# [Tex/LaTex] Drawing a hypergraph

diagramsgraphsmath-mode

What is the proper way to draw a hypergraph? Is there a package to do this, or is there an easy way to draw such diagrams with a common drawing method like tikz?

I'm trying to draw something like

It is -- of course -- posible to draw diagrams like this with TikZ. However, as far as I know there is no automatic placement for things like this.

Once one gets the hang of guessing distances, it is fairly easy to reproduce graph like the example in TikZ:

\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{topaths,calc}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\node (v1) at (0,2) {};
\node (v2) at (1.5,3) {};
\node (v3) at (4,2.5) {};
\node (v4) at (0,0) {};
\node (v5) at (2,0.5) {};
\node (v6) at (3.5,0) {};
\node (v7) at (2.5,-1) {};

\begin{scope}[fill opacity=0.8]
\filldraw[fill=yellow!70] ($(v1)+(-0.5,0)$)
to[out=90,in=180] ($(v2) + (0,0.5)$)
to[out=0,in=90] ($(v3) + (1,0)$)
to[out=270,in=0] ($(v2) + (1,-0.8)$)
to[out=180,in=270] ($(v1)+(-0.5,0)$);
\filldraw[fill=blue!70] ($(v4)+(-0.5,0.2)$)
to[out=90,in=180] ($(v4)+(0,1)$)
to[out=0,in=90] ($(v4)+(0.6,0.3)$)
to[out=270,in=0] ($(v4)+(0,-0.6)$)
to[out=180,in=270] ($(v4)+(-0.5,0.2)$);
\filldraw[fill=green!80] ($(v5)+(-0.5,0)$)
to[out=90,in=225] ($(v3)+(-0.5,-1)$)
to[out=45,in=270] ($(v3)+(-0.7,0)$)
to[out=90,in=180] ($(v3)+(0,0.5)$)
to[out=0,in=90] ($(v3)+(0.7,0)$)
to[out=270,in=90] ($(v3)+(-0.3,-1.8)$)
to[out=270,in=90] ($(v6)+(0.5,-0.3)$)
to[out=270,in=270] ($(v5)+(-0.5,0)$);
\filldraw[fill=red!70] ($(v2)+(-0.5,-0.2)$)
to[out=90,in=180] ($(v2) + (0.2,0.4)$)
to[out=0,in=180] ($(v3) + (0,0.3)$)
to[out=0,in=90] ($(v3) + (0.3,-0.1)$)
to[out=270,in=0] ($(v3) + (0,-0.3)$)
to[out=180,in=0] ($(v3) + (-1.3,0)$)
to[out=180,in=270] ($(v2)+(-0.5,-0.2)$);
\end{scope}

\foreach \v in {1,2,...,7} {
\fill (v\v) circle (0.1);
}

\fill (v1) circle (0.1) node [right] {$v_1$};
\fill (v2) circle (0.1) node [below left] {$v_2$};
\fill (v3) circle (0.1) node [left] {$v_3$};
\fill (v4) circle (0.1) node [below] {$v_4$};
\fill (v5) circle (0.1) node [below right] {$v_5$};
\fill (v6) circle (0.1) node [below left] {$v_6$};
\fill (v7) circle (0.1) node [below right] {$v_7$};

\node at (0.2,2.8) {$e_1$};
\node at (2.3,3) {$e_2$};
\node at (3,0.8) {$e_3$};
\node at (0.1,0.7) {$e_4$};
\end{tikzpicture}


I think the code is fairly self-explanatory: First the vertice coordinates are specified. Then all the areas are drawn with the help of curve to statements. Afterwards the circles and labels are placed. The result is

This is not a perfect copy of the original image. With some more fiddling around with the coordinates and some additional points in the paths one could get closer.