Definition
In Geographic Information Systems, concepts from graph theory are extremely useful in expressing the spatial structure of entities seen as points, lines, areas and solids, after the geometrical details of these entities are removed. For example, in transportation and river networks, the topological properties of their structures can be represented using graphs. This article describes the origins of graph theory and the impact it has on various fields ranging from geography to economics.
The Konigsberg Bridge Problem is a classic problem, based on the topography of the city of Konigsberg, formerly in Germany but now known as Kalingrad and part of Russia. The river Pregel divides the city into two islands and two banks as shown in Fig. 1. The city had seven bridges connecting the mainland and the islands (represented by thick lines in the figure). (Chartrand 1985; Harary...
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George, B. (2017). Graph Theory, Konigsberg Problem. In: Shekhar, S., Xiong, H., Zhou, X. (eds) Encyclopedia of GIS. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17885-1_547
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