Connectivity in a graph with even-degree vertices is preserved by edge removal

discrete mathematicsgraph theoryinduction

I was wondering if I could get some help with this proof.

Essentially, I have to prove that when you have a connected graph with each vertex being of even degree (at least 2) and it is possible to go from any vertex to another through some path, if you remove an edge, it is still possible to go from any vertex to another. I was thinking of using induction on number of edges, but I'm having trouble considering that once you remove an edge, the two vertices between the edge each lose a degree and no longer are of even degree.

Best Answer

Connectivity is equivalent to the property that there is a path between any two vertices. If we can show that the graph is bridgeless – no edge will disconnect the graph if removed – then we are done.

Suppose there is a bridge, i.e. an edge whose removal disconnects the graph. Since all the vertices of the original graph are of even degree, after removing this edge, we have two disjoint graphs, each with one vertex of odd degree (that was incident to the deleted edge) and the other vertices of even degree. However, this contradicts the handshaking lemma that the sum of degrees over all vertices must be even. Thus there is no bridge, and removing any edge will keep the graph connected, preserving the property that there are paths between any two vertices.

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