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Kruskal's greedy edge procedure produces a minimum spanning tree
Statement
Let be a connected real edge-weighted graph. Start with the edgeless spanning forest, repeatedly add a minimum-weight edge whose addition creates no cycle, and stop when no such edge remains. With ties broken arbitrarily, the output is a minimum spanning tree.
Facts & Assumptions
Given: A connected finite weighted graph .
has a spanning tree, and hence an MST (A finite graph is connected if and only if it has a spanning tree, Real edge-weighted graphs, total tree weight and minimum spanning trees).
Spanning-tree exchanges preserve spanning trees (The spanning-tree exchange lemma).
Induction is valid over the finitely many chosen edges (The cardinality of a finite set, The principle of mathematical induction).
Adding an edge outside a spanning tree creates a unique fundamental cycle (Every edge outside a spanning tree determines a unique fundamental cycle).
is connected, and a connected acyclic spanning subgraph is a spanning tree.
Kruskal chooses a least-weight edge among the currently eligible edges.
Proof
Maintain the invariant that the current forest is contained in some MST. It holds initially by L1.
Suppose for an MST , and Kruskal chooses . If , the invariant persists.
If , let be its fundamental cycle in . Some edge is not in ; otherwise the -path would lie in and adding to would create a cycle. Since is a subgraph of the acyclic tree , the edge is eligible for Kruskal.
At the moment is chosen, is eligible, so . The exchange is a spanning tree of no greater weight, hence an MST containing .
Thus the invariant holds after every choice.
On termination, must be connected: otherwise a path of between two components of would contain a first edge joining distinct components, and that edge would still be eligible. Thus is a spanning tree. The invariant then forces itself to be an MST.
Therefore every tie-breaking execution returns a minimum spanning tree.
Depends on
- Real edge-weighted graphs, total tree weight and minimum spanning trees
- A finite graph is connected if and only if it has a spanning tree
- Every edge outside a spanning tree determines a unique fundamental cycle
- The spanning-tree exchange lemma
- The cardinality $\lvert A\rvert$ of a finite set
- The principle of mathematical induction
Used by
Dependency tree · next 3 levels
Direct dependencies and their dependencies through the next three levels: 70 results over 23 levels. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, and this result sits at the bottom with a heavier outline. Click the chart to enlarge it.
Sources
- ISI Bangalore discrete mathematics notes, Kruskal and other algorithms (standard reference, not scraped)