Planar Graphs

Planar graphs are graphs that can be drawn in the

plane without edges having to cross.
Understanding planar graph is important:
• Any graph representation of maps/ topographical
information is planar.
– graph algorithms often specialized to planar graphs (e.g.
traveling salesperson)
• Circuits usually represented by planar graphs

L25 1
 Planar Graphs
-Common Misunderstanding
Just because a graph is drawn with edges
crossing doesn’t mean its not planar.
Q: Why can’t we conclude that the following is
non-planar?

L25 2
 Planar Graphs
-Common Misunderstanding
A: Because it is isomorphic to a graph which is
planar:

L25 3
 Planar Graphs
-Common Misunderstanding
A: Because it is isomorphic to a graph which is
planar:

L25 4
 Planar Graphs
-Common Misunderstanding
A: Because it is isomorphic to a graph which is
planar:

L25 5
 Planar Graphs
-Common Misunderstanding
A: Because it is isomorphic to a graph which is
planar:

L25 6
 Planar Graphs
-Common Misunderstanding
A: Because it is isomorphic to a graph which is
planar:

L25 7
 Planar Graphs
-Common Misunderstanding
A: Because it is isomorphic to a graph which is
planar:

L25 8
 Planar Graphs
-Common Misunderstanding
A: Because it is isomorphic to a graph which is
planar:

L25 9
 Planar Graphs
-Common Misunderstanding
A: Because it is isomorphic to a graph which is
planar:

L25 10
 Planar Graphs
-Common Misunderstanding
A: Because it is isomorphic to a graph which is
planar:

L25 11
 Regions
The first invariant of a planar graph will be the
number of regions that the graph defines in the
plane. A region is a part of the plane completely
disconnected off from other parts of the plane by
the edges of the graph.
EG: the car graph has 4 regions:

4
3

L25
1 2 12
 Regions
Q: How many regions does the 3-cube have?

L25 13
 Regions
A: 6 regions

3
6 4 1 2
5

L25 14
 Regions
THM: The number of regions defined by a connected
planar graph is invariant of how it is drawn in the
plane and satisfies the formula involving edges and
vertices:
r = |E | - |V | + 2
EG: Verify formula for car and 3-cube:

4= 6-4+2 3
3 6= 12-8+2 4 1 2
5
L25 1 2 15
 Planar Graphs
• A graph is called planar if it can be drawn on
the plane in a way that no two of its edges
cross each other
 Planar graphs

A graph is planar if it can be drawn in the plane

without crossing edges
 Planar graphs
K4 can be drawn with no edges crossing.

A planar graph the points in the plane into

regions or faces. Any planar embedding of a
given graph has the same numbers of faces.
 Planar graphs
Two points (not vertices) are in the same
region iff it is possible to draw an edge
(curved) between them without touching
an edge of the region.

Each interior region (e.g. C and B) is

characterized by a cycle that forms its boundary.
The exterior region (D) contains all the points not
bounded by some cycle.
Euler’s Planar Graph Theorem
Euler’s Characteristic

Theorem : Euler's planar graph theorem

For all connected planar graph or multigraph:

v–e+r=2

number
number number of regions
of vertices of edges or faces
 Recall the Handshaking Theorem
Theorem: Let G=(V,E) be an undirected graph. Then
 Example of Handshaking Theorem
• Draw a graph with 4 edges and 4 vertices , having degrees
1,2,3,4.
• Solution: No such graph exists. The sum of the degrees of
all the vertices should be equal to twice the number of
edges. Half of the sum of the degrees is 5, which is not
equal to actual number of edges required in the question
(4).
• (1+2+3+4)/2 = 5, 5 =/= 4.
 Planar Graphs
Example where Euler’s theorem holds

A planar graph divides the plane

into several regions (faces), one
of them is the infinite external
region.

