LADDER, TADPOLE, AND BOUQUET GRAPHS

ANALYSIS

Abstract. In this paper, we precisely define the Ladder Graph, Tad-

pole Graph, and our Bouquet Graph as well as their, vertex sets,
edge sets, orders, sizes, maximum degrees, and minimum degrees.
We prove that the Ladder Graph have a clique number of 2, that the
Tadpole Graph has an independent number of b n 2
c + dm
2
e, and that
the Bouquet Graph has a dominating number of f .

1. Introduction
This is an analysis of the Ladder Graph, Tadpole Graph, and a new
graph we defined, the Bouquet Graph. The Ladder Graph is a well known
grid graph, and the Tadpole Graph is a cycle graph that is connected to
a path graph. The precise definitions, as well as several properties of the
Ladder Graph and Tadpole Graph are explored and analyzed. We also
defined a new graph called the ”Bouquet Graph”, which is similar to a
Banana-Tree Graph with Windmill Graphs instead of Star Graphs. The
Bouquet Graph is precisely defined, as well as several of its properties. We
analyze, and prove certain aspects of, the Ladder Graph, Tadpole Graph,
and Bouquet Graph.

2. Definitions and Properties

Of our three graphs we will first consider the most well known, the
Ladder Graph.
Definition 2.1. Ladder Graph: Let n be a positive integer, where n > 1,
we define a Ladder Graph, denoted Ln to be

Ln = (V, E).
We assert that V = V1 [ V2 where

V1 = {v1 , v2 , ..., vn }
and

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 V2 = {u1 , u2 , ..., un }.
We also assert that E = E1 [ E2 [ E3 where

E1 = {{vi , vi+1 } : 1  i < n 1}

and

E2 = {{ui , ui+1 } : 1  i < n 1}

and

E3 = {{vi , ui } : 1  i  n}.

An example of a Ladder Graph can be seen in Figure 1. Now, we will

introduce some properties of the Tadpole Graph.
Properties:
Order: For any value of n, there are 2n vertices. Thus, we define the order
of a Ladder Graph as 2n.

Size: For any value of n, there are (n 1) edges in E1 , (n 1) edges in E2 ,

and n edges in E3 . Thus the size is defined as 2(n 1) + n.

Max Degree: When n = 2, we know that each vertex has a degree of 2

and therefore the maximum degree is 2. For n > 2, for any points besides
v1 , u1 , vn and un , such as v2 , u2 , ...vn 1 , un 1 , there will be 3 edges incident
to each of these vertex and therefore the maximum degree is 3.

Min Degree: For any value of n, there are at least 2 edges incident to each
vertex, therefore the minimum degree is 2.

Figure 1. This is a Ladder Graph which can be denoted

as L4 .

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Now that we’ve adequately defined specific aspects of the Ladder Graph,
let’s consider the Tadpole Graph.
Definition 2.2. Tadpole Graph: If n and m are positive integers, where
n > 2 and m > 1, we define a Tadpole Graph, denoted Tn,m , to be
Tn,m = (V, E).
We assert that V = V1 [ V2 such that

V1 = {v1 , v2 , ..., vn }
and

V2 = {u1 , u2 , ...um }.
In addition, we assert that E = E1 [ E2 [ E3 where

E1 = {{vi , vi+1 } : 1  i < n 1} [ {v1 , vn }

and

E2 = {{ui , ui+1 } : 1  i < m 1}.

and

E3 = {{v1 , u1 }}
An example of a Tadpole Graph can be seen in Figure 2. Note that it
can be considered as a cycle graph connected to a path graph by a single
edge. Now, we will introduce some properties of the Tadpole Graph.

Properties:
Order: For any values of n and m, the number of vertices in the cycle graph,
induced by E1 , is n, and the number of vertices in the path graph, induced
by E2 , is m. Thus the order is defined as n + m.

Size: For any values of n and m, the number of edges in the cycle graph is
n, and the number of edges in the path graph is m 1, plus the one edge,
E3 that connects them. Thus the size is defined as n + (m 1) + 1 which
can be reduced to n + m.

Max Degree: Consider the cycle graph induced by the edge set E1 , we know
that the vertex v1 , where the head of the tadpole graph is a cycle graph
that is connected to the path graph, will always have a degree of 3.

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Min Degree: Consider the path graph induced by the edge set E2 , we know
that the vertex um , the last vertex of the path graph, will always have a
degree of 1.

Figure 2. This is a Tadpole Graph which can be de-

noted as T4,3 .

Now that we’ve sufficiently defined aspects of the Tadpole Graph, let’s
consider the Bouquet Graph.
Definition 2.3. Bouquet Graph: If f and p are positive integers, where
f is the number of flowers and p is the number of pedals, we define a
Bouquet Graph, denoted Bf,p , to be
Bf,p = (V, E).
Qf
We assert that V = i=0 Vi [ {v0 } where

Vi = {vi,0 , vi,1 , . . . vi,p , ui,1 , ui,2 , . . . ui,p }.

Qf
In addition, we also assert that E = i=0 (Ei [ {{v0 , vi,0 }}) where

Ei = {{vi,0 , vi,j }, {vi,0 , ui,j }, {vi,j , ui,j } : 1  i < f and i < j  p}.

An example of a Bouquet Graph can be seen in Figure 3. Notice that f

represents the number of flowers, the windmill graph, and that p represents
the number of pedals per flower, the cycle graphs of the windmill graphs.
Now, we will introduce some properties of the Bouquet Graph.
Properties:
Order: For any values of f and p, the number of vertices on a single flower
is 2p + 1 and there are f number of flowers. Plus the floating vertex v0 , the
order can be defined as (2p + 1)f + 1.

