Kings in Tournaments (2)

by
Yu Yibo '
Abstract
In [5], we have characterized those arcs e in a tournament T, such that the digraph
T - { e} obtained by deleting e from T contains a king. In this note, we characterize
those pairs of arcs {e1 , e2} , where e1 = (a,b) and e2 = (b,c) such that the digraph
T - { e1 , e2 } obtained by deleting these two arcs from T contains a king.

1. Tournaments
A tournament is a non-empty finite set of vertices in which every two vertices are joined
by one and only one arrow (such an arrow is also called an arc or a directed edge).
Let T be a tournament and x, y be two vertices in T. If there is an arrow from x to y ,
we say that x dominates y or y is dominated by x (symbolically, x-----> y). An arc from
x to y is denoted by (x , y). The number of vertices dominated by x is the out-degree of
x, and is denoted by d+(x). The number of vertices that dominate xis the in-degree of x ,
denoted by d-(x). The set of vertices dominated by xis the out-set of x, O(x); and the
remaining set of vertices that dominate x is the in-set of x, I (x).
Let x be a vertex and A be any set of vertices not containing x in T. We write A -----> x
to indicate that every vertex in A dominates x; and x -----> A to indicate that x dominates all
the vertices in A. We write A =?- x to indicate that at least one vertex in A dominates x;
and x =?- A to indicate that x dominates at least one vertex in A.
For any two vertices x, y in T, the distance from x to y, denoted by d(x , y) , is the
minimum number of arrows one has to follow in order to travel from x to y. Clearly,
d(x, y) = 1 if x dominates y; d(x, y) 2': 2 if x does not dominate y. Also, we write d(x , y) = oo
if y is not reachable from x.

2. Kings in Tournaments
Let T be a tournament with n 2': 2 vertices. A vertex x in T is called the emperor if
d(x, y) = 1 for any other vertex y in T; a vertex x in T is called a king if d(x, y) ::::; 2 for
any other vertex yin T.
Studying dominance relations in certain animal societies, the mathematical biologist
Landau proved in [3] the following result:

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 Kings in Tournaments (2)
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Theorem 1. In a tournament T, any vertex with the maximum score (out-degree) zs
always a king.
Moon, a Canadian mathematician, proved in [4] the following:
Theorem 2. In a tournament T, any non-emperor vertex v (i.e. v is dominated by some
other vertex in T) is always dominated by a king.
As a direct consequence of Theorem 2, we have:
Corollary 3. No tournament contains exactly two kings.
Thus, any tournament either contains exactly one king (the emperor) or at least three
kings.
Let D be the resulting structure obtained from a tournament by deleting some arcs. A
vertex x in D is called a king if d(x, y) :::; 2 for any other vertex yin D. In [5], we have
proved the following result:
Theorem 4. Let T be a tournament with at least three vertices and e = (a, b) an arc in T.
Let D = T- {e}. Then D contains at least one king if and only if d-(a) + d-(b) 2': 1 in D.

3. The Main Result

Now letT be a tournament and e 1 , e2 be two arcs in T. Suppose e 1 and e2 are deleted
from T. Does the resulting structure still contain a king?
The objective of this note is to establish the following result.

Theorem 5. LetT be a tournament with at least three vertices and e 1 = (a, b), e 2 = (b, c)
two arcs in T. Let D = T- {e 1 , e2 }. Then D contains at least one king if and only if
d-(a) + d-(b) 2': 1 and d-(b) + d-(c) 2': 1 in D, not counting (a, c) (i.e., d-(b) 2': 1 OR
d-(b) = 0, d-(a) 2': 1, and d-(c) 2': 1 not counting (a, c).)

Figure 1

Note: The dotted lines show that the arcs (a, b) and (b, c) are deleted. L is the set of
vertices excluding a, band c in D. The dotted arrows indicate that the dominance relations
are arbitrary and to be discussed.

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 Kings in Tournaments (2) 0
Proof: [Necessity] Suppose on the contrary that in D, d-(a)+d-(b) < 1, i.e. d-(a)+d-(b) =

0, not counting (a ,c). Then d-(a) = 0 and d-(b) = 0. In this case, d(x , b) = oo for every
x in D and d(b, a) ;:::: 3. Thus D contains no kings. Similarly, if d- (b)+ d- (c) < 1, then D
contains no kings either.
[Sufficiency] Case (1) d- (b) ;:::: 1 in D.
Let x be any vertex that dominates b, i.e. x -+ b. If x is the emperor of B( = D - {b}),
then x is t he only king of D.
If x is not the emperor of B, then x is dominated by a king of B , by Theorem 2. Let
this king be z. Clearly d(z , b) = 2, and thus z is a king of D (see Figure 2).

Figure 2

Case(2) d- (b) = 0, d- (a) ;:::: 1 and d- (c) ;:::: 1 in D , not counting (a, c).
Then b -+ L, and d(x, b) = oo for any x in D. Clearly, b is the only king of D since
b-+ L~a and b-+ L~c.
The proof of Theorem 5 is thus complete. 0

Now consider a more general problem. LetT be a tournament with at least four vertices
and e 1 = (a , b) , e2 = (c,d), where band c may not be the same, be two arcs in T. Let
D = T-{e 1 ,e 2 }. Are similar conditions (i.e. d-(a)+d-(b);:::: 1 and d-(c)+d-(d);:::: 1 in D)
sufficient to ensure the existence of a king of D? We can easily find one counter example:
Suppose that in D, d-(a) = d-(b) = d-(c) = d-(d) = 1, and a-+ L, b-+ L , c-+ L , d-+ L
(see· Figure 3).

Mathematical Medley I Volwtume 33 No. 2 December 2006 117 )

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 Kings in Tournaments (2)
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Figure 3

In this case , D does not contain a king.

Thus, what additional conditions should be imposed so that D = T - { e 1 , e2} always
contains a king? This problem remains open.

4. Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Professor Koh Khee Meng from the Department of Mathemat-
ics, National University of Singapore for his guidance throughout the entire course of Maths
Research Programme 2005/06 , which is organized by the Department of Mathematics,
Hwa Chong Institution (College Section). I would also like to acknowledge Mr An-
drew Yap from the Department of Mathematics, Hwa Chong Institution (College Section)
for his continuous supervision and support during the programme.

References
[1] G.Chartrand and P. Zhang, "Introduction to Graph Theory", McGraw-Hill International

Edition, 2005.

[2] K.M. Koh, "Digraphs", lecture notes, National University of Singapore.

[3] H.G. Landau, On dominance relations and the structure of animal societies Ill.

The condition for a score structure. Bull. Math. Biophys., 15(1953), 143- 148.

[4] J.W. Moon, Solution to problem 463. Math. Mag., 35(1962), 189.

[5] Y. Yu et al, "Kings in Tournaments", Mathematical Medley, 33(1 )(2006), 28-32.

18 I Mathematical Medley I Volume 33 No. 2 December 2006