‭Max Flow - Min Cut Theorem‬

‭Understanding the Basics‬

‭ flow network is a directed graph where each edge has a capacity, representing the maximum‬
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‭amount of flow that can pass through‬‭1‬ ‭it.‬

‭‬ S
● ‭ ource Node (s):‬‭The starting point of the flow.‬
‭●‬ ‭Sink Node (t):‬‭The ending point of the flow.‬
‭●‬ ‭Flow:‬‭The amount of material that can be sent from‬‭the source to the sink through the‬
‭network.‬
‭●‬ ‭Cut:‬‭A partition of the vertices into two sets, S‬‭and T, such that the source is in S and the sink‬
‭is in T.‬
‭●‬ ‭Capacity of a Cut:‬‭The sum of the capacities of the‬‭edges going from S to T.‬
‭ ax Flow:‬‭The maximum flow in a network is the maximum‬‭amount of flow that can be sent‬
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‭from the source to the sink without violating the capacity constraints of the edges.‬‭2‬

‭Min Cut:‬‭The minimum cut in a network is the cut with‬‭the minimum capacity.‬

‭ ax-Flow Min-Cut Theorem:‬‭The Max-Flow Min-Cut Theorem‬‭states that the maximum flow in‬
M
‭a flow network is equal to the capacity of the minimum cut.‬‭3‬

‭Ford-Fulkerson Algorithm:‬

‭ common algorithm to find the maximum flow is the Ford-Fulkerson algorithm. It works as‬
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‭follows:‬

‭1.‬ ‭Initialize:‬
‭○‬ ‭Set the flow on each edge to 0.‬
‭○‬ ‭Create a residual graph, which initially copies the original graph.‬
‭2.‬ ‭Find an Augmenting Path:‬
‭○‬ ‭Use a search algorithm (like BFS or DFS) to find a path from the source to the sink in the‬
‭residual graph. This path is called an augmenting path.‬
‭3.‬ ‭Augment the Flow:‬
‭○‬ ‭Find the bottleneck capacity of the augmenting path, which is the minimum capacity of‬
‭any edge on the path.‬
‭○‬ ‭Increase the flow on each edge of the augmenting path by the bottleneck capacity.‬
‭○‬ ‭Update the residual graph by subtracting the bottleneck capacity from the forward edges‬
‭and adding it to the backward edges.‬‭4‬
‭4.‬ ‭Repeat:‬
‭○‬ ‭Repeat steps 2 and 3 until no more augmenting paths can be found.‬
‭ inding the Minimum Cut:‬‭Once the Ford-Fulkerson algorithm‬‭terminates, the minimum cut‬
F
‭can be found by examining the residual graph:‬

‭1.‬ ‭Identify Reachable Vertices:‬

‭○‬ ‭Perform a breadth-first search (BFS) from the source node in the residual graph.‬
‭2.‬ ‭Partition Vertices:‬
‭○‬ ‭Vertices reachable from the source form set S.‬
 ‭ ‬ ‭Vertices not reachable form set T.‬
○
‭3.‬ ‭Calculate Cut Capacity:‬
‭○‬ ‭Sum the capacities of the edges going from S to T in the original graph. This is the‬
‭capacity of the minimum cut.‬
‭Applications of Max Flow-Min Cut:‬

‭‬
● ‭ etwork Flow Problems:‬‭Routing traffic, water flow,‬‭etc.‬
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‭●‬ ‭Assignment Problems:‬‭Assigning tasks to workers, matching‬‭students to colleges, etc.‬
‭●‬ ‭Image Segmentation:‬‭Dividing an image into meaningful‬‭regions.‬
‭●‬ ‭Network Reliability:‬‭Analyzing network vulnerability.‬
‭ y understanding the concepts of flow networks, maximum flow, minimum cut, and the‬
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‭Ford-Fulkerson algorithm, you can effectively solve a variety of problems in computer science‬
‭and operations research.‬

‭ ure! The Max-Flow Min-Cut Theorem is a fundamental concept in network flow theory. It states‬
S
‭that the maximum flow in a flow network from a source to a sink is equal to the total weight of‬
‭the edges in the smallest cut that separates the source and the sink. Let's break down the steps‬
‭to understand this concept in a simple and easy-to-learn manner:‬

