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biconncomp

Biconnected graph components

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Syntax

bins = biconncomp(G)
bins = biconncomp(G,'OutputForm',form)
[bins,iC] = biconncomp(___)

Description

bins = biconncomp(G) returns the biconnected components of graph G as bins. The bin numbers indicate which biconnected component each edge in the graph belongs to. Each edge in G belongs to a single biconnected component, whereas the nodes in G can belong to more than one biconnected component. Two nodes belong to the same biconnected component if removing any one node from the graph does not disconnect them.

example

bins = biconncomp(G,'OutputForm',form), where form is 'cell', returns the output as a cell array such that bins{j} contains the node IDs of all nodes in component j. The default for form is 'vector'.

example

[bins,iC] = biconncomp(___) additionally returns the node indices iC indicating which nodes are cut vertices (also called articulation points).

example

Examples

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Open Live Script

Create and plot a graph. Color the edges based on which biconnected component each edge belongs to.

s = [1 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 6 7 7 8];
t = [2 3 3 4 4 5 7 6 7 10 8 9 9];
G = graph(s,t);
p = plot(G,'LineWidth',2);

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type graphplot.

p.EdgeCData =  biconncomp(G);

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type graphplot.

Open Live Script

This example shows how to extract the biconnected components from a graph as subgraphs, and then label the nodes in each subgraph using the node indices in the original graph.

Create and plot a graph. 

s = [1 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 6 7 7 8];
t = [2 3 3 4 4 5 7 6 7 10 8 9 9];
G = graph(s,t);
plot(G)

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type graphplot.

Group the graph nodes into bins based on which biconnected component(s) each node belongs to. Then, loop through each of the bins and extract a subgraph for each biconnected component. Label the nodes in each subgraph using their original node indices.

bincell = biconncomp(G, 'OutputForm', 'cell');
n = length(bincell);

for ii = 1:n
    subplot(2,2,ii)
    plot(subgraph(G, bincell{ii}), 'NodeLabel', bincell{ii});
end

Figure contains 4 axes objects. Axes object 1 contains an object of type graphplot. Axes object 2 contains an object of type graphplot. Axes object 3 contains an object of type graphplot. Axes object 4 contains an object of type graphplot.

Open Live Script

Identify the cut vertices in a graph and then highlight those vertices in the graph plot.

Create and plot a graph. Calculate which biconnected component each graph edge belongs to, and specify a second output to return a vector identifying the cut vertices.

s = [1 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 6 7 7 8];
t = [2 3 3 4 4 5 7 6 7 10 8 9 9];
G = graph(s,t);
p = plot(G);

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type graphplot.

[edgebins,iC] = biconncomp(G)
edgebins = 1×13

     4     4     4     4     4     3     3     3     3     2     1     1     1


iC = 1×3

     4     6     7

Nodes 4, 6, and 7 are the cut vertices of graph G. Use highlight to enlarge the cut vertices referenced in iC.

highlight(p, iC)

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type graphplot.

Input Arguments

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Input graph, specified as a graph object. Use graph to create an undirected graph object.

Example: G = graph(1,2)

Type of output, specified as one of these values:

OptionOutput
'vector' (default)bins is a numeric vector indicating which biconnected component each edge belongs to.
'cell'bins is a cell array, and bins{j} contains the node IDs for all nodes that belong to component j.

Output Arguments

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Biconnected components, returned as a vector or cell array. The bin numbers assign each edge or node in the graph to a biconnected component:

  • If OutputForm is 'vector' (default), then bins is a numeric vector indicating which connected component (bin) each edge belongs to. Edges that are self-loops are assigned to bin 0, since they do not belong to any biconnected component.

  • If OutputForm is 'cell', then bins is a cell array, with bins{j} containing the node IDs for all nodes that belong to component j.

Indices of cut vertices, returned as a vector of numeric node IDs.

More About

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Biconnected Components

A biconnected component of a graph is a maximally biconnected subgraph. A graph is biconnected if it does not contain any cut vertices.

Decomposing a graph into its biconnected components helps to measure how well-connected the graph is. You can decompose any connected graph into a tree of biconnected components, called the block-cut tree. The blocks in the tree are attached at shared vertices, which are the cut vertices.

The illustration depicts:

  • (a) An undirected graph with 11 nodes.

  • (b) Five biconnected components of the graph, with the cut vertices of the original graph colored for each component to which they belong.

  • (c) Block-cut tree of the graph, which contains a node for each biconnected component (as large circles) and a node for each cut vertex (as smaller multicolored circles). In the block-cut tree, an edge connects each cut vertex to each component to which it belongs.

An undirected graph, the biconnected components of the graph, and the block-cut tree of the graph

Cut Vertices

Also known as articulation points, cut vertices are graph nodes whose removal increases the number of connected components. In the previous illustration, the cut vertices are those nodes with more than one color: nodes 4, 6, and 7.

Extended Capabilities

Thread-Based Environment
Run code in the background using MATLAB® backgroundPool or accelerate code with Parallel Computing Toolbox™ ThreadPool.

Version History

Introduced in R2016b

See Also

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