Math Problem Statement

How many distinct toposorts does a DAG with 3 vertices and 2 edges have? Prove your answer.

Solution

Problem Breakdown:

A DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) is a directed graph without any cycles. A topological sort (toposort) of a DAG is an ordering of its vertices such that for every directed edge (u,v)(u, v), vertex uu appears before vertex vv in the ordering.

We need to determine how many distinct topological sorts are possible for a DAG with 3 vertices (V=3V = 3) and 2 edges (E=2E = 2).


Proof and Solution:

Step 1: Possible Structures of the DAG

For V=3V = 3, let the vertices be {A,B,C}\{ A, B, C \}. Since there are 2 edges and the graph is acyclic, the edges must form a partial ordering. Several configurations are possible for how the edges are arranged:

  1. Case 1: Linear chain (A → B → C)
    Here, the edges are ABA → B and BCB → C.
    The only valid toposort is [A,B,C][A, B, C].
    Distinct toposorts = 1.

  2. Case 2: Fork (A → B, A → C)
    Here, the edges are ABA → B and ACA → C.
    Both BB and CC depend on AA, but BB and CC are independent of each other.
    Valid toposorts: [A,B,C][A, B, C] and [A,C,B][A, C, B].
    Distinct toposorts = 2.

  3. Case 3: Reverse fork (B → A, C → A)
    Here, the edges are BAB → A and CAC → A.
    Both BB and CC must appear before AA, but BB and CC are independent of each other.
    Valid toposorts: [B,C,A][B, C, A] and [C,B,A][C, B, A].
    Distinct toposorts = 2.

  4. Case 4: Separate chains (B → A, A → C)
    Here, the edges are BAB → A and ACA → C.
    This creates a linear ordering BACB → A → C.
    The only valid toposort is [B,A,C][B, A, C].
    Distinct toposorts = 1.

Step 2: Total Number of Distinct Toposorts

Adding up the counts from all possible cases:
1 (Linear chain) + 2 (Fork) + 2 (Reverse fork) + 1 (Separate chains) = 6 distinct toposorts.


Final Answer:

There are 6 distinct topological sorts possible for a DAG with 3 vertices and 2 edges.


Questions for Further Exploration:

  1. What happens to the number of distinct toposorts if the number of edges is increased to 3?
  2. How does the structure of the graph affect the number of topological sorts?
  3. Can you generalize the formula for counting toposorts for a DAG with nn vertices and mm edges?
  4. What is the computational complexity of finding all topological sorts for a general DAG?
  5. How does a topological sort relate to critical path analysis in project scheduling?

Tip:

To enumerate all toposorts for any DAG, consider using algorithms like Kahn's algorithm or DFS-based topological sorting, which systematically process the graph's vertices respecting their dependencies.

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Math Problem Analysis

Mathematical Concepts

Graph Theory
Topological Sorting
Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG)

Formulas

-

Theorems

Definition of Topological Sort
Properties of DAGs

Suitable Grade Level

Undergraduate (Discrete Mathematics/Computer Science)