In graph theory, a part of discrete mathematics, the BEST theorem gives a product formula for the number of Eulerian circuits in directed (oriented) graphs. The name is an acronym of the names of people who discovered it: de Bruijn, van Aardenne-Ehrenfest, Smith and Tutte.
Let G = (V, E) be a directed graph. An Eulerian circuit is a directed closed path which visits each edge exactly once. In 1736, Euler showed that G has an Eulerian circuit if and only if G is connected and the indegree is equal to outdegree at every vertex. In this case G is called Eulerian. We denote the indegree of a vertex v by deg(v).
The BEST theorem states that the number ec(G) of Eulerian circuits in a connected Eulerian graph G is given by the formula
Here tw(G) is the number of arborescences, which are trees directed towards the root at a fixed vertex w in G. The number tw(G) can be computed as a determinant, by the version of the matrix tree theorem for directed graphs. It is a property of Eulerian graphs that tv(G) = tw(G) for every two vertices v and w in a connected Eulerian graph G.
The BEST theorem shows that the number of Eulerian circuits in directed graphs can be computed in polynomial time, a problem which is #P-complete for undirected graphs. [1] It is also used in the asymptotic enumeration of Eulerian circuits of complete and complete bipartite graphs. [2] [3]
The BEST theorem is due to van Aardenne-Ehrenfest and de Bruijn (1951), [4] §6, Theorem 6. Their proof is bijective and generalizes the de Bruijn sequences. In a "note added in proof", they refer to an earlier result by Smith and Tutte (1941) which proves the formula for graphs with deg(v)=2 at every vertex.
In graph theory, a planar graph is a graph that can be embedded in the plane, i.e., it can be drawn on the plane in such a way that its edges intersect only at their endpoints. In other words, it can be drawn in such a way that no edges cross each other. Such a drawing is called a plane graph or planar embedding of the graph. A plane graph can be defined as a planar graph with a mapping from every node to a point on a plane, and from every edge to a plane curve on that plane, such that the extreme points of each curve are the points mapped from its end nodes, and all curves are disjoint except on their extreme points.
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In the mathematical field of graph theory the Hamiltonian path problem and the Hamiltonian cycle problem are problems of determining whether a Hamiltonian path or a Hamiltonian cycle exists in a given graph. Both problems are NP-complete.
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In the mathematical field of graph theory, a Hamiltonian path is a path in an undirected or directed graph that visits each vertex exactly once. A Hamiltonian cycle is a cycle that visits each vertex exactly once. A Hamiltonian path that starts and ends at adjacent vertices can be completed by adding one more edge to form a Hamiltonian cycle, and removing any edge from a Hamiltonian cycle produces a Hamiltonian path. Determining whether such paths and cycles exist in graphs are NP-complete.
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In graph theory, an Eulerian trail is a trail in a finite graph that visits every edge exactly once. Similarly, an Eulerian circuit or Eulerian cycle is an Eulerian trail that starts and ends on the same vertex. They were first discussed by Leonhard Euler while solving the famous Seven Bridges of Königsberg problem in 1736. The problem can be stated mathematically like this:
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