• v=4,e=5,r=3,
• v-e+r=2
•4-5+3=2
 Planar graphs
A graph (or multigraph) G is called planar if G can be
drawn in the plane with its edges intersecting only at
vertices of G, such a drawing of G is called an embedding
of G in the plane. Used in VLSI design, where
overlapping edges requires extra layers, wires cannot
overlap on the circuit board. Representation examples:
K1,K2,K3,K4 are planar, Kn for n>4 are non-planar
 Utility Problem(again)
• There are three houses and three utility companies--say, gas, electric,
and water--and asks if each utility can be connected to each house
without having any of the gas-water-electric lines pass over any
other. This is equivalent to the equation "Can a planar graph be
constructed from each of three nodes ('houses') to each of three
other nodes ('utilities')?" No such planar graph exists.
 Not planar
Here is an example of a
graph which doesn't have
K5 or K3,3 as its
subgraph. However, it has
a subgraph that is
homeomorphic to K3,3
(replace red lines with
yellow line) and is
therefore not planar.

A finite graph is planar if and only if it does not

contain a subgraph that is homeomorphic to K5 or
K3,3.
 Path and Cycle
• Path : a sequence of distinct vertices such
that two consecutive vertices are adjacent
– Example: (a, d, c, b, e) is a path
– (a, b, e, d, c, b, e, d) is not a path; it is a walk
• Cycle : a closed Path
– Example: (a, d, c, b, e, a) is a cycle
a b

e d
Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 28
 Subgraphs
• Example: H1, H2, and H3 are subgraphs
of G
a b

G c

e d

a b
a b
c H3 c
H1 H2
d e d
e d

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 29

 Subgraphs
• A subgraph of a graph G is a graph H
such that:
– V(H)  V(G) and E(H)  E(G) and
– The assignment of endpoints to edges in H is
the same as in G.

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 30

 Connected and Disconnected
• Connected : There exists at least one
path between two vertices
• Disconnected : Otherwise
• Example:
– H1 and H2 are connected
– H3 is disconnected
a b a b
c H3 c
H1 H2 e
d d
e d

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 31

 Adjacency, Incidence, and Degree
• Assume ei is an edge whose endpoints are (vj,vk)
• The vertices vj and vk are said to be adjacent
• The edge ei is said to be incident upon vj
• Degree of a vertex vk is the number of edges
incident upon vk . It is denoted as d(vk)

ei
vj vk

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 32

 Adjacency matrix
• Let G = (V, E), |V| = n and |E|=m
• The adjacency matrix of G written A(G),
is the n-by-n matrix in which entry ai,j is
the number of edges in G with endpoints
{vwi, vj}. w x y z
b w 0 1 1 0
y z x
a c e
1 0 2 0
y 1 2 0 1
x d
z 0 0 1 0

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 33

 Incidence Matrix
• Let G = (V, E), |V| = n and |E|=m
• The incidence matrix M(G) is the n-by-m
matrix in which entry mi,j is 1 if vi is an
endpoint of ei and otherwise is 0.
w a b c d e
b w 1
y 1 0 0 0
a c e
z x 1 0 1 1 0
x d y 0 1 1 1 1
z 0 0 0 0 1

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 34

 Isomorphism
• An isomorphism from a simple graph G
to a simple graph H is a bijection
f:V(G)V(H) such that uv E(G) if and only
if f(u)f(v)  E(H)
– We say “G is isomorphic to H”, written G  H
w y c f1 : w x y z
d
c b d a
G H
x z a b f2: w x y z
a d b c

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 35

 Complete Graph

• Complete Graph : a simple graph whose

vertices are pairwise adjacent

Complete Graph

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 36

 Walks, Trails 1.2.2

• A walk : a list of vertices and edges v0,

e1, v1, …., ek, vk such that, for 1  i  k,
the edge ei has endpoints vi-1 and vi .
• A trail : a walk with no repeated edge.

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 37

 Paths 1.2.2

• A u,v-walk or u,v-trail has first vertex u and

last vertex v; these are its endpoints.
• A u,v-path: a u,v-trail with no repeated
vertex.
• The length of a walk, trail, path, or cycle is
its number of edges.
• A walk or trail is closed if its endpoints are
the same.

