Graph: Hamiltonian &

Coloring

Nitin Upadhyay
March 17, 2006
Hamiltonian Graphs

 A graph G is said to be Hamiltonian if there

exists a cycle containing every vertex of G.
 Such cycle referred to Hamiltonian cycle.
 A graph is said to be Hamiltonian graph if it
contains Hamiltonian cycle.
 A Hamiltonian path is a simple path that
contains all vertices of G where the end
points are distinct.
Example 1

 Find Hamiltonian Cycle and Path for the

following graph:
Solution

 Hamiltonian Cycle
Solution

 Hamiltonian Path
Rules for Constructing
Hamiltonian paths and Cycles
 If G has n vertices, then a Hamiltonian path must
contain exactly n-1 edges, and a Hamiltonian cycle
must contain exactly n edges.
 If a vertex v in G has degree k, then a Hamiltonian
path must contain at least one edge incident on v
and at most two edges incident on v.
 Once a vertex is selected in the path then all other
unused edges associated with the vertex must be
deleted as only two edges incident on v can be
included in a Hamiltonian cycle.
Scheduling Problem
 Suppose state legislature has a list of 21 standing
committees.
 Each committee is supposed to meet one hour each
week.
 The constraint is that no legislator should be
schedule to be in two different committee meetings
at the same time.
 The problem is to obtain a weekly schedule such
that it comprise of minimum hours of time for
meeting with no legislators share two meeting.
Solution

 One of the solution to the scheduling problem is

to use vertex coloring.
 A graph G is build such that vertices represent
legislative committees and edges joining vertices
represent common legislator.
 In this the colors are assigned to vertices of G,
such that adjacent vertices have different colors.
Chromatic numbers

 An n-coloring of G is a coloring of G using n-

colors.
 If g has n-coloring then G is said to be n-
coloring.
 The chromatic number of a graph G, χ(G), is
the minimum number n for which there exists
an n-coloring of the vertices of G.
Sequential coloring

 For any ordering v1, v2,…vn of the n vertices

of a graph.
 Any sequence c1, c2,…, cn of n colors.
 The color to be assigned to Vi is the smallest-
indexed color not already assigned to one of
its lower-indexed neighboring vertices.
Theorem 1

A Complete graph of n vertices, Kn, requires at

least n colors.
A complete graph with n vertices have

n(n-1)/2 edges as their exists an edge between

every pair of vertices.
n-1 colors implies at least one vertex will have

the same color as an adjacent vertex .

Theorems

 A Complete Bipartite graph with m set of

vertices and n set of vertices can be colored
using at most two colors.
 The chromatic number of a cycle of length n,
Cn, is 2 if the cycle is even.
The chromatic number of a cycle
of length n, Cn, is 2 if the cycle
isConsider
 even. an even cycle: v1,v2,v3,v4,v1.
 a coloring of an even cycle is analogous to
selecting vertices to be in one set and
adjacent vertices to be in the opposite set
The chromatic number of a cycle
of length n, Cn, is 3 if the cycle
isStarting
 odd fromandtheninitial
> 1. vertex, we color it 1.
 As the graph is traversed, vertices are colored in
alternation.
 Proceeding to color vertices we arrive at case where
the first and n-1 vertex have the same color.
 Thus, it is necessary to introduce a third color to
either of the vertices in order to color the graph.
 A graph with an odd cycle is not bipartite.
The map coloring problem
 Color the countries with
the fewest number of
colors
 Different colors on
adjacent countries
 4 colors always suffice
Every simple planar graph is 5-
colorable
 Color all the vertices of the graph G with color set
c={c1, c2,…,c5}
 Delete the vertex v (G-v) having maximum degree.
 Recolor the vertices with different color schemes so
that no contradiction exists.
 If at any vertex contradiction occur that means two
adjacent vertex results in same color then pick the
left over color from the set and assigned to the
vertex.
 Again repeat the process by deleting the vertex of
maximum degree and recoloring the rest graph.
Questions ?