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Overfull graph

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Source updated October 19, 2025

Unsolved problem in mathematics Conjecture: A graph G with $\Delta (G)>n/3$ is class 2 if and only if it has an overfull subgraph S such that $\displaystyle \Delta (G)=\Delta (S)$ . More unsolved problems in mathematics

In graph theory, an overfull graph is a graph whose size is greater than the product of its maximum degree and half of its order floored, i.e. $|E|>\Delta (G)\lfloor |V|/2\rfloor$ where $|E|$ is the size of G, $\displaystyle \Delta (G)$ is the maximum degree of G, and $|V|$ is the order of G. The concept of an overfull subgraph, an overfull graph that is a subgraph, immediately follows. An alternate, stricter definition of an overfull subgraph S of a graph G requires $\displaystyle \Delta (G)=\Delta (S)$ .

01Examples

Every odd cycle graph of length three or more is overfull. The product of its degree (two) and half its length (rounded down) is one less than the number of edges in the cycle. More generally, every regular graph with an odd number $n$ of vertices is overfull, because its number of edges, $\Delta n/2$ (where $\Delta$ is its degree), is larger than $\Delta \lfloor n/2\rfloor$ .

02Properties

A few properties of overfull graphs:

Overfull graphs are of odd order.
Overfull graphs are class 2. That is, they require at least Δ + 1 colors in any edge coloring.
A graph G, with an overfull subgraph S such that $\displaystyle \Delta (G)=\Delta (S)$ , is of class 2.

03Overfull conjecture

In 1986, Amanda Chetwynd and Anthony Hilton posited the following conjecture that is now known as the overfull conjecture.

A graph G with $\Delta (G)>n/3$ is class 2 if and only if it has an overfull subgraph S such that $\displaystyle \Delta (G)=\Delta (S)$ .

This conjecture, if true, would have numerous implications in graph theory, including the 1-factorization conjecture.

04Algorithms

For graphs in which $\Delta \geq n/3$ , there are at most three induced overfull subgraphs, and it is possible to find an overfull subgraph in polynomial time. When $\Delta \geq n/2$ , there is at most one induced overfull subgraph, and it is possible to find it in linear time.

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Overfull graph”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Overfull graph.svg by BagLuke, CC0

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