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 38

 Components 1.2.8

• The components of a graph G are its

maximal connected subgraphs
• A component (or graph) is trivial if it has
no edges; otherwise it is nontrivial
• An isolated vertex is a vertex of degree 0

r s u v w y z

q t p x

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 39

 Theorem: Every graph with n vertices and k edges
has at least n-k components 1.2.11

Proof:
– An n-vertex graph with no edges has n
components
– Each edge added reduces this by at most
1
– If k edges are added, then the number of
components is at least n - k

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 40

Theorem: Every graph with n vertices and k edges has
at least n-k components 1.2.11

• Examples:

n =2, k =1, n =3, k =2, n =6, k =3, n =6, k =3,

1 component 1 component 3 components 4 components

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 41

 Theorem: A graph is bipartite only if it has no odd cycle.
1.2.18

Proof: (necessity)
• Let G be a bipartite graph.
• Every walk alternates between the two sets of a
bipartition
• So every return to the original partite set happens
after an even number of steps
• Hence G has no odd cycle

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 42

Proposition: Every even graph decomposes into cycles1.2.27

Proof:
• In the proof of Theorem 1.2.26
– It is noted that every even nontrivial graph
has a cycle
– The deletion of a cycle leaves an even
graph
• Thus this proposition follows by
induction on the number of edges

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 43

 Proposition: If G is a simple graph in which every vertex has
degree at least k, then G contains a path of length at least k.
If k2, then G also contains a cycle of length at least k+1. 1.2.28

Proof: (1/2)
• Let u be an endpoint of a maximal path P in
G.
• Since P does not extend, every neighbor of
u is in V(P).
• Since u has at least k neighbors and G is
simple, P therefore has at least k vertices
other than u and has length at least k.

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 44

 Proposition: If G is a simple graph in which every vertex has
degree at least k, then G contains a path of length at least k.
If k2, then G also contains a cycle of length at least k+1. 1.2.28
Proof: (2/2)
• If k  2, then the edge from u to its
farthest neighbor v along P completes a
sufficiently long cycle with the portion of
P from v to u.
d(u)  k v
u

At least k+1 vertices

Length  k
Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 45
 Degree 1.3.1

• The degree of vertex v in a graph G,

written or d (v ), is the number of
edges incident to v, except that each loop
at v counts twice
• The maximal degree is (G )
• The minimum degree is  (G )

G A B
d(B) = 3, d(C) = 2
F C
Δ(G) = 3, δ(G) = 2
E D

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 46

 Regular 1.3.1

• G is regular if (G ) =  (G )
• G is k-regular if the common degree is k.
• The neighborhood of v, written Ng (v ) or N
(v ) is the set of vertices
adjacent to v.

3-regular

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 47

 Order and size 1.3.2

• The order of a graph G, written n (G ), is

the number of vertices in G.
• An n-vertex graph is a graph of order n.
• The size of a graph G, written e (G ), is the
number of edges in G.
• For nN, the notation [n ] indicates the set
{1,…, n }.

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 48

 Proposition: (Degree-Sum Formula)
If G is a graph, then vV(G)d(v) = 2e(G) 1.3.3

Proof:
• Summing the degrees counts each edge
twice,
– Because each edge has two ends and
contributes to the degree at each endpoint.

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 49

 Theorem: If k>0, then a k-regular bipartite graph has the
same number of vertices in each partite set. 1.3.9
Proof:
• Let G be an X,Y - bigraph.
• Counting the edges according to their
endpoints in X yields e (G ) = k |X |.

d (x) = k
x

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 50

 Theorem: If k>0, then a k-regular bipartite graph has the
same number of vertices in each partite set. 1.3.9
Proof:
• Counting them by their endpoints in Y
yields e (G )=k |Y |
• Thus k |X | = k |Y |, which yields |X
|=|Y | when k > 0

d (x) = k y d (y) = k
x

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 51

 A technique for counting a set 1/3 1.3.10
• Example: The Petersen graph has ten 6-cycles
– Let G be the Petersen graph.
– Being 3-regular, G has ten copies of K1,3 (claw) . We
establish a one-to-one correspondence between the 6-
cycles and the claws.
– Since G has girth 5, every 6-cycle F is an induced
subgraph.
• see below
– Each vertex of F has one neighbor outside F.
• d(v)= 3, v V(G)
If Existing, Girth =3.
But Girth=5 so no such an edge

