Introduction to Graph Theory · Problem 5.17

Trees and arborescences — Darij Grinberg

Mathematics — Graph Theory · centroids-of-trees

Problem

Let TT be a tree. For any vertex vv of TT, we let cvc_v denote the size of the largest component of the graph T∖vT \setminus v. (Recall that T∖vT \setminus v is the graph obtained from TT by removing the vertex vv and all edges that contain vv. Note that a component (according to our definition) is a set of vertices; thus, its size is the number of vertices in it.) The vertices vv of TT that minimize the number cvc_v are called the centroids of TT. (a) Prove that TT has no more than two centroids, and furthermore, if TT has two centroids, then these two centroids are adjacent. (b) Find a tree TT such that the centroid(s) of TT are distinct from the center(s) of TT.

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