In
graph theory
In mathematics, graph theory is the study of '' graphs'', which are mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects. A graph in this context is made up of '' vertices'' (also called ''nodes'' or ''points'') which are conn ...
, the (''a'', ''b'')-decomposition of an undirected
graph
Graph may refer to:
Mathematics
*Graph (discrete mathematics), a structure made of vertices and edges
**Graph theory, the study of such graphs and their properties
*Graph (topology), a topological space resembling a graph in the sense of discre ...
is a partition of its edges into ''a'' + 1 sets, each one of them inducing a forest, except one which induces a graph with maximum degree ''b''. If this graph is also a forest, then we call this a F(''a'', ''b'')-decomposition.
A graph with
arboricity
The arboricity of an undirected graph is the minimum number of forests into which its edges can be partitioned. Equivalently it is the minimum number of spanning forests needed to cover all the edges of the graph. The Nash-Williams theorem pro ...
''a'' is (''a'', 0)-decomposable. Every (''a'', ''0'')-decomposition or (''a'', ''1'')-decomposition is a F(''a'', ''0'')-decomposition or a F(''a'', ''1'')-decomposition respectively.
Graph classes
* Every
planar graph
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 cro ...
is F(2, 4)-decomposable.
* Every
planar graph
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 cro ...
with
girth at least
is
** F(2, 0)-decomposable if
.
[Implied by .]
** (1, 4)-decomposable if
.
** F(1, 2)-decomposable if
.
** F(1, 1)-decomposable if
, or if every cycle of
is either a triangle or a cycle with at least 8 edges not belonging to a triangle.
** (1, 5)-decomposable if
has no 4-cycles.
* Every
outerplanar graph
In graph theory, an outerplanar graph is a graph that has a planar drawing for which all vertices belong to the outer face of the drawing.
Outerplanar graphs may be characterized (analogously to Wagner's theorem for planar graphs) by the two fo ...
is F(2, 0)-decomposable
and (1, 3)-decomposable.
[Proved without explicit reference by .]
Notes
References (chronological order)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{refend
Graph invariants
Graph theory objects