Question

In discrete mathematics, in graph theory, what is the difference between
a) A path
b) A walk
c) A directed path
d) And a directed walk

Answer 1

A path is a sequence of edges that begins at a vertex, and travels from vertex to vertex along edges of the graph. The number of edges on the path is called the length of the path. If a path begins and ends at the same vertex, the path is also called a circuit.

A walk is a sequence , , , ..., of graph vertices and graph edges such that for , the edge has endpoints and (West 2000, p. 20). The length of a walk is its number of edges. A -walk is a walk with first vertex and last vertex , where and are known as the endpoints.

Did you mean a directed graph?

Answer 2

I'm sorry you lost me...they sound like the same thing...

Answer 3

I think a difference between a path and a walk is that 'a path is a walk' but it does not necessarily hold true for the other way around...

Correct?