CHAPTER 5: Colourings Flashcards
(89 cards)
Started with 4 colour theorem:
Any map can be coloured with four colours so that adjacent countries have different colours. I Posed by Guthrie 1852 I Proved by Appel and Haken 1976
DEF:
The chromatic number
The chromatic number χ(G) of a graph G is the least number of
colours needed to colour the vertices so that adjacent vertices have different colours.
Theorem (The four colour theorem)
A planar graph G has χ(G) ≤ 4.
First examples of chromatic number
The complete graph Kn
The complete graph has χ(Kn) = n
First examples of chromatic number
Bipartite graphs
A graph G has χ(G) = 2 if and only if G is bipartite.
First examples of chromatic number
The wheel graph Wn
χ(Wn) = (
3 n even
4 n odd
n+1 vertices:
W_3 : χ =4 since its K_4
W_4: χ=3
ANY COLOURING OF W_n is a colouring of C_n as the wheel and central vertec has to be a new colour since it touches all
First examples of chromatic number
The empty graph En
The only graphs with χ(G) = 1 are the empty graphs En.
How to find χ(G):
in an exam we will find this:
colour with this many colours and explain why we cant do less
Start by finding rough upper and lower bounds.
Upper bound: colour it
Lower bound: often case by case
Finding the χ(G) is NP-hard
So no beautiful answer. But for small graphs not that bad.
How to find χ(G):
Upper bound:
If you can colour the vertices of G with k colours so that adjacent vertices don’t share a vertex, then χ(G) ≤ k.
How to find χ(G): Lower bound:
Lower bound: often case by case
A few trivial tricks:
I If a vertex is adjacent to everything, as in Wn
I If H is a subgraph of G, then χ(G) ≥ χ(H).
χ(C_n):
C2 : χ=2
C_3: χ=3
they all touch each other
C_4:χ=2
C_5: χ=3
If C_n is even then bipartite and 2 colours
3 if n is odd so at least 3
*IN EXAM: last one is the third colour ie try and do with 2 then last with a third
show i cant do with less, explain why.
EXAMPLE GRAPH
7 vertex graph
4 cycles 1243 and 4576
edges 23 and 56 and 17
LOWER BOUND:
- can’t do with one colour
- 2? its not bipartite - there are odd cycles
- we see triangles 123 so need at least 3 colours
tried WLOG: without loss of generality
1red
2blue
3 purple
4 cannot be blue or purple so red
5 and 6 can be blue or purple (one of each)
7 can only be blue or purple as touches 1
so here we cannot colour these in 3 colours so need one more colour
χ(G)≥ 4
upper bound:
colour as 4- then χ(G)=4
(last vertex fourth colour)
EXAMPLE GRAPH
COMPLICATED SEE SLIDES
10 vertices
*we see odd cycles so not bipartite so more than 2
*3: we see triangles but vertex W_5 around D and one around C
also K_4 subgraph DCIH
*At least 4:Attempt
*Considering cases after:
WLOG
By symmetry we can avoid ‘cases’ ie loss of generality
there is a colouring with 4 colours so χ(Q)=4
DEF
∆(G)
∆(G) is the maximum degree of all vertices of G.
Lemma about ∆(G)
χ(G) ≤ ∆(G) + 1
Proof.
Colour the vertices one by one in any order.
Colour vertices 1 by 1. SUppose youve coloured vertices V_1 and V_2 using at most ∆(G) + 1
χ(G) ≤ ∆(G) + 1
Proof.
I think in exam…
Proof.
Colour the vertices one by one in any order.
Colour vertices 1 by 1. SUppose youve coloured vertices V_1 and V_2 using at most ∆(G) + 1 colours and now we want to colour V_(k+1)
Any colour that V_(k+1) is adjacent to cant be used.
All we know is that the edges out of V_(k+1) is at most ∆(G). Some might not already be coloured, some may have same colours. We have ∆(G) + 1 colours to use. The worst case is that we have used ∆(G) colours so we can colour this anyway by the last unused colour.
EXAMPLE: The bound is tight, but for very few graphs:
χ(G) ≤ ∆(G) + 1
**
χ(Kn) = n = ∆(Kn) + 1
For n odd, χ(Cn) = 3 = ∆(Cn) + 1
Theorem (Brooks)
If G isn’t a complete graph or an odd cycle, then χ(G) ≤ ∆(G).
Suppose you have some things you want to separate into groups, but certain things can’t be in the same group. How many groups do you need?
- Group vacation, several cottages, some people don’t get on
- Storing chemicals, some react dangerously with each other
Make a graph G with:
- Vertices are the things
- Edges mean the vertices can’t be in the same group
The groups are the colours.
χ(G) is the lowest feasible number of groups
EXAMPLE: X indicated two people cant be in the same groups
AB X AC X AF X AG X BC X BD X BG X CD X CE X DE X DF X FE X EG X FG X
Circulate graph* So this forms a graph with 7 vertices and drawing these edges graph coloured WLOG A=1 B=2 G=3 try to colour in 3 colours as odd cycles indicate not bipartite C cannot be 1 or 2 c=3 D=1 as connected to C and B F=2 adjacent to G,A and D last vertex E is adjacent to all 3 colours so must be 4 colours
SO minimum number of groups are 4
Theorem
Chromatic Number for planar graphs
For G a planar graph χ(G) ≤ 6.
For G a planar graph χ(G) ≤ 6
PROOF
Step 1: Using Euler’s Theorem
Definition
δ(G) denotes the minimum degree of all vertices in G.
Lemma
For G a simple planar graph δ(G) ≤ 5
Step 2: Induction
We proved χ(G) ≤ ∆(G) + 1 by colouring the vertices of G in any order. The Lemma bounds δ(G) and not ∆(G); need to be a little smarter.
Lemma
For G a simple planar graph δ(G) ≤ 5
PROOF
Assume not, then δ(G) bigger than 5
so d(v) ≥ δ(G) ≥ 6
So combine this with V-E handshaking:
2E = sum of d(v) ≥ 6V
- Euler’s Theorem V − E + F = 2
- Face-Edge handshaking
V≤2E/6= EF/3 ≤ 2E/3
Bounds on d(F) come from simple so no loops and multiple edges so d(F) bigger than or equal to 3
*Simple, so d(f ) ≥ 3 for all faces. So 2E ≥ 3F
Proof of the Six Colour Theorem
Assume G is planar. We can assume that G is simple.
Induct on n the number of vertices
Base case: n ≤ 6
At most six vertices, so can give each vertex a different colour.
Inductive Step
Assume that G has n vertices, and every planar simple graph with less than n vertices can be coloured with six colours.
I By the Lemma, G has a vertex v with d(v) ≤ 5
I The graph G \ v has n − 1 vertices, so can be six coloured
I Now colour v