Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-computer-science-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2023/combinatorial-optimisation/3/b/i/solution

Use Tutte's theorem on perfect matchings: a finite graph has a perfect matching if and only if, for every , the number of connected components of a graph of odd integer order in is at most .
First, the handshaking lemma gives , so is an even integer. Fix . For each connected component of a graph of odd integer order in , let count its edges to . Counting vertex degrees inside gives
Thus is an odd integer; it is positive because is a connected graph. If , its unique outgoing edge is a bridge. Distinct such components yield distinct bridges, so there are at most two of them. Every other such component has . Therefore
The last inequality holds because each vertex of has vertex degree three. Furthermore,
since components of even integer order do not affect parity, and is an even integer. If , this parity forces , contradicting the bound .
For , the only component is the whole connected graph, of even integer order, so . Thus every satisfies the criterion, and has a perfect matching. This proves the perfect matching theorem for a cubic graph with at most two bridges directly from Tutte's theorem on perfect matchings.

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