Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/iii/paper-38/4/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 38 4 b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Run breadth-first search separately in every component of the undirected graph. Give a starting vertex colour zero and each newly discovered neighbour the opposite colour. Reject if an edge joins two vertices with the same assigned colour; otherwise accept after all components have been explored.
If the algorithm accepts, its assignments constitute a graph colouring with two colours. If it rejects, the two search-tree paths and the conflicting edge contain an odd cycle, on which alternating two colours cannot close consistently. Equivalently, a valid graph colouring with two colours fixes the parity of every path from a component's root, so the detected conflict is impossible in a two-colourable graph. The breadth-first search work is with adjacency lists. ThereforeThis is also the two-colourability criterion for bipartite graphs.
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