Graph Theory – Proving Two Vertices Have the Same Degree in a Simple Graph with n Vertices

graph theorypigeonhole-principleproof-writing

I want to prove this claim using contradiction:

Let $G$ be a simple graph with $n$ vertices. Prove by contradiction that $G$ has two vertices having the same degree (Consider the vertex of smallest degree and vertex of largest degree).

I think I know where to start. The vertex of the largest degree is $n-1$ in this graph and the smallest is 1. How can I use contradiction to prove the statement above? I studied the proof of this using pigeonhole but I wanna use contradiction this time.

Best Answer

Suppose such a graph exists. Each vertex in the graph can have a degree from $0$ to $n-1$ (simple graphs do not forbid a degree-$0$ vertex, connected graphs do). Since this range spans $n$ values in total and each vertex degree is different, the degrees are distributed one-per-vertex. In particular, there must exist a vertex with degree $n-1$ and one with degree $0$.

Now the degree-$n-1$ vertex is connected to all other vertices because the graph is simple, including the degree-$0$ vertex. But the latter is not connected to any vertex, which is a contradiction. Therefore two vertices in the graph must have the same degree.

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