Pósa's theorem

Pósa's theorem, in graph theory, is a sufficient condition for the existence of a Hamiltonian cycle based on the degrees of the vertices in an undirected graph.

Unlike those conditions, it can be applied to graphs with a small number of low-degree vertices.

It is named after Lajos Pósa, a protégé of Paul Erdős born in 1947, who discovered this theorem in 1962.

The Pósa condition for a finite undirected graph

Pósa's theorem states that if a finite undirected graph satisfies the Pósa condition, then that graph has a Hamiltonian cycle in it.