Ore's theorem 2026-10-31
Ore's theorem, named after Øystein Ore, says that a finite simple graph with vertices is Hamiltonian if every nonadjacent pair has degree sum at least .
For a proof, enlarge a hypothetical counterexample to an edge-maximal non-Hamiltonian graph. Adding a missing edge creates a Hamiltonian cycle, hence the original graph has a Hamiltonian path . If both and are edges, the path closes to a cycle by reversing its final segment. Thus the index sets of these two kinds of edges are disjoint in , giving , a contradiction. The degree condition is sufficient and need not follow from a lower bound of on every individual degree.