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A similar theorem states that K 4 and K 2,3 are the forbidden minors for the set of outerplanar graphs. Although the Robertson–Seymour theorem extends these results to arbitrary minor-closed graph families, it is not a complete substitute for these results, because it does not provide an explicit description of the obstruction set for any family.
The theorem is stated in the seventeenth of a series of 23 papers by Neil Robertson and Paul Seymour. Its proof is very long and involved. Its proof is very long and involved. Kawarabayashi & Mohar (2007) and Lovász (2006) are surveys accessible to nonspecialists, describing the theorem and its consequences.
Robertson, Seymour & Thomas (1993) proved the conjecture for =, also using the four color theorem; their paper with this proof won the 1994 Fulkerson Prize. It follows from their proof that linklessly embeddable graphs , a three-dimensional analogue of planar graphs, have chromatic number at most five. [ 3 ]
The Robertson–Seymour theorem implies that every matroid property of graphic matroids characterized by a list of forbidden minors can be characterized by a finite list. Another way of saying the same thing is that the partial order on graphic matroids formed by the minor operation is a well-quasi-ordering .
Robertson has won the Fulkerson Prize three times, in 1994 for his work on the Hadwiger conjecture, in 2006 for the Robertson–Seymour theorem, and in 2009 for his proof of the strong perfect graph theorem. [11] He also won the Pólya Prize (SIAM) in 2004, the OSU Distinguished Scholar Award in 1997, and the Waterloo Alumni Achievement Medal ...
As the Robertson–Seymour theorem shows, many important families of graphs can be characterized by a finite set of forbidden minors: for instance, according to Wagner's theorem, the planar graphs are exactly the graphs that have neither the complete graph K 5 nor the complete bipartite graph K 3,3 as minors.
This case of the theorem is still provable by Π 1 1-CA 0, but by adding a "gap condition" [4] to the definition of the order on trees above, he found a natural variation of the theorem unprovable in this system. [5] [6] Much later, the Robertson–Seymour theorem would give another theorem unprovable by Π 1 1-CA 0.
The Robertson–Seymour theorem proves that subcubic graphs (simple or not) are well-founded by homeomorphic embeddability, implying such a sequence cannot be infinite. Then, by applying Kőnig's lemma on the tree of such sequences under extension, for each value of k there is a sequence with maximal length.