Distance-hereditary graphIn graph theory, a branch of discrete mathematics, a distance-hereditary graph (also called a completely separable graph) is a graph in which the distances in any connected induced subgraph are the same as they are in the original graph. Thus, any induced subgraph inherits the distances of the larger graph. Distance-hereditary graphs were named and first studied by , although an equivalent class of graphs was already shown to be perfect in 1970 by Olaru and Sachs.
Trivially perfect graphIn graph theory, a trivially perfect graph is a graph with the property that in each of its induced subgraphs the size of the maximum independent set equals the number of maximal cliques. Trivially perfect graphs were first studied by but were named by ; Golumbic writes that "the name was chosen since it is trivial to show that such a graph is perfect." Trivially perfect graphs are also known as comparability graphs of trees, arborescent comparability graphs, and quasi-threshold graphs.
Induced subgraphIn the mathematical field of graph theory, an induced subgraph of a graph is another graph, formed from a subset of the vertices of the graph and all of the edges (from the original graph) connecting pairs of vertices in that subset. Formally, let be any graph, and let be any subset of vertices of G. Then the induced subgraph is the graph whose vertex set is and whose edge set consists of all of the edges in that have both endpoints in . That is, for any two vertices , and are adjacent in if and only if they are adjacent in .
Ptolemaic graphIn graph theory, a Ptolemaic graph is an undirected graph whose shortest path distances obey Ptolemy's inequality, which in turn was named after the Greek astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy. The Ptolemaic graphs are exactly the graphs that are both chordal and distance-hereditary; they include the block graphs and are a subclass of the perfect graphs. A graph is Ptolemaic if and only if it obeys any of the following equivalent conditions: The shortest path distances obey Ptolemy's inequality: for every four vertices u, v, w, and x, the inequality d(u,v)d(w,x) + d(u,x)d(v,w) ≥ d(u,w)d(v,x) holds.
Perfectly orderable graphIn graph theory, a perfectly orderable graph is a graph whose vertices can be ordered in such a way that a greedy coloring algorithm with that ordering optimally colors every induced subgraph of the given graph. Perfectly orderable graphs form a special case of the perfect graphs, and they include the chordal graphs, comparability graphs, and distance-hereditary graphs. However, testing whether a graph is perfectly orderable is NP-complete.
Hypercube graphIn graph theory, the hypercube graph Q_n is the graph formed from the vertices and edges of an n-dimensional hypercube. For instance, the cube graph Q_3 is the graph formed by the 8 vertices and 12 edges of a three-dimensional cube. Q_n has 2^n vertices, 2^n – 1n edges, and is a regular graph with n edges touching each vertex. The hypercube graph Q_n may also be constructed by creating a vertex for each subset of an n-element set, with two vertices adjacent when their subsets differ in a single element, or by creating a vertex for each n-digit binary number, with two vertices adjacent when their binary representations differ in a single digit.
Path (graph theory)In graph theory, a path in a graph is a finite or infinite sequence of edges which joins a sequence of vertices which, by most definitions, are all distinct (and since the vertices are distinct, so are the edges). A directed path (sometimes called dipath) in a directed graph is a finite or infinite sequence of edges which joins a sequence of distinct vertices, but with the added restriction that the edges be all directed in the same direction. Paths are fundamental concepts of graph theory, described in the introductory sections of most graph theory texts.
Claw-free graphIn graph theory, an area of mathematics, a claw-free graph is a graph that does not have a claw as an induced subgraph. A claw is another name for the complete bipartite graph K1,3 (that is, a star graph comprising three edges, three leaves, and a central vertex). A claw-free graph is a graph in which no induced subgraph is a claw; i.e., any subset of four vertices has other than only three edges connecting them in this pattern. Equivalently, a claw-free graph is a graph in which the neighborhood of any vertex is the complement of a triangle-free graph.
CographIn graph theory, a cograph, or complement-reducible graph, or P4-free graph, is a graph that can be generated from the single-vertex graph K1 by complementation and disjoint union. That is, the family of cographs is the smallest class of graphs that includes K1 and is closed under complementation and disjoint union. Cographs have been discovered independently by several authors since the 1970s; early references include , , , and . They have also been called D*-graphs, hereditary Dacey graphs (after the related work of James C.
