
In
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, a hypergraph is a generalization of a
graph in which an
edge can join any number of
vertices. In contrast, in an ordinary graph, an edge connects exactly two vertices.
Formally, an undirected hypergraph
is a pair
where
is a set of elements called ''nodes'' or ''vertices'', and
is a set of non-empty subsets of
called ''
hyperedges
This is a glossary of graph theory. Graph theory is the study of graphs, systems of nodes or vertices connected in pairs by lines or edges.
Symbols
A
B
...
'' or ''edges''. Therefore,
is a subset of
, where
is the
power set of
. The size of the vertex set is called the ''order of the hypergraph'', and the size of edges set is the ''size of the hypergraph''.
A directed hypergraph differs in that its hyperedges are not sets, but ordered pairs of subsets of
, with each pair's first and second entries constituting the tail and head of the hyperedge respectively.
While graph edges connect only 2 nodes, hyperedges connect an arbitrary number of nodes. However, it is often desirable to study hypergraphs where all hyperedges have the same cardinality; a ''k-uniform hypergraph'' is a hypergraph such that all its hyperedges have size ''k''. (In other words, one such hypergraph is a collection of sets, each such set a hyperedge connecting ''k'' nodes.) So a 2-uniform hypergraph is a graph, a 3-uniform hypergraph is a collection of unordered triples, and so on. An undirected hypergraph is also called a ''set system'' or a ''
family of sets'' drawn from the
universal set
In set theory, a universal set is a set which contains all objects, including itself. In set theory as usually formulated, it can be proven in multiple ways that a universal set does not exist. However, some non-standard variants of set theory inc ...
.
Hypergraphs can be viewed as
incidence structures. In particular, there is a bipartite "incidence graph" or "
Levi graph" corresponding to every hypergraph, and conversely, most, but not all,
bipartite graph
In the mathematical field of graph theory, a bipartite graph (or bigraph) is a graph whose vertices can be divided into two disjoint and independent sets U and V, that is every edge connects a vertex in U to one in V. Vertex sets U and V are ...
s can be regarded as incidence graphs of hypergraphs.
Hypergraphs have many other names. In
computational geometry
Computational geometry is a branch of computer science devoted to the study of algorithms which can be stated in terms of geometry. Some purely geometrical problems arise out of the study of computational geometric algorithms, and such problems ar ...
, an undirected hypergraph may sometimes be called a range space and then the hyperedges are called ''ranges''.
In
cooperative game Cooperative game may refer to:
* Cooperative board game, board games in which players work together to achieve a common goal
* Cooperative game theory, in game theory, a game with competition between groups of players and the possibility of cooperat ...
theory, hypergraphs are called simple games (voting games); this notion is applied to solve problems in
social choice theory
Social choice theory or social choice is a theoretical framework for analysis of combining individual opinions, preferences, interests, or welfares to reach a ''collective decision'' or ''social welfare'' in some sense.Amartya Sen (2008). "Soci ...
. In some literature edges are referred to as ''hyperlinks'' or ''connectors''.
The collection of hypergraphs is a
category with hypergraph
homomorphism
In algebra, a homomorphism is a structure-preserving map between two algebraic structures of the same type (such as two groups, two rings, or two vector spaces). The word ''homomorphism'' comes from the Ancient Greek language: () meaning "same" ...
s as
morphism
In mathematics, particularly in category theory, a morphism is a structure-preserving map from one mathematical structure to another one of the same type. The notion of morphism recurs in much of contemporary mathematics. In set theory, morphisms a ...
s.
Applications
Undirected hypergraphs are useful in modelling such things as satisfiability problems, databases,
machine learning,
and
Steiner tree problems. They have been extensively used in
machine learning
Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn', that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence.
Machine ...
tasks as the data model and classifier
regularization (mathematics). The applications include
recommender system (communities as hyperedges),
image retrieval (correlations as hyperedges), and
bioinformatics
Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combi ...
