Past exam of the graph Theory and Probabilistic Combinatorics course of the University of Oxford / 2010 / A / 3

Hall's marriage theorem states that a finite bipartite graph with vertex classes $X,Y$ has a matching covering $X$ if and only ifNecessity follows because the matched neighbors of the vertices in $S$ are distinct members of $N(S)$.

For sufficiency, induct on $|X|$. The empty case is immediate. First suppose there is a nonempty proper subset $S\subset X$ with $|N(S)|=|S|$. The induced graph between $S$ and $N(S)$ satisfies Hall's condition, so induction matches $S$. In the remaining graph between $X\setminus S$ and $Y\setminus N(S)$, every $T\subseteq X\setminus S$ satisfiesInduction matches the rest, and the two matchings are disjoint.

Otherwise every nonempty proper $S\subset X$ has $|N(S)|\ge |S|+1$. Choose any edge $xy$, which exists by Hall's condition if $X$ is nonempty. Delete $x$ and $y$. Every nonempty subset of $X\setminus \{x\}$ loses at most one neighbor and therefore still satisfies Hall's condition. Induction provides a matching of this smaller graph; append $xy$. If $|X|=1$, choosing its neighbor already completes the argument. This proves the theorem.

For disjoint nonempty vertex sets $X,Y$, let $e(X,Y)$ count edges with one endpoint in each. Their density isFor $0<ϵ<1$, the pair is a regular pair of vertex sets if all $X^{\prime }\subseteq X$ and $Y^{\prime }\subseteq Y$ with $|X^{\prime }|\ge ϵ|X|$ and $|Y^{\prime }|\ge ϵ|Y|$ satisfyUsing the convention with a strict bound less than $ϵ$ instead gives the same argument below; the assumed density is strictly larger than $ϵ$.

Verify Hall's marriage theorem. Let $S\subseteq X$; the empty case is immediate. If $0<|S|\le ϵn$, any $x\in S$ has at least $ϵn$ neighbors in $Y$, so $|N(S)|\ge |S|$.

Next suppose $ϵn<|S|\le (1-ϵ)n$. If $|N(S)|<|S|$, then $T=Y\setminus N(S)$ has $|T|>n-|S|\ge ϵn$. There are no edges between $S$ and $T$, so $d(S,T)=0$. But the regularity assumption impliesa contradiction.

Finally, if $|S|>(1-ϵ)n$, then $|X\setminus S|<ϵn$. Every $y\in Y$ has at least $ϵn$ neighbors in $X$, so at least one of them lies in $S$. Thus $N(S)=Y$ and $|N(S)|=n\ge |S|$.

All possible sizes of $S$ are covered, even if the middle range is empty. Hall's condition holds, so there is a perfect matching between $X$ and $Y$. This is the perfect matching criterion for a regular pair with minimum degree.