If a finite simple graph is a connected graph, a bipartite graph, and a planar graph, with vertices, then . Every facial boundary walk has even length and length at least three, hence at least four. Thus ; substitute the Euler formula for a connected planar graph.[ref]
The square cycle graph attains equality: . The three-vertex graph path also attains equality: . Its repeated bridges in a graph illustrate why counting facial boundary walk length correctly matters. Neither bound applies unchanged to a multigraph: two vertices may support arbitrarily many parallel edges in a plane graph.
Facial boundary walk 2026-10-14
For a finite connected graph embedded as a plane graph, follow the edges around a face of a plane graph to obtain a closed walk. Count traversals, not distinct edges: a bridge in a graph occurs twice along one facial boundary walk. Each edge contributes two sides in total.[ref]
For the three-vertex graph path , the only facial boundary walk is , of length four. Both edges are bridges in a graph; neither is a graph cycle. Thus a facial boundary walk need not be a graph cycle.
Planar graph edge bound Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A finite simple graph that is a connected graph and a planar graph, with vertices and edges, satisfies . Choose a plane graph: each facial boundary walk has length at least three, so . Substitute from the Euler formula for a connected planar graph.[ref]
The complete graph attains equality: . The bound also holds for a disconnected finite simple graph that is a planar graph with : place its connected components of a graph in disjoint regions and join them with new bridges in a graph, then apply the connected bound.
Plane graph 2026-10-14
A plane graph is a planar graph with a specified graph drawing whose edges meet only at common endpoints, also called an embedding in the Euclidean plane. Its faces of a plane graph and facial boundary walks refer to that embedding. This geometric use of embedding differs from a graph embedding, which maps one abstract graph into another.