Let G = (V, E) be a tree. Prove that at most one vertex can have degree at least |V |/2 + 1.

Makayla Reilly

Makayla Reilly

Answered question

2022-09-06

Let G = ( V , E ) be a tree. Prove that at most one vertex can have degree at least | V | / 2 + 1.
I tried to solve this by using a proof by contradiction. I assumed that at least two vertices can have a degree of | V | / 2 + 1. But It didn't help that much. Any ideas?

Answer & Explanation

Hajdiniax

Hajdiniax

Beginner2022-09-07Added 8 answers

Step 1
Let v 1 , v 2 be two vertices of the tree. Then there is a unique path v 1 , . . . , v 2 . Remove any of the edges of this path. We get two connected components, each containing one of v 1 and v 2 .
Step 2
At least one of the two connected components contains no more than |V|/2 vertices. The one v 1 or v 2 in that component will have to have degree no more than |V|/2.

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