vertices {1, 2, 3} and edges {(1, 2), (2, 3), (1, 3)} is isomorphic to G since its structure can be mapped directly by the bijection f(a)=1, f(b)=2, f(c)=3 .
A graph is bipartite if and only if it has no odd cycles. This is because, in a bipartite graph, vertices can be divided into two sets such that no two graph vertices within the same set are adjacent. An odd cycle would require three vertices to be connected in a single face within one of these sets, which violates the definition of a bipartite division. Therefore, proving that a graph contains no odd-length cycles guarantees it can be split into two distinct sets without intra-set edges, confirming its bipartiteness .
A bipartite graph is a graph whose vertices can be divided into two disjoint and independent sets U and V such that every edge connects a vertex in U to one in V, ensuring there are no edges between vertices within the same set. A complete bipartite graph, denoted as K(m, n), is a bipartite graph where every vertex in set U is connected to every vertex in set V. The complete bipartite graph has the maximum number of edges, which is m*n when U has m vertices and V has n vertices .
The Königsberg bridge problem was significant in the development of graph theory as it led to the conception of this mathematical discipline by Leonhard Euler. The problem involved finding a walk through the city of Königsberg that would cross each of its seven bridges exactly once and return to the starting point. Euler's formulation and solution proved that such a walk (an Eulerian circuit) was not possible due to the presence of vertices with odd degree. This contributed not only to the foundation of graph theory but also introduced the fundamental concepts of Eulerian paths and circuits .
The adjacency matrix of a graph G is a square matrix used to represent a finite graph. The elements of the matrix indicate whether pairs of vertices are adjacent or not in the graph. If there is an edge between vertices i and j, the matrix element A[i][j] is 1; otherwise, it is 0. The incidence matrix, on the other hand, is a matrix that shows vertex-edge relationships in a graph. It has one row for each vertex and one column for each edge, with a '1' at position (i, j) if vertex i is an endpoint of edge j, otherwise '0'. These matrices effectively encode the connectivity and structure of graphs in algebraic form .