Euler Circuits

The Circuit Comes

to Town

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 Euler Circuits
Outline/learning Objectives

 To identify and model Euler circuit and Euler

path problems.
 To understand the meaning of basic graph
terminology.
 To classify which graphs have Euler circuits or
paths using Euler’s circuit theorems.

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 Euler Circuits
Outline/learning Objectives (cont.)

 To implement Fleury’s algorithm to find an

Euler circuit or path when it exists.
 To eulerize or semi-eulerize graphs when
necessary.
 To recognize an optimal eulerization (semi-
eulerization) of a graph.

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 Euler Circuits

Euler Circuit Problems

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 Euler Circuits

What is a routing problem?

 Existence question
Is an actual route possible?
 Optimization question
Of all the possible routes, which one is the
optimal route?

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 Euler Circuits

We will answer both the existence and optimization questions

for a special class of routing problems known as Euler circuit
problems. The common thread is what we call the exhaustion
requirement.

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The name of the game is to trace each drawing

without lifting the pencil or retracing any of the lines.
These kinds of tracings are called unicursal tracings.

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When we end in the same place we started, we call it

a closed unicursal tracing; when we start and end in
different places, we call it an open unicursal tracing. .

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Graphs

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 Euler Circuits

A graph is a picture consisting of:

 Vertices- dots

 Edges- lines
The edges do not have to be straight lines. But they
have to connect two vertices.

 Loop- an edge connecting a vertex back with itself

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 Euler Circuits

This graph has six

vertices A, B, C, D, E,
and F and eight edges.
The edges can be
described by giving the
two vertices that are
connected by the edge.
Thus the edges are
AB, AD, BB, BC, BE,
CD, CD, and DE
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 Euler Circuits

First, note that the

point where edges BE
and AD cross is not a
vertex– it is just the
crossing point of two
edges. Second, that
vertex F is not
connected to any other
vertex. Such a vertex
is called an isolated
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vertex.
 Euler Circuits

Third, note that this graph

has a loop, namely the
edge BB. Finally, note that
it is permissible to have two
edges connecting the same
two vertices, as in the case
with C and D. When a
graph has more than one
edge connecting the same
pair of vertices, it is said to
have multiple edges.
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 Euler Circuits

This graph is considered a single graph, even

though it consists of two separate,
disconnected pieces. Such graphs are called
disconnected graph, and the individual pieces
are called the components of the graph..
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 Euler Circuits

A Graph with No
Edges? Yes, its
possible. Without
edges, every vertex
of the graph is an
isolated vertex.

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Graphs
A graph is a structure that defines pairwise
relationships within a set to objects. The
objects are the vertices, and the pairwise
relationships are the edges: X is related to Y if
and only if XY is an edge.

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Graph Concepts
and Terminology

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 Euler Circuits
Adjacent vertices.
Two vertices are said
to be adjacent if there
is an edge joining
them. Vertices B and E
are adjacent; C and D
are not. Also because
of the loop at E, we can
say that Vertex E is
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adjacent to itself.
 Euler Circuits
Adjacent edges.
Two edges are
adjacent if they share
a common vertex. AB
and AD are adjacent;
edges AB and DE are
not.

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 Euler Circuits
Degree of a vertex.
The degree of a
vertex is the number of
edges at that vertex.
When there is a loop at
the vertex, the loop
contributes twice. The
deg(A) = 3, deg(B) = 5,
deg(C) = 3, deg(D) = 2,
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deg(E) = 4, etc.
 Euler Circuits
Odd and even vertices.
An odd vertex is a
vertex of odd degree;
an even vertex is a
vertex of even degree.
The graph has two
even vertices (D and E)
and six odd vertices (all
the others).
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 Euler Circuits
Paths.
A path is a sequence of vertices with the
property that each vertex in the sequence is
adjacent to the next one. The key requirement
in a path is that an edge can be part of a path
only once.

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 Euler Circuits
Paths (continued).
The number of edges in the path is called the
length of the path.
A, B, E, D. This is a path from vertex A to D,
consisting of the edges AB, BE, and ED.
The length of this path is 3.

See figure 5-10 pg. 174

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Circuits.
A circuit has the same definition as a path,
but has the additional requirement that the
trip starts and ends at the same vertex.

See figure 5-10 pg. 174

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 Euler Circuits
Connected graphs.
A graph is connected,
if given any two
vertices, there is a path
joining them. A graph
that is not connected is
said to be
disconnected. A
disconnected graph is
made up of separate
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components.
 Euler Circuits
Bridges.
Sometimes in a
connected graph there
is an edge such that if
we were to erase it, the
graph would become
disconnected—such an
edge is called a
bridge. BF, FG, and
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FH are bridges.
 Euler Circuits
Euler paths.
An Euler path is a path
that passes through every
edge of a graph once and
only once. The graph
shown in (a) does not have
an Euler path; the graph in
(b) has several Euler
paths. One of them is
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L,A,R,D,A,R,D,L,A.
 Euler Circuits
Euler circuits.
An Euler circuit is a circuit
that passes through every
edge of a graph. One of
them is
L,A,R,D,A,R,D,L,A,L.
Note that if a graph has an
Euler circuit it cannot have
an Euler path, and vice
28 versa.
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Graph Models

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The notion of using a mathematical concept to describe and

solve a real-life problem is called modeling. Below is an
example of how we can use graphs to model a problem.

