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Mathematics

Trees, Spanning Trees, and the Minimum Spanning Tree Problem

Quick fact

Any connected graph with n vertices has at least one spanning tree, and every spanning tree has exactly n-1 edges. The minimum spanning tree problem can be solved in near-linear time with sophisticated algorithms, and the greedy approach always works.

Why this is interesting

Imagine you need to connect every computer in a building with the least amount of cable, avoiding loops. How would you guarantee the cheapest network?