(biochemical interactions as hyperedges). Representative hypergraph learning techniques include hypergraph
spectral clustering
In multivariate statistics, spectral clustering techniques make use of the Spectrum of a matrix, spectrum (eigenvalues) of the similarity matrix of the data to perform dimensionality reduction before clustering in fewer dimensions. The similarity ...
that extends the
spectral graph theory
In mathematics, spectral graph theory is the study of the properties of a graph in relationship to the characteristic polynomial, eigenvalues, and eigenvectors of matrices associated with the graph, such as its adjacency matrix or Laplacian matrix ...
with hypergraph Laplacian, and hypergraph
semi-supervised learning that introduces extra hypergraph structural cost to restrict the learning results. For large scale hypergraphs, a distributed framework
built using
Apache Spark
Apache Spark is an open-source unified analytics engine for large-scale data processing. Spark provides an interface for programming clusters with implicit data parallelism and fault tolerance. Originally developed at the University of Californi ...
is also available.
Directed hypergraphs can be used to model things including telephony applications, detecting
money laundering
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
, operations research,
and transportation planning. They can also be used to model
Horn-satisfiability.
Generalizations of concepts from graphs
Many
theorem
In mathematics, a theorem is a statement that has been proved, or can be proved. The ''proof'' of a theorem is a logical argument that uses the inference rules of a deductive system to establish that the theorem is a logical consequence of th ...
s and concepts involving graphs also hold for hypergraphs, in particular:
*
Matching in hypergraphs;
*
Vertex cover in hypergraphs (also known as: transversal);
*
Line graph of a hypergraph
In graph theory, particularly in the theory of hypergraphs, the line graph of a hypergraph , denoted , is the graph whose vertex set is the set of the hyperedges of , with two vertices adjacent in when their corresponding hyperedges have a nonemp ...
;
*
Hypergraph grammar
In computer science, graph transformation, or graph rewriting, concerns the technique of creating a new graph (discrete mathematics), graph out of an original graph algorithmically. It has numerous applications, ranging from software engineering (s ...
- created by augmenting a class of hypergraphs with a set of replacement rules;
*
Ramsey's theorem;
*
Erdős–Ko–Rado theorem
In mathematics, the Erdős–Ko–Rado theorem limits the number of sets in a family of sets for which every two sets have at least one element in common. Paul Erdős, Chao Ko, and Richard Rado proved the theorem in 1938, but did not publish it ...
;
*
Kruskal–Katona theorem on uniform hypergraphs;
*
Hall-type theorems for hypergraphs
In the mathematical field of graph theory, Hall-type theorems for hypergraphs are several generalizations of Hall's marriage theorem from graphs to hypergraphs. Such theorems were proved by Ofra Kessler, Ron Aharoni, Penny Haxell, Roy Meshulam, ...
.
In directed hypergraphs:
transitive closure, and shortest path problems.
Hypergraph drawing

Although hypergraphs are more difficult to draw on paper than graphs, several researchers have studied methods for the visualization of hypergraphs.
In one possible visual representation for hypergraphs, similar to the standard
graph drawing
Graph drawing is an area of mathematics and computer science combining methods from geometric graph theory and information visualization to derive two-dimensional depictions of graph (discrete mathematics), graphs arising from applications such a ...
style in which curves in the plane are used to depict graph edges, a hypergraph's vertices are depicted as points, disks, or boxes, and its hyperedges are depicted as trees that have the vertices as their leaves. If the vertices are represented as points, the hyperedges may also be shown as smooth curves that connect sets of points, or as
simple closed curve
In topology, the Jordan curve theorem asserts that every ''Jordan curve'' (a plane simple closed curve) divides the plane into an " interior" region bounded by the curve and an "exterior" region containing all of the nearby and far away exterior ...
s that enclose sets of points.

In another style of hypergraph visualization, the subdivision model of hypergraph drawing, the plane is subdivided into regions, each of which represents a single vertex of the hypergraph. The hyperedges of the hypergraph are represented by contiguous subsets of these regions, which may be indicated by coloring, by drawing outlines around them, or both. An order-''n''
Venn diagram
A Venn diagram is a widely used diagram style that shows the logical relation between set (mathematics), sets, popularized by John Venn (1834–1923) in the 1880s. The diagrams are used to teach elementary set theory, and to illustrate simple ...
