Question: Give an algorithm to detect whether a given undirected graph contains a cycle. If the graph contains a cycle, then your algorithm should output one.

Give an algorithm to detect whether a given undirected graph contains a cycle. If the graph contains a cycle, then your algorithm should output one. (It should not output all cycles in the graph, just one of them.) The running time of your algorithm should be O(m + n) for a graph with n nodes and m edges. Assume a connected graph. Use breadth-first search as the base of the algorithm. Assume the adjacency list representation of a graph. Explain how you can implement the algorithm to run in time O(m + n). The algorithm description may be in pseudocode but should be precise enough to be executable and justify the running time complexity of each step. Consider the following points as given: (i) any edge of the graph G that is not included in the BFS tree T causes a cycle if added to T (ii) BFS on a graph represented using an adjacency list takes O(m + n) (iii) there is a linear-time algorithm for finding a lowest common ancestor (LCA) in a tree assume one is given.

Step by Step Solution

There are 3 Steps involved in it

1 Expert Approved Answer
Step: 1 Unlock blur-text-image
Question Has Been Solved by an Expert!

Get step-by-step solutions from verified subject matter experts

Step: 2 Unlock
Step: 3 Unlock

Students Have Also Explored These Related Databases Questions!