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 Euler Circuits

The only thing that truly matters to the solution of this

problem is the relationship between land masses (islands
and banks) and bridges. Which land masses are connected
to each other and by how many bridges?

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 Euler Circuits

This information is captured by the red edges in (b). We

end up with the graph model shown in (c). The four vertices
of the graph represent each of the four land masses; the edges
represent the seven bridges.

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Euler’s Theorems

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 Euler Circuits

Euler’s Circuit Theorem

 If a graph is connected, and every vertex is
even, then it has an Euler circuit (at least one,
usually more).
 If a graph has any odd vertices, then it does
not have an Euler circuit.

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 Euler Circuits
The graph in (a ) cannot have an Euler circuit because it is
disconnected. The graph in (b) has odd vertices (C is
one of them, there are others). The graph in (c) is
connected and all the vertices are even. The graph
does have Euler circuits.

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 Euler Circuits

Euler’s Path Theorem

 If a graph is connected, and has exactly two
odd vertices, then it has an Euler path (at least
one, usually more). Any such path must start
at one of the odd vertices and end at the other
one.
 If a graph has more than two odd vertices, then
it cannot have an Euler path.

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 Euler Circuits

Euler’s Sum of Degrees Theorem

 The sum of the degrees of all the vertices of a
graph equals twice the number of edges (and
therefore is an even number).
 A graph always has an even number of odd
vertices.

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Fleury’s Algorithm

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Fleury’s Algorithm for

Finding an Euler Circuit
(Path)
 Preliminaries. Make sure
that the graph is connected
and either (1) has no odd
vertices (circuit), or (2) has
two odd vertices (path).

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 Euler Circuits

Fleury’s Algorithm for

Finding an Euler Circuit
(Path)
 Start. Choose a starting
vertex. [ In case (1) this
can be any vertex; in
case (2) it must be one of
the two odd vertices.]

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 Euler Circuits

Fleury’s Algorithm for

Finding an Euler Circuit
(Path)
 Intermediate steps. At
each step, if you have a
choice, don’t choose a
bridge of the yet-to-be-
traveled part of the graph.
However, if you have
only one choice, take it.
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 Euler Circuits

Fleury’s Algorithm for

Finding an Euler Circuit
(Path)
 Intermediate steps. At
each step, if you have a
choice, don’t choose a
bridge of the yet-to-be-
traveled part of the graph.
However, if you have
only one choice, take it.
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 Euler Circuits

Fleury’s Algorithm for

Finding an Euler Circuit
(Path)
 Intermediate steps. At
each step, if you have a
choice, don’t choose a
bridge of the yet-to-be-
traveled part of the graph.
However, if you have
only one choice, take it.
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 Euler Circuits

Fleury’s Algorithm for

Finding an Euler Circuit
(Path)
 Intermediate steps. At
each step, if you have a
choice, don’t choose a
bridge of the yet-to-be-
traveled part of the graph.
However, if you have
only one choice, take it.
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 Euler Circuits

Fleury’s Algorithm for

Finding an Euler Circuit
(Path)
 Intermediate steps. At
each step, if you have a
choice, don’t choose a
bridge of the yet-to-be-
traveled part of the graph.
However, if you have
only one choice, take it.
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 Euler Circuits

Fleury’s Algorithm for Finding

an Euler Circuit (Path)
 End. When you can’t travel
any more, the circuit (path) is
complete. [In case (1) you
will be back at the starting
vertex; in case (2) you will
end at the other odd vertex.]

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 Euler Circuits

Eulerizing Graphs

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 Euler Circuits

Eulerizing Graphs
Our first step is to
identify the odd
vertices. This
graph has eight
odd vertices
(B,C,E,F,H,I,K,and
L), shown in red.

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 Euler Circuits

Eulerizing Graphs
When we add a
duplicate copy of
edges BC,EF,HI,
and KL, we get this
graph. This is the
eulerized version of
the original graph.

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 Euler Circuits

Eulerizing Graphs
This graph shows
the many possible
Euler circuits,with
the edges
numbered in the
order they are
traveled..

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 Euler Circuits

Eulerizing Graphs
With the four duplicate
edges (BC,EF,HI,and
KL) indicating the
deadhead blocks where
a second pass is
required. The total
length of this route is 28
blocks (24 blocks in the
grid plus 4 deadhead
blocks).
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 Euler Circuits

Eulerizing Graphs
In some situations we
need to find an
exhaustive route, but
there is no
requirement that it be
closed—the route
may start and end at
different points.
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 Euler Circuits

Eulerizing Graphs
In these cases, we
want to leave two
odd vertices on the
graph unchanged,
and change the other
odd vertices into
even vertices.

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 Euler Circuits

Eulerizing Graphs
This process id called
a semi-eulerization
of the graph. In this
case the route will
start at one of the two
odd vertices and end
at the other one.

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 Euler Circuits
Conclusion

 Concept of a graph
This idea can be traced back to Euler some 270 years
ago.
 Concept of a graph model.
We used graphs and mathematical theory of graphs to
solve certain types of routing problems.
 Concept of an algorithm
A set of procedural rules that helps us find Euler
circuits or Euler path in a graph
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