, for instance, may be viewed as a subdivision drawing of a hypergraph with ''n'' hyperedges (the curves defining the diagram) and 2
''n'' − 1 vertices (represented by the regions into which these curves subdivide the plane). In contrast with the polynomial-time recognition of
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 cross ...
s, it is
NP-complete to determine whether a hypergraph has a planar subdivision drawing, but the existence of a drawing of this type may be tested efficiently when the adjacency pattern of the regions is constrained to be a path, cycle, or tree.
An alternative representation of the hypergraph called PAOH
is shown in the figure on top of this article. Edges are vertical lines connecting vertices. Vertices are aligned on the left. The legend on the right shows the names of the edges. It has been designed for dynamic hypergraphs but can be used for simple hypergraphs as well.
Hypergraph coloring
Classic hypergraph coloring is assigning one of the colors from set
to every vertex of a hypergraph in such a way that each hyperedge contains at least two vertices of distinct colors. In other words, there must be no monochromatic hyperedge with cardinality at least 2. In this sense it is a direct generalization of graph coloring. Minimum number of used distinct colors over all colorings is called the chromatic number of a hypergraph.
Hypergraphs for which there exists a coloring using up to ''k'' colors are referred to as ''k-colorable''. The 2-colorable hypergraphs are exactly the bipartite ones.
There are many generalizations of classic hypergraph coloring. One of them is the so-called mixed hypergraph coloring, when monochromatic edges are allowed. Some mixed hypergraphs are uncolorable for any number of colors. A general criterion for uncolorability is unknown. When a mixed hypergraph is colorable, then the minimum and maximum number of used colors are called the lower and upper chromatic numbers respectively.
Properties of hypergraphs
A hypergraph can have various properties, such as:
* Empty - has no edges.
* Non-simple ''(or'' multiple'')'' - has loops (hyperedges with a single vertex) or repeated edges, which means there can be two or more edges containing the same set of vertices.
* Simple - has no loops and no repeated edges.
*
-regular - every vertex has degree
, i.e., contained in exactly
hyperedges.
*2-colorable - its vertices can be partitioned into two classes ''U'' and ''V'' in such a way that each hyperedge with cardinality at least 2 contains at least one vertex from both classes. An alternative term is
Property B
In mathematics, Property B is a certain set theoretic property. Formally, given a finite set ''X'', a collection ''C'' of subsets of ''X'' has Property B if we can partition ''X'' into two disjoint subsets ''Y'' and ''Z'' such that every set in ...
.
** Two stronger properties are
bipartite and
balanced.
*
-uniform - each hyperedge contains precisely
vertices.
*
-partite - the vertices are partitioned into
parts, and each hyperedge contains precisely one vertex of each type.
** Every
-partite hypergraph (for
) is both
-uniform and bipartite (and 2-colorable).
* Downward-closed - every subset of an undirected hypergraph's edges is a hyperedge too. A downward-closed hypergraph is usually called an
abstract simplicial complex.
** An abstract simplicial complex with the ''augmentation property'' is called a
matroid.
Related hypergraphs
Because hypergraph links can have any cardinality, there are several notions of the concept of a subgraph, called ''subhypergraphs'', ''partial hypergraphs'' and ''section hypergraphs''.
Let
be the hypergraph consisting of vertices
:
and having ''edge set''
:
where
and
are the
index sets of the vertices and edges respectively.
A subhypergraph is a hypergraph with some vertices removed. Formally, the subhypergraph
induced by
is defined as
:
An alternative term is the restriction of ''H'' to ''A''.
An extension of a subhypergraph is a hypergraph where each hyperedge of
which is partially contained in the subhypergraph
is fully contained in the extension
. Formally
:
with
and
.
The partial hypergraph is a hypergraph with some edges removed.
Given a subset
of the edge index set, the partial hypergraph generated by
is the hypergraph
:
Given a subset
, the section hypergraph is the partial hypergraph
:
The dual
of
is a hypergraph whose vertices and edges are interchanged, so that the vertices are given by
and whose edges are given by
where
:
When a notion of equality is properly defined, as done below, the operation of taking the dual of a hypergraph is an
involution, i.e.,
:
A
connected graph ''G'' with the same vertex set as a connected hypergraph ''H'' is a host graph for ''H'' if every hyperedge of ''H''
induces
Electromagnetic or magnetic induction is the production of an electromotive force (emf) across an electrical conductor in a changing magnetic field.
