NIST

chromatic number

(definition)

Definition: The minimum number of colors needed to color the vertices of a graph such that no two adjacent vertices have the same color.

See also vertex coloring, chromatic index, Christofides algorithm.

Note: From Algorithms and Theory of Computation Handbook, pages 7-19 and 7-21, Copyright © 1999 by CRC Press LLC. Appearing in the Dictionary of Computer Science, Engineering and Technology, Copyright © 2000 CRC Press LLC.

Author: CRC-A


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If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul E. Black.

Entry modified 19 April 2004.
HTML page formatted Fri Mar 25 16:20:34 2011.

Cite this as:
Algorithms and Theory of Computation Handbook, CRC Press LLC, 1999, "chromatic number", in Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Paul E. Black, ed., U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. 19 April 2004. (accessed TODAY) Available from: http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/chromatcnmbr.html

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