Block graphIn graph theory, a branch of combinatorial mathematics, a block graph or clique tree is a type of undirected graph in which every biconnected component (block) is a clique. Block graphs are sometimes erroneously called Husimi trees (after Kôdi Husimi), but that name more properly refers to cactus graphs, graphs in which every nontrivial biconnected component is a cycle. Block graphs may be characterized as the intersection graphs of the blocks of arbitrary undirected graphs.
Chordal graphIn the mathematical area of graph theory, a chordal graph is one in which all cycles of four or more vertices have a chord, which is an edge that is not part of the cycle but connects two vertices of the cycle. Equivalently, every induced cycle in the graph should have exactly three vertices. The chordal graphs may also be characterized as the graphs that have perfect elimination orderings, as the graphs in which each minimal separator is a clique, and as the intersection graphs of subtrees of a tree.
Cluster graphIn graph theory, a branch of mathematics, a cluster graph is a graph formed from the disjoint union of complete graphs. Equivalently, a graph is a cluster graph if and only if it has no three-vertex induced path; for this reason, the cluster graphs are also called P_3-free graphs. They are the complement graphs of the complete multipartite graphs and the 2-leaf powers. The cluster graphs are transitively closed, and every transitively closed undirected graph is a cluster graph.
Perfect graphIn graph theory, a perfect graph is a graph in which the chromatic number equals the size of the maximum clique, both in the graph itself and in every induced subgraph. In all graphs, the chromatic number is greater than or equal to the size of the maximum clique, but they can be far apart. A graph is perfect when these numbers are equal, and remain equal after the deletion of arbitrary subsets of vertices. The perfect graphs include many important families of graphs and serve to unify results relating colorings and cliques in those families.
Cycle graphIn graph theory, a cycle graph or circular graph is a graph that consists of a single cycle, or in other words, some number of vertices (at least 3, if the graph is simple) connected in a closed chain. The cycle graph with n vertices is called C_n. The number of vertices in C_n equals the number of edges, and every vertex has degree 2; that is, every vertex has exactly two edges incident with it. There are many synonyms for "cycle graph".
Complement graphIn the mathematical field of graph theory, the complement or inverse of a graph G is a graph H on the same vertices such that two distinct vertices of H are adjacent if and only if they are not adjacent in G. That is, to generate the complement of a graph, one fills in all the missing edges required to form a complete graph, and removes all the edges that were previously there. The complement is not the set complement of the graph; only the edges are complemented. Let G = (V, E) be a simple graph and let K consist of all 2-element subsets of V.
Cycle (graph theory)In graph theory, a cycle in a graph is a non-empty trail in which only the first and last vertices are equal. A directed cycle in a directed graph is a non-empty directed trail in which only the first and last vertices are equal. A graph without cycles is called an acyclic graph. A directed graph without directed cycles is called a directed acyclic graph. A connected graph without cycles is called a tree. A circuit is a non-empty trail in which the first and last vertices are equal (closed trail).
Strong perfect graph theoremIn graph theory, the strong perfect graph theorem is a forbidden graph characterization of the perfect graphs as being exactly the graphs that have neither odd holes (odd-length induced cycles of length at least 5) nor odd antiholes (complements of odd holes). It was conjectured by Claude Berge in 1961. A proof by Maria Chudnovsky, Neil Robertson, Paul Seymour, and Robin Thomas was announced in 2002 and published by them in 2006.
Independent set (graph theory)In graph theory, an independent set, stable set, coclique or anticlique is a set of vertices in a graph, no two of which are adjacent. That is, it is a set of vertices such that for every two vertices in , there is no edge connecting the two. Equivalently, each edge in the graph has at most one endpoint in . A set is independent if and only if it is a clique in the graph's complement. The size of an independent set is the number of vertices it contains. Independent sets have also been called "internally stable sets", of which "stable set" is a shortening.