Michael Faraday is generally credited with the discovery of induction in 1831, and James Cler ...
a connected subgraph in ''G''. For a disconnected hypergraph ''H'', ''G'' is a host graph if there is a bijection between the
connected components of ''G'' and of ''H'', such that each connected component ''G
''' of ''G'' is a host of the corresponding ''H
'''.
The 2-section (or clique graph, representing graph, primal graph, Gaifman graph) of a hypergraph is the graph with the same vertices of the hypergraph, and edges between all pairs of vertices contained in the same hyperedge.
Incidence matrix
Let
and
. Every hypergraph has an
incidence matrix.
For an undirected hypergraph,
where
:
The
transpose of the
incidence matrix defines a hypergraph
called the dual of
, where
is an ''m''-element set and
is an ''n''-element set of subsets of
. For
and
if and only if
In logic and related fields such as mathematics and philosophy, "if and only if" (shortened as "iff") is a biconditional logical connective between statements, where either both statements are true or both are false.
The connective is bicondi ...
.
For a directed hypergraph, the heads and tails of each hyperedge
are denoted by
and
respectively.
where
:
Incidence graph
A hypergraph ''H'' may be represented by a
bipartite graph
In the mathematical field of graph theory, a bipartite graph (or bigraph) is a graph whose vertices can be divided into two disjoint and independent sets U and V, that is every edge connects a vertex in U to one in V. Vertex sets U and V are ...
''BG'' as follows: the sets ''X'' and ''E'' are the parts of ''BG'', and (''x
1'', ''e
1'') are connected with an edge if and only if vertex ''x
1'' is contained in edge ''e
1'' in ''H''.
Conversely, any bipartite graph with fixed parts and no unconnected nodes in the second part represents some hypergraph in the manner described above. This bipartite graph is also called
incidence graph
In combinatorial mathematics, a Levi graph or incidence graph is a bipartite graph associated with an incidence structure.. See in particulap. 181 From a collection of points and lines in an incidence geometry or a projective configuration, we for ...
.
Adjacency matrix
A parallel for the adjacency matrix of a hypergraph can be drawn from the
adjacency matrix
In graph theory and computer science, an adjacency matrix is a square matrix used to represent a finite graph. The elements of the matrix indicate whether pairs of vertices are adjacent or not in the graph.
In the special case of a finite simp ...
of a graph. In the case of a graph, the adjacency matrix is a square matrix which indicates whether pairs of vertices are
adjacent
Adjacent or adjacency may refer to:
*Adjacent (graph theory), two vertices that are the endpoints of an edge in a graph
*Adjacent (music), a conjunct step to a note which is next in the scale
See also
*Adjacent angles, two angles that share a c ...
. Likewise, we can define the adjacency matrix
for a hypergraph in general where the hyperedges
have real weights
with
Cycles
In contrast with ordinary undirected graphs for which there is a single natural notion of
cycles and
acyclic graphs, there are multiple natural non-equivalent definitions of acyclicity for hypergraphs which collapse to ordinary graph acyclicity for the special case of ordinary graphs.
A first definition of acyclicity for hypergraphs was given by
Claude Berge: a hypergraph is Berge-acyclic if its
incidence graph
In combinatorial mathematics, a Levi graph or incidence graph is a bipartite graph associated with an incidence structure.. See in particulap. 181 From a collection of points and lines in an incidence geometry or a projective configuration, we for ...
(the
bipartite graph
In the mathematical field of graph theory, a bipartite graph (or bigraph) is a graph whose vertices can be divided into two disjoint and independent sets U and V, that is every edge connects a vertex in U to one in V. Vertex sets U and V are ...
defined above) is acyclic. This definition is very restrictive: for instance, if a hypergraph has some pair
of vertices and some pair
of hyperedges such that
and
, then it is Berge-cyclic. Berge-cyclicity can obviously be tested in
linear time
In computer science, the time complexity is the computational complexity that describes the amount of computer time it takes to run an algorithm. Time complexity is commonly estimated by counting the number of elementary operations performed by ...
by an exploration of the incidence graph.
