
Degree Sequence
Given anundirected graph, a degree sequence is a monotonic nonincreasing sequence of thevertex degrees (valencies) of itsgraph vertices. The number of degree sequences for a graph of a given order is closely related tographical partitions. The sum of the elements of a degree sequence of a graph is always even due to fact that each edge connects two vertices and is thus counted twice (Skiena 1990, p. 157).
Theminimum vertex degree in agraph is denoted
, and themaximum vertex degree is denoted
(Skiena 1990, p. 157). Agraph whose degree sequence contains only multiple copies of a single integer is called aregular graph. A graph corresponding to a given degree sequence
can be constructed in theWolfram Language usingRandomGraph[DegreeGraphDistribution[d]].
It is possible for two topologically distinct graphs to have the same degree sequence. Moreover, two distinct convex polyhedra can even have the same degree sequence for their skeletons, as exemplified by thetriangular cupola andtridiminished icosahedronJohnson solids, both of which have 8 faces, 9 vertices, 15 edges, and degree sequence (3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4).
A graph having a unique degree sequence may be said to beunigraphicor called a "unigraph" (Tyshkevich 2000, Barruset al.2023).
The number of distinct degree sequences for graphs of, 2, ... nodes are given by 1, 2, 4, 11, 31, 102, 342, 1213, 4361, ... (OEISA004251), compared with the total number of nonisomorphic simple undirected graphs with
graph vertices of 1, 2, 4, 11, 34, 156, 1044, ... (OEISA000088). The first order having fewer degree sequences than number of nonisomorphic graphs is therefore
. For the graphs illustrated above, the degree sequences are given in the following table.
| 1 | |
| 2 | |
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
The possible sums of elements for a degree sequence of order are 0, 2, 4, 6, ...,
.
A degree sequence is said to be-connected if there exists some
-connected graph corresponding to the degree sequence. For example, while the degree sequence
is 1- but not 2-connected,
is 2-connected.
See also
Degree Set,Graphic Sequence,Graphical Partition,k-Connected Graph,Regular Graph,Unigraphic Graph,Unswitchable Graph,Vertex DegreeExplore with Wolfram|Alpha

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References
Barrus, M. D.; Trenk, A. N.; and Whitman, R. "The Hereditary Closure of the Unigraphs." 23 Aug 2023.https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.12190Ruskey, F. "Information on Degree Sequences."http://www.theory.csc.uvic.ca/~cos/inf/nump/DegreeSequences.html.Ruskey, F.; Cohen, R.; Eades, P.; and Scott, A. "Alley CATs in Search of Good Homes."Congres. Numer.102, 97-110, 1994.Skiena, S. "Realizing Degree Sequences." §4.4.2 inImplementing Discrete Mathematics: Combinatorics and Graph Theory with Mathematica. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, pp. 157-160, 1990.Sloane, N. J. A. SequenceA004251/M1250 in "The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences."Tyshkevich, R. "Decomposition of Graphical Sequences and Unigraphs."Disc. Math.220, 201-238, 2000.Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha
Degree SequenceCite this as:
Weisstein, Eric W. "Degree Sequence."FromMathWorld--A Wolfram Resource.https://mathworld.wolfram.com/DegreeSequence.html