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Size: For any values of f and p, the number of edges in a single pedal is 3,
so the number of edges in a flower is 3 times the number of pedals, 3p. So
the number of edges in all of the flowers is f (3p), plus one edge per flower,
the stem connecting the flower to v0 . Thus we define the size as f (3p) + f .

Max Degree: For any values of f and p, the max degree is dependent on
f . If we consider the points vi,0 , which are the centers of the flowers, they
have 2 edges incident upon them per pedal, plus the stem that connects the
flower to the base. This degree can be represented as 2p+1. If f > (2p+1),
the maximum degree can be defined as f . If f  (2p + 1), the maximum
degree can be defined as 2p + 1.

Min Degree: For any values of f and p, every pedal has the points vi,j and
ui,j , the outside vertices of the pedal, which both have a degree of 2. No
other vertex on the graph ever has a degree of 1, thus, the minimum degree
for any Bouquet graphs is always 2.

Figure 3. This is a Bouquet Graph which can be de-

noted as B4,3 .

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 3. Theorems
We will first define the clique number of the Ladder Graph. The clique
number is the largest complete graph that exists within the graph in ques-
tion.
Theorem 3.1. The clique number of a ladder graph is 2.
Proof. Let Ln = (V, E) be a Ladder Graph size n, where n 2 Z and n > 1.
We know that V = V1 [ V2 and E = E1 [ E2 [ E3 . The graph induced
by V1 is a path graph of size n 1 and the graph induced by V2 is also a
path graph of size n 1. We know that any path graph, where n > 1, has
a clique number of 2. The edge set E3 combines these two path graph in a
one-to-one fashion. For example it combines v1 only to u1 , v2 only to u2 ,
... , and vn only to un . For the sake of contradiction, assume there exist
a clique of order 3, using the vertices x, y and z. We know that all three
vertices cannot come from only V1 or only V2 , otherwise they’d induce a
path graph, which has a clique number of 2. Without loss of generality
we only need to consider x, y 2 V1 and z 2 V2 because all other cases
would yield the same result. Since all vertices in V1 are one-to-one with the
vertices in V2 , we know that if (x, z) 2 E, then (y, z) 2
/ E. Thus x, y, and
z cannot induce a k3 .
Therefore, by the principle of contradiction, the Ladder Graph has a
clique number of 2.

Now let’s consider the independence number of the Tadpole Graph. An

independence set is a set of vertices in a graph, where no two vertices
of the set are adjacent and the independence number is the size of the
independence set.
Theorem 3.2. The independence number of the Tadpole Graph is b n2 c +
dm
2 e.

Proof. We know that the Tadpole Graph is a combination of two graphs.

The n induces a cycle graph, Cn , and the m induces a path graph, Pm . We
know that the independence number for a path graph and cycle graph are
dm n
2 e and b 2 c respectively. Considering the cycle graph, choose a maximum
independence set of size b n2 c that does not include v1 . Considering the
path graph, choose a maximum independence set of size d m 2 e. Since each
vertex in V2 is only adjacent to at most one other vertex, namely v1 , no
vertex in the independence set of the path graph is adjacent to a vertex
in the independence set of the cycle graph. Thus the Tadpole Graph’s
independence number is greater than or equal to b n2 c + d m 2 e. For the sake
of contradiction, assume there exists an independence set one vertex larger
than ( b n2 c + d m
2 e ), then we have to pick from the cycle graph at least
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 Graph Theory Project
( b n2 c + 1) vertices or from the path graph at least ( d m
2 e + 1 ) vertices.
However, this is a contradiction because the independence number of a path
graph is d m n
2 e and the independence number of a cycle graph is d 2 e.
Therefore, by the principle of contradiction, the independence number
of a Tadpole Graph is b n2 c + d m
2 e.

Now let’s consider the dominating number of the Bouquet Graph. The
dominating set is a subset A of a graphs vertex set V such that every
vertex not in the subset A is adjacent to at least one member of A. The
dominating number is the size of the smallest possible dominating set.
Theorem 3.3. The dominating number of the Bouquet graph is f .
Proof. Let Bf,p = (V, E) be a bouquet graph where f, p 2 Z+ and f, p > 2.
The integer f denotes the number of flowers and p denotes the numbers
of pedals on each flower. If we consider a single pedal of each flower,
Pi = {{vi,0 , vi,1 }, {vi,0 , ui,1 }, {vi,1 , ui,1 } : 1  i  f }, Pi is the graph induce
by {vi,0 , vi,1 , ui,1 }, and this is a k3 . Note that the degree of vi,1 is 2, so
at least one vertex in {vi,0 , vi,1 , ui,1 } must be in any dominating set. So
any dominating set must have a size at least f . Note that all vertices in Vi
are adjacent to vi,0 and v0 , so {v1,0 , v2,0 , v3,0 , ..., vf,0 } is a dominating set
of size f .
Therefore the dominating number of the Bouquet Graph is f .

4. Conclusion
We successfully analyzed the Ladder Graph, Tadpole Graph, and our
Bouquet Graph. We precisely defined all three graphs and their, vertex
sets, edge sets, orders, sizes, maximum degrees, and minimum degrees.
For the Ladder Graph, we proved the clique number is always 2. For the
Tadpole Graph, we proved that the independence number is b n2 c + d m 2 e.
Also, we proved that the dominating number of the Bouquet Graph is equal
to f , the number of flowers it has. We were able to successfully define all
three graphs, as well as specific properties of each.

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 5. Bibliography
[1] Calculator Suite. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.geogebra.org/calculator

[2] Mathematics: A Discrete Introduction, Edward Scheinerman, 2011,

Third Edition, Brooks-Cole.

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