We can define a weaker notion of hypergraph acyclicity,
later termed α-acyclicity. This notion of acyclicity is equivalent to the hypergraph being conformal (every clique of the primal graph is covered by some hyperedge) and its primal graph being
chordal
In the mathematical area of graph theory, a chordal graph is one in which all cycles of four or more vertices have a ''chord'', which is an edge that is not part of the cycle but connects two vertices of the cycle. Equivalently, every induced cy ...
; it is also equivalent to reducibility to the empty graph through the GYO algorithm
(also known as Graham's algorithm), a
confluent iterative process which removes hyperedges using a generalized definition of
ears. In the domain of
database theory, it is known that a
database schema
The database schema is the structure of a database described in a formal language supported by the database management system (DBMS). The term "schema" refers to the organization of data as a blueprint of how the database is constructed (divide ...
enjoys certain desirable properties if its underlying hypergraph is α-acyclic. Besides, α-acyclicity is also related to the expressiveness of the
guarded fragment Guarded logic is a choice set of dynamic logic involved in choices, where outcomes are limited.
A simple example of guarded logic is as follows: if X is true, then Y, else Z can be expressed in dynamic logic as (X?;Y)∪(~X?;Z). This shows a guar ...
of
first-order logic.
We can test in
linear time
In computer science, the time complexity is the computational complexity that describes the amount of computer time it takes to run an algorithm. Time complexity is commonly estimated by counting the number of elementary operations performed by ...
if a hypergraph is α-acyclic.
Note that α-acyclicity has the counter-intuitive property that adding hyperedges to an α-cyclic hypergraph may make it α-acyclic (for instance, adding a hyperedge containing all vertices of the hypergraph will always make it α-acyclic). Motivated in part by this perceived shortcoming,
Ronald Fagin
Ronald Fagin (born 1945) is an American mathematician and computer scientist, and IBM Fellow at the IBM Almaden Research Center. He is known for his work in database theory, finite model theory, and reasoning about knowledge.
Biography
Ron ...
defined the stronger notions of β-acyclicity and γ-acyclicity. We can state β-acyclicity as the requirement that all subhypergraphs of the hypergraph are α-acyclic, which is equivalent
to an earlier definition by Graham.
The notion of γ-acyclicity is a more restrictive condition which is equivalent to several desirable properties of database schemas and is related to
Bachman diagrams. Both β-acyclicity and γ-acyclicity can be tested in
polynomial time
In computer science, the time complexity is the computational complexity that describes the amount of computer time it takes to run an algorithm. Time complexity is commonly estimated by counting the number of elementary operations performed by ...
.
Those four notions of acyclicity are comparable: Berge-acyclicity implies γ-acyclicity which implies β-acyclicity which implies α-acyclicity. However, none of the reverse implications hold, so those four notions are different.
Isomorphism, symmetry, and equality
A hypergraph
homomorphism
In algebra, a homomorphism is a structure-preserving map between two algebraic structures of the same type (such as two groups, two rings, or two vector spaces). The word ''homomorphism'' comes from the Ancient Greek language: () meaning "same" ...
is a map from the vertex set of one hypergraph to another such that each edge maps to one other edge.
A hypergraph
is ''isomorphic'' to a hypergraph
, written as
if there exists a
bijection
In mathematics, a bijection, also known as a bijective function, one-to-one correspondence, or invertible function, is a function between the elements of two sets, where each element of one set is paired with exactly one element of the other s ...
:
and a
permutation
In mathematics, a permutation of a set is, loosely speaking, an arrangement of its members into a sequence or linear order, or if the set is already ordered, a rearrangement of its elements. The word "permutation" also refers to the act or proc ...
of
such that
:
The bijection
is then called the
isomorphism
In mathematics, an isomorphism is a structure-preserving mapping between two structures of the same type that can be reversed by an inverse mapping. Two mathematical structures are isomorphic if an isomorphism exists between them. The word is ...
of the graphs. Note that
:
if and only if
.
