Testing Graph Connectivity

An algorithm proposed by Dinic for finding maximum flows in networks and by Hopcroft and Karp for finding maximum bipartite matchings is applied to graph connectivity problems. It is shown that the algorithm requires 0(V 1/2 E) time to find a maximum set of node-disjoint paths in a graph, and 0(V 2/3 E) time to find a maximum set of edge disjoint paths. These bounds are tight. Thus the node connectivity of a graph may be tested in 0(V 5/2 E) time, and the edge connectivity of a graph may be tested in 0(V 5/3 E) time.

Authors

• Robert Endre Tarjan

Keywords

• Connectivity
• Flow
• Graph
• Matching
• Maximum flow
• Network