Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2010/ii/paper-2/17f/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ii Paper 2 17F Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-14
A matching in a graph from to chooses one distinct neighbour in for each vertex of . For a finite bipartite graph, the Hall marriage theorem states that such a matching exists if and only if for every . Necessity follows because the matched neighbours of are distinct members of .
For sufficiency use induction on , with the empty and one-vertex cases immediate. If some nonempty proper satisfies , the induced graph on satisfies Hall's condition. The remaining graph on does too: for ,Inductively match both pieces and combine them. If no nonempty proper subset is tight, choose an edge and remove its endpoints. Every nonempty subset of the remaining is proper in the original , so ; removing preserves Hall's condition. Match the remainder inductively and add . This proves the theorem without a flow or disjoint-path theorem.
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