B1.5

Combinatorics | Part II, 2004

State and prove Menger's theorem (vertex form).

Let GG be a graph of connectivity κ(G)k\kappa(G) \geq k and let S,TS, T be disjoint subsets of V(G)V(G) with S,Tk|S|,|T| \geq k. Show that there exist kk vertex disjoint paths from SS to TT.

The graph HH is said to be kk-linked if, for every sequence s1,,sk,t1,,tks_{1}, \ldots, s_{k}, t_{1}, \ldots, t_{k} of 2k2 k distinct vertices, there exist sitis_{i}-t_{i} paths, 1ik1 \leq i \leq k, that are vertex disjoint. By removing an edge from K2kK_{2 k}, or otherwise, show that, for k2k \geqslant 2, HH need not be kk-linked even if κ(H)2k2\kappa(H) \geq 2 k-2.

Prove that if H=n|H|=n and δ(H)12(n+3k)2\delta(H) \geq \frac{1}{2}(n+3 k)-2 then HH is kk-linked.

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