Paper 4, Section II, F

Graph Theory
Part II, 2013

Define the maximum degree Δ(G)\Delta(G) and the chromatic index χ(G)\chi^{\prime}(G) of the graph GG.

State and prove Vizing's theorem relating Δ(G)\Delta(G) and χ(G)\chi^{\prime}(G).

Let GG be a connected graph such that χ(G)=Δ(G)+1\chi^{\prime}(G)=\Delta(G)+1 but, for every subgraph HH of G,χ(H)=Δ(H)G, \chi^{\prime}(H)=\Delta(H) holds. Show that GG is a circuit of odd length.