When the edges of a hypergraph are explicitly labeled, one has the additional notion of ''strong isomorphism''. One says that
is ''strongly isomorphic'' to
if the permutation is the identity. One then writes
. Note that all strongly isomorphic graphs are isomorphic, but not vice versa.
When the vertices of a hypergraph are explicitly labeled, one has the notions of ''equivalence'', and also of ''equality''. One says that
is ''equivalent'' to
, and writes
if the isomorphism
has
:
and
:
Note that
:
if and only if
If, in addition, the permutation
is the identity, one says that
equals
, and writes
. Note that, with this definition of equality, graphs are self-dual:
:
A hypergraph
automorphism
In mathematics, an automorphism is an isomorphism from a mathematical object to itself. It is, in some sense, a symmetry of the object, and a way of mapping the object to itself while preserving all of its structure. The set of all automorphisms ...
is an isomorphism from a vertex set into itself, that is a relabeling of vertices. The set of automorphisms of a hypergraph ''H'' (= (''X'', ''E'')) is a
group under composition, called the
automorphism group of the hypergraph and written Aut(''H'').
Examples
Consider the hypergraph
with edges
:
and
:
Then clearly
and
are isomorphic (with
, ''etc.''), but they are not strongly isomorphic. So, for example, in
, vertex
meets edges 1, 4 and 6, so that,
:
In graph
, there does not exist any vertex that meets edges 1, 4 and 6:
:
In this example,
and
are equivalent,
, and the duals are strongly isomorphic:
.
Symmetry
The '
of a hypergraph
is the maximum cardinality of any of the edges in the hypergraph. If all edges have the same cardinality ''k'', the hypergraph is said to be ''uniform'' or ''k-uniform'', or is called a ''k-hypergraph''. A graph is just a 2-uniform hypergraph.
The degree ''d(v)'' of a vertex ''v'' is the number of edges that contain it. ''H'' is ''k-regular'' if every vertex has degree ''k''.
The dual of a uniform hypergraph is regular and vice versa.
Two vertices ''x'' and ''y'' of ''H'' are called ''symmetric'' if there exists an automorphism such that
. Two edges
and
are said to be ''symmetric'' if there exists an automorphism such that
.
A hypergraph is said to be ''vertex-transitive'' (or ''vertex-symmetric'') if all of its vertices are symmetric. Similarly, a hypergraph is ''edge-transitive'' if all edges are symmetric. If a hypergraph is both edge- and vertex-symmetric, then the hypergraph is simply ''transitive''.
Because of hypergraph duality, the study of edge-transitivity is identical to the study of vertex-transitivity.
Partitions
A partition theorem due to E. Dauber states that, for an edge-transitive hypergraph
, there exists a
partition
Partition may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive
* Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job
Software
* Partition (database), the division of a ...
:
of the vertex set
such that the subhypergraph
generated by
is transitive for each
, and such that
:
where
is the rank of ''H''.
As a corollary, an edge-transitive hypergraph that is not vertex-transitive is bicolorable.
Graph partitioning
In mathematics, a graph partition is the reduction of a graph to a smaller graph by partitioning its set of nodes into mutually exclusive groups. Edges of the original graph that cross between the groups will produce edges in the partitioned graph ...
(and in particular, hypergraph partitioning) has many applications to IC design and parallel computing.
Efficient and scalable
hypergraph partitioning algorithms are also important for processing large scale hypergraphs in machine learning tasks.
Further generalizations
One possible generalization of a hypergraph is to allow edges to point at other edges. There are two variations of this generalization. In one, the edges consist not only of a set of vertices, but may also contain subsets of vertices, subsets of subsets of vertices and so on ''ad infinitum''. In essence, every edge is just an internal node of a tree or
directed acyclic graph
In mathematics, particularly graph theory, and computer science, a directed acyclic graph (DAG) is a directed graph with no directed cycles. That is, it consists of vertices and edges (also called ''arcs''), with each edge directed from one ve ...
, and vertices are the leaf nodes. A hypergraph is then just a collection of trees with common, shared nodes (that is, a given internal node or leaf may occur in several different trees). Conversely, every collection of trees can be understood as this generalized hypergraph. Since trees are widely used throughout
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
and many other branches of mathematics, one could say that hypergraphs appear naturally as well. So, for example, this generalization arises naturally as a model of
term algebra
In universal algebra and mathematical logic, a term algebra is a freely generated algebraic structure over a given signature. For example, in a signature consisting of a single binary operation, the term algebra over a set ''X'' of variables is exa ...
