Tutorial 8 Solutions

MATH 239 Winter 2024

Week of March 11

T-8-1. Let G = (V, E) be a graph, let v ∈ V be a vertex of degree 1 in G, and let G ∖ v be the graph
obtained from G by deleting the vertex v. Prove the following two claims.

(a) The graph G ∖ v is connected if and only if G is connected.

Solution. Let z ∈ V be the one vertex in V that is adjacent to v in G.

(a) First, assume that G is connected. Let w be any vertex of G ∖ v. Since G is connected,
there is a walk in G from z to w. Since there is a walk in G from z to w, there is a path P
in G from z to w. (Any shortest walk from z to w must be a path.) Since w is in G ∖ v, we
have w ̸= v. Since w ̸= v, the path P does not use the vertex v: if it did, then the vertex z
would have to be a repeated vertex on P ; but since P is a path it has no repeated vertices.
Therefore, P is a path from z to w in the graph G ∖ v. Since there is a path in G ∖ v from
z to every vertex of G ∖ v, it follows that G ∖ v is connected (by Theorem 4.8.2).
Conversely, assume that G ∖ v is connected. Then there is a path in G ∖ v from z to every
vertex w ∈ V ∖ v. Since G ∖ v is a subgraph of G, these are also paths in G. There is also
a path in G from z to v: it consists of a single edge (z v). Since there is a path in G from z
to every vertex of G, Theorem 4.8.2 again implies that G is connected.
(b) First, assume that G contains a cycle C. This cycle C can not use the vertex v, because
every vertex on C must have degree at least 2, but the degree of v is deg(v) = 1. (Another
reason is that the edge {v, z} is a bridge in G, so this edge can not be contained in a
cycle.) Since the cycle C doesn’t use the vertex v (or the edge vz), the cycle C is in fact a
subsgraph of G ∖ v. Therefore, G ∖ v contains a cycle.
Conversely, if C is a cycle contained in G ∖ v, then C is also a cycle contained in G,
because G ∖ v is a subgraph of G. So if G ∖ v contains a cycle then G contains a cycle.

T-8-2. A drawing without lifting the pen (DWLP) of a graph G is a walk that uses every edge of the
graph exactly once. (It is similar to the definition of an Eulerian circuit, but we allow distinct
start and end vertices.) Let G be a connected graph that has a DWLP. Prove that E(G) can be
partitioned into cycles and at most one path whose edges are pairwise disjoint.

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 MATH 239 Winter 2024 Tutorial 8 Solutions

Solution. If there are two vertices of odd degree, let P be a path between them. Remove the
edges in P . What remains is a graph G′ whose every vertex has even degree. If G′ has no
edges, we are done. Otherwise, each component of G′ has an Eulerian circuit, so every edge
is contained in a cycle. Peel off those cycles one at a time: with each removal of a cycle, the
graph on the remaining edges has the same property of having all even degrees. Continue
the process until all edges are distributed amongst edge-disjoint cycles. □

T-8-3. Let G = (V, E) be a connected graph for which |V | = |E|. Prove that G contains exactly one
cycle.
Solution. If G is a tree then |E| = |V | − 1. Since we are assuming that |V | = |E|, it follows
that G is not a tree. Since G is connected but not a tree, the graph G contains at least one
cycle C. Let e ∈ E(C) be any edge of the cycle C. By Theorem 4.10.3, the edge e = {v, w}
is not a bridge of G. Thus, the spanning subgraph H = G ∖ e of G is still connected. Since
|E(H)| = |V (H)| − 1, Corollary 5.2.2 implies that H is a tree. By Lemma 5.1.3, there is exactly
one path P in G ∖ e from v to w. Since H does not contain eny cycles, every cycle in G
must use the edge e. If C1 and C2 were two different cycles in G which both contain e, then
P1 = C1 ∖ e and P2 = C2 ∖ e would be two different paths in H = G ∖ e from v to w. But, as
we have seen, there is exactly one such path in H. It follows that there is exactly one cycle in
G. □

Extra Practice.

k


EP-8-1. Let G be a k-regular graph for k ≥ 2. Prove that G contains at least 2 distinct cycles.
Solution. Let p = v1 v2 . . . vL be a longest path in G. The vertex v1 has k neighbours and all of
them must be present in p (as otherwise we could add an edge and make p longer). Thus, for
any two neighbours a, b of v1 , we have {a, b} = {vs , vr } for some r < s and we can construct
a cycle
v1 vr vr+1 . . . vs v1
For each subset of two neighbours {a, b} ⊆ N (v1 ) we get a distinct cycle (as can be seen
since it contains edges {v1 , b}, {v1 , a}). Since v1 has k neighbours we get k2 subsets of 2

neighbours, and each gives a distinct cycle. □