Finding Hamilton Paths and Circuits: an Interactive Gizmo

Finding Hamilton Paths and Circuits

On a graph, a Hamilton's path is a path that passes through all the vertices of the graph, each vertex exactly once. Hamilton's path which is a cycle is called Hamilton's cycle. Circuit is another term for a closed path. Connectivity of the graph is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the existence of an Hamilton path.

There is no definite prescription for finding Hamilton paths. Start at a node and try your luck. The instructions for using the applet are available on a separate page and can also be read under the first tab directly in the applet.

This applet requires Sun's Java VM 2 which your browser may perceive as a popup. Which it is not. If you want to see the applet work, visit Sun's website at https://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp, download and install Java VM and enjoy the applet.

What if applet does not run?

(This applet was created to accompany Excursions in Modern Mathematics, Seventh Edition, by Peter Tannenbaum © Pearson Education. Reproduced with permission.)

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