; edges correspond to
terms and vertices correspond to constants or variables.
For such a hypergraph, set membership then provides an ordering, but the ordering is neither a
partial order
In mathematics, especially order theory, a partially ordered set (also poset) formalizes and generalizes the intuitive concept of an ordering, sequencing, or arrangement of the elements of a set. A poset consists of a set together with a binary ...
nor a
preorder
In mathematics, especially in order theory, a preorder or quasiorder is a binary relation that is reflexive and transitive. Preorders are more general than equivalence relations and (non-strict) partial orders, both of which are special c ...
, since it is not transitive. The graph corresponding to the Levi graph of this generalization is a
directed acyclic graph
In mathematics, particularly graph theory, and computer science, a directed acyclic graph (DAG) is a directed graph with no directed cycles. That is, it consists of vertices and edges (also called ''arcs''), with each edge directed from one ve ...
. Consider, for example, the generalized hypergraph whose vertex set is
and whose edges are
and
. Then, although
and
, it is not true that
. However, the
transitive closure of set membership for such hypergraphs does induce a
partial order
In mathematics, especially order theory, a partially ordered set (also poset) formalizes and generalizes the intuitive concept of an ordering, sequencing, or arrangement of the elements of a set. A poset consists of a set together with a binary ...
, and "flattens" the hypergraph into a
partially ordered set
In mathematics, especially order theory, a partially ordered set (also poset) formalizes and generalizes the intuitive concept of an ordering, sequencing, or arrangement of the elements of a Set (mathematics), set. A poset consists of a set toget ...
.
Alternately, edges can be allowed to point at other edges, irrespective of the requirement that the edges be ordered as directed, acyclic graphs. This allows graphs with edge-loops, which need not contain vertices at all. For example, consider the generalized hypergraph consisting of two edges
and
, and zero vertices, so that
and
. As this loop is infinitely recursive, sets that are the edges violate the
axiom of foundation. In particular, there is no transitive closure of set membership for such hypergraphs. Although such structures may seem strange at first, they can be readily understood by noting that the equivalent generalization of their Levi graph is no longer
bipartite
Bipartite may refer to:
* 2 (number)
* Bipartite (theology), a philosophical term describing the human duality of body and soul
* Bipartite graph, in mathematics, a graph in which the vertices are partitioned into two sets and every edge has an en ...
, but is rather just some general
directed graph.
The generalized incidence matrix for such hypergraphs is, by definition, a square matrix, of a rank equal to the total number of vertices plus edges. Thus, for the above example, the
incidence matrix is simply
:
See also
*
BF-graph
In graph theory, a BF-graph is a type of directed hypergraph where each hyperedge is directed either to one particular vertex
Vertex, vertices or vertexes may refer to:
Science and technology Mathematics and computer science
*Vertex (geometry), ...
*
Combinatorial design
*
Factor graph
A factor graph is a bipartite graph representing the factorization of a function. In probability theory and its applications, factor graphs are used to represent factorization of a probability distribution function, enabling efficient computatio ...
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Greedoid
In combinatorics, a greedoid is a type of set system. It arises from the notion of the matroid, which was originally introduced by Whitney in 1935 to study planar graphs and was later used by Edmonds to characterize a class of optimization proble ...
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Incidence structure
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Multigraph
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P system : ''For the computer p-System, see UCSD p-System.''
A P system is a computational model in the field of computer science that performs calculations using a biologically inspired process. They are based upon the structure of biological cells, abstr ...
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Sparse matrix–vector multiplication Sparse matrix–vector multiplication (SpMV) of the form is a widely used computational kernel existing in many scientific applications. The input matrix is sparse. The input vector and the output vector are dense. In the case of a repeated o ...
Notes
References
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External links
PAOHVis open-source PAOHVis system for visualizing dynamic hypergraphs.
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Families of sets
de:Graph (Graphentheorie)#Hypergraph