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Graph Theory

Let T and T be two spanning trees of a connected graph G. For eE(T)E(T), prove that there is an edge eE(T)E(T) such that T+ee and Te+e are both spanning trees of G.

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문제출처

광주과학기술원 GIST 최정옥 교수님의 “그래프 이론” 수업, 2024년 가을학기 중 Homework 5

Solution

1. Consider an edge eE(T)E(T). Since e is not in T, adding e to T results in the graph T+e.

  • Because T is a spanning tree, it already spans all vertices of G.
  • This means there is a path in T between any two vertices. Adding e, which is incident to two vertices already connected by a path in T, must create a cycle in T+e. Let this cycle be C.

2. Since C is a cycle in the graph T+e, it contains at least two distinct paths between the vertices incident to e.

  • These paths consist of edges from T, because T spans the entire vertex set of G.
  • As eE(T) and eE(T), the cycle C must contain at least one edge from T that is not in T.
  • This edge is denoted by eE(T)E(T), and it lies on C.

3. Now consider the graph T+ee.

  • By deleting e from C, the cycle is destroyed, and the resulting graph T+ee is acyclic.
  • Since T+ee still spans all vertices of G, because neither e nor e disconnects any vertex, it remains connected and contains n1 edges.
  • Therefore, T+ee is a spanning tree of G.

4. Next, consider the graph Te+e.

  • Deleting the edge e from T breaks the tree structure and may disconnect the graph, leaving it no longer a tree.
  • However, adding the edge eE(T)E(T) reconnects the graph because e lies on the cycle C, which connects vertices that were possibly disconnected by removing e.
  • Since the graph Te+e now has n1 edges and remains connected, it must be a tree.
  • Additionally, because no cycles were introduced by this operation, Te+e is acyclic.
  • Thus, Te+e is a spanning tree of G.
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