Seven Colours

The Seven Colour Theorem
Christopher Tufey
Institute of Fundamental Sciences Massey University, Palmerston North
3rd Annual NZMASP Conference, November 2008
Christopher Tufey (Massey University)
November 2008
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Outline
1
Introduction Map colouring The torus From maps to graphs Euler characteristic Average degree Necessity and sufciency Other surfaces Revisiting the plane The Heawood bound
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Introduction
Map colouring
Map colouring
How many crayons do you need to colour Australia. . .
. . . if adjacent regions must be different colours?

Christopher Tufey (Massey University) The Seven Colour Theorem November 2008 3 / 17
Introduction
Map colouring
Map colouring

Introduction
Map colouring
Map colouring

Introduction
Map colouring
Four colors sufce

Theorem (Appel and Haken, 1976) Four colours are necessary and sufcient to properly colour maps drawn in the plane. Some maps require four colours (easy!)
No map requires more than four colours (hard!).
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Introduction
Map colouring
Four colors sufce

November 2008
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Introduction
Map colouring
Four colors sufce

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Introduction
Map colouring
On the donut they do nut!
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Introduction
Map colouring
November 2008
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Introduction
Map colouring
How many colours do we need??

The torus
Theorem Seven colours are necessary and sufcient to properly colour maps on a torus. Steps:
1 2 3 4
Simplify! Use the Euler characteristic to nd the average degree. Look at a minimal counterexample. Prove necessity.
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The torus
From maps to graphs
From maps to graphs
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The torus
From maps to graphs
From maps to graphs
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The torus
From maps to graphs
From maps to graphs
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The torus
From maps to graphs
From maps to graphs
The dual of the map

The torus
Euler characteristic
S a surface G a graph drawn on S so that
no edges or vertices cross or overlap all regions (faces) are discs there are V vertices, E edges, F faces.
Denition The Euler characteristic of S is (S ) = V E + F . Theorem (S ) depends only on S and not on G.
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The torus
S a surface G a graph drawn on S so that
no edges or vertices cross or overlap all regions (faces) are discs there are V vertices, E edges, F faces.
11111111 00000000 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111
Denition The Euler characteristic of S is (S ) = V E + F . Theorem (S ) depends only on S and not on G.
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The torus
Examples
(torus) = 1 2 + 1 = 0
(sphere) = 4 6 + 4 = 2
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The torus
Proof of invariance
Given graphs G1 and G2 , nd a common renement H .
Subdivide edges Add vertices in faces Subdivide faces.
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The torus
Proof of invariance
V 1
E 1
F 0
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The torus
Proof of invariance
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The torus
Proof of invariance
V 1
E 1
F 0
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The torus
Proof of invariance
V 0
E 1
F 1
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The torus
Proof of invariance
Subdivide edges Add vertices in faces Subdivide faces. G1 and H give same G1 and G2 give same
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The torus
Average degree
Dont waittriangulate!
We may assume all faces are triangles:
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The torus
Average degree
Dont waittriangulate!
We may assume all faces are triangles:
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The torus
Average degree
Count two ways twice

When all faces are triangles: 3F = 2E =
v
degree(v )
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The torus
Average degree

v
degree(v )
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The torus
Average degree

v
degree(v )
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The torus
Average degree
Average degree
V E + F = 0 and 3F = 2E =
v
degree(v ) give
6V = 6E 6F = 6E 4E = 2E =
v
degree(v )
= =
1 V
degree(v ) = 6
v
Every triangulation has a vertex of degree at most six
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The torus
Average degree
Average degree
V E + F = 0 and 3F = 2E =
v
degree(v ) give
6V = 6E 6F = 6E 4E = 2E =
v
degree(v )
= =
1 V
degree(v ) = 6
v
November 2008
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The torus
Average degree
Average degree
V E + F = 0 and 3F = 2E =
v
degree(v ) give
6V = 6E 6F = 6E 4E = 2E =
v
degree(v )
= =
1 V
degree(v ) = 6
v
November 2008
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The torus
Average degree
Average degree
V E + F = 0 and 3F = 2E =
v
degree(v ) give
6V = 6E 6F = 6E 4E = 2E =
v
degree(v )
= =
1 V
degree(v ) = 6
v
November 2008
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The torus
Average degree
Average degree
V E + F = 0 and 3F = 2E =
v
degree(v ) give
6V = 6E 6F = 6E 4E = 2E =
v
degree(v )
= =
1 V
degree(v ) = 6
v
November 2008
13 / 17
The torus
Average degree
Average degree
V E + F = 0 and 3F = 2E =
v
degree(v ) give
6V = 6E 6F = 6E 4E = 2E =
v
degree(v )
= =
1 V
degree(v ) = 6
v
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The torus
Necessity and sufciency
Seven sufce
Take a vertex-minimal counterexample. . .
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The torus
Seven sufce
November 2008
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The torus
Seven sufce
November 2008
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The torus
Seven sufce
November 2008
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The torus
Seven sufce
. . . why, its not a counterexample at all!

The torus
Seven are necessary
The complete graph K7 embedded on the torus.
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Other surfaces
Revisiting the plane
The Four and Five Colour Theorems

Five colours: A triangulation of the plane has a vertex v of degree at most ve. Kempe chains reduce the number of colours needed for v s neighbours to four. Four: Find an unavoidable set of congurations, and show that none can occur in a minimal counterexample. The proof has been simplied by Robinson, Sanders, Seymour and Thomas (1996), but still requires a computer. Robinson et. al. use 633 congurations in place of Appel and Hakens 1476.
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Other surfaces
The Heawood bound
The Heawood bound
Theorem (Heawood, 1890, via average degree arguments)) Maps on a surface of Euler characteristic 1 require at most 7 + 49 2 2 colours. The Klein bottle has = 0 but requires only six colours (Franklin, 1934) Bound is otherwise tight (Ringel and Youngs, 1968)
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Seven Colours

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The Seven Colour Theorem

3rd Annual NZMASP Conference, November 2008

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

. . . if adjacent regions must be different colours?

. . . if adjacent regions must be different colours?

. . . if adjacent regions must be different colours?

Four colors sufce

No map requires more than four colours (hard!).

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

Four colors sufce

No map requires more than four colours (hard!).

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

Four colors sufce

No map requires more than four colours (hard!).

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

On the donut they do nut!

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

On the donut they do nut!

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

On the donut they do nut!

How many colours do we need??

The Seven Colour Theorem

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

From maps to graphs

From maps to graphs

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

From maps to graphs

From maps to graphs

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

From maps to graphs

From maps to graphs

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

From maps to graphs

From maps to graphs

The dual of the map

Denition The Euler characteristic of S is (S ) = V E + F . Theorem (S ) depends only on S and not on G.

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

Denition The Euler characteristic of S is (S ) = V E + F . Theorem (S ) depends only on S and not on G.

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

Subdivide edges Add vertices in faces Subdivide faces.

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

Subdivide edges Add vertices in faces Subdivide faces.

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)

The Seven Colour Theorem

Subdivide edges Add vertices in faces Subdivide faces.

Christopher Tufey (Massey University)