Vertex (graph theory)

In discrete mathematics, and more specifically in graph theory, a vertex (plural vertices) or node is the fundamental unit of which graphs are formed: an undirected graph consists of a set of vertices and a set of edges (unordered pairs of vertices), while a directed graph consists of a set of vertices and a set of arcs (ordered pairs of vertices).

In a diagram of a graph, a vertex is usually represented by a circle with a label, and an edge is represented by a line or arrow extending from one vertex to another.

From the point of view of graph theory, vertices are treated as featureless and indivisible objects, although they may have additional structure depending on the application from which the graph arises; for instance, a semantic network is a graph in which the vertices represent concepts or classes of objects.

The neighborhood of a vertex v is an induced subgraph of the graph, formed by all vertices adjacent to v. The degree of a vertex, denoted 𝛿(v) in a graph is the number of edges incident to it.

The vertex space of a graph is a vector space having a set of basis vectors corresponding with the graph's vertices.