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 52

 A technique for counting a set 2/3 1.3.10
– Since nonadjacent vertices have exactly one
common neighbor (Proposition 1.1.38), opposite
vertices on F have a common neighbor outside F.
– Since G is 3-regular, the resulting three vertices
outside F are distinct.
– Thus deleting V(F) leaves a subgraph with three
vertices of degree 1 and one vertex of degree 3; it is
a claw. Common neighbor
of opposite vertices
If the neighbors are
not distinct, d(v)>3

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 53

 A technique for counting a set 3/3 3.10
– It is shown that each claw H in G arises exactly once in
this way.
– Let S be the set of vertices with degree 1 in H; S is an
independent set.
– The central vertex of H is already a common neighbor,
so the six other edges from S reach distinct vertices.
– Thus G-V(H) is 2-regular. Since G has girth 5, G-V(H)
must be a 6-cycle. This 6-cycle yields H when its
vertices are deleted.

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 54

Proposition: The minimum number of edges in a connected
graph with n vertices is n-1. 3.13

Proof:
• By proposition 1.2.11, every graph with n vertices
and k edges has at least n-k components.
• Hence every n-vertex graph with fewer than n-1
edges has at least two components and is
disconnected.
• The contrapositive of this is that every connected n-
vertex graph has at least n-1 edges. This lower
bound is achieved by the path Pn.

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 55

 Theorem: If G is simple n-vertex graph with (G)(n-
1)/2, then G is connected. 1.3.15

Proof: 1/2
• Choose u,v  V (G ).
• It suffices to show that u,v have a common
neighbor if they are not adjacent.
• Since G is simple, we have
|N(u) |   (G )  (n-1)/2,
and similarly for v.
– Recall:  (G ) is the minimum degree,
|N(u)| = d(u) Hence: |N(u) |   (G )

Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 56

 Theorem: If G is simple n-vertex graph with (G)(n-
1)/2, then G is connected. 1.3.15

Proof: 2/2
• When u and v are not connected, we have |N(u )
N(v )|  n - 2
– since u and v are not in the union
• Using Remark A.13 of Appendix A, we thus
compute

| N (u)  N (v)|| N (u)|  | N (v)|  | N (u)  N (v)|

 n 1  n 1  (n  2)1.
2 2
Graph Theory Ch. 1. Fundamental Concept 57
 Isomorphic graphs
G1 and G2 are isomorphic
• if there exist one-to-one onto functions f: V(G1) → V(G2)
and g: E(G1) → E(G2) such that
• an edge e is adjacent to vertices v, w in G1 if and only if
g(e) is adjacent to f(v) and f(w) in G2
 Homeomorphic graphs
• Two graphs G and G’ are said to be
homeomorphic if G’ is obtained from G by
a sequence of series reductions.
– By convention, G is said to be obtainable from
itself by a series reduction, i.e. G is
homeomorphic to itself.
• Define a relation R on graphs: GRG’ if G
and G’ are homeomorphic.
• R is an equivalence relation on the set of
all graphs.
 Euler’s formula

If G is planar graph,

v = number of vertices
e = number of edges
f = number of faces,
including the exterior
face
Then: v – e + f = 2
 Kuratowski’s theorem

G is a planar
graph if and only
if G does not
contain a
subgraph
homeomorphic
to either K 5 or K
3,3
Isomorphism and adjacency matrices

• Two graphs are

isomorphic if and only if
after reordering the
vertices their adjacency a b c d e
matrices are the same
a 0 1 1 0 0
b 1 0 0 1 0
c 1 0 0 0 1
d 0 1 0 0 1
e 0 0 1 1 0