‭### Max-Flow Min-Cut Theorem Steps‬

‭#### 1. **Understand the Flow Network**‬

‭ flow network is a directed graph where each edge has a capacity, and each edge receives a‬
A
‭flow. The goal is to find the maximum flow from a source node (S) to a sink node (T).‬

‭#### 2. **Max-Flow Problem**‬

‭ he max-flow problem involves finding the maximum amount of flow that can be sent from the‬
T
‭source to the sink without violating the capacity constraints of the edges.‬

‭#### 3. **Min-Cut Problem**‬

‭ he min-cut problem involves finding the smallest set of edges that, if removed, would‬
T
‭disconnect the source from the sink. The total capacity of these edges is the minimum cut.‬
‭#### 4. **Ford-Fulkerson Algorithm**‬

‭ he Ford-Fulkerson algorithm is used to solve the max-flow problem. It repeatedly finds‬

T
‭augmenting paths in the residual graph and increases the flow until no more augmenting paths‬
‭can be found.‬

‭#### 5. **Residual Graph**‬

‭ he residual graph represents the remaining capacities of the edges after considering the‬
T
‭current flow. It includes reverse edges to account for possible flow reduction.‬

‭#### 6. **Finding Augmenting Paths**‬

‭ se a search algorithm (like BFS or DFS) to find paths from the source to the sink in the‬
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‭residual graph where all edges have positive capacity.‬

‭#### 7. **Augment Flow**‬

I‭ncrease the flow along the augmenting path by the minimum capacity of the edges in the path.‬
‭Update the residual capacities accordingly.‬

‭#### 8. **Repeat**‬

‭ epeat the process of finding augmenting paths and augmenting flow until no more augmenting‬
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‭paths can be found.‬

‭#### 9. **Max-Flow**‬

‭ he maximum flow is the total flow from the source to the sink after no more augmenting paths‬
T
‭can be found.‬

‭#### 10. **Min-Cut**‬

‭ he min-cut can be found by identifying the edges that, if removed, would disconnect the source‬
T
‭from the sink. These edges are the ones that are fully utilized in the final residual graph.‬
‭### Example‬

‭Let's go through an example to illustrate these steps:‬

‭#### Example Graph‬

‭Consider a graph with 4 vertices (S, A, B, T) and the following capacities:‬

‭̀``‬

‭S‬

‭/ \‬

‭10 5‬

‭/ \‬

‭A B‬

‭\ /‬

‭15 10‬

‭\ /‬

‭T‬

‭̀``‬

‭1. **Initialize Flow**: Start with a flow of 0 for all edges.‬

‭ . **Residual Graph**: Initially, the residual graph is the same as the original graph since the‬
2
‭flow is 0.‬

‭ . **Find Augmenting Path**: Use BFS to find a path from S to T. One possible path is S -> A ->‬
3
‭T.‬
‭ . **Augment Flow**: The minimum capacity along the path S -> A -> T is 10. Increase the flow‬
4
‭along this path by 10 and update the residual capacities:‬

‭- S -> A: 10 - 10 = 0 (residual capacity)‬

‭- A -> T: 15 - 10 = 5 (residual capacity)‬

‭- Add reverse edges with the flow value:‬

‭- A -> S: 10 (reverse edge)‬

‭- T -> A: 10 (reverse edge)‬

‭5. **Repeat**: Find another augmenting path. Another possible path is S -> B -> T.‬

‭- The minimum capacity along the path S -> B -> T is 5. Increase the flow along this path by 5‬
‭and update the residual capacities:‬

‭- S -> B: 5 - 5 = 0 (residual capacity)‬

‭- B -> T: 10 - 5 = 5 (residual capacity)‬

‭- Add reverse edges with the flow value:‬

‭- B -> S: 5 (reverse edge)‬

‭- T -> B: 5 (reverse edge)‬

‭ . **Max-Flow**: No more augmenting paths can be found. The maximum flow from S to T is the‬
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‭sum of the flows along the paths found, which is 10 + 5 = 15.‬

‭ . **Min-Cut**: The min-cut can be found by identifying the edges that are fully utilized in the‬
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‭final residual graph. In this case, the edges S -> A and S -> B are fully utilized, forming the‬
‭min-cut with a total capacity of 10 + 5 = 15.‬

‭### Summary‬

‭ he Max-Flow Min-Cut Theorem shows that the maximum flow in a network is equal to the‬
T
‭capacity of the smallest cut that separates the source from the sink. The Ford-Fulkerson‬
‭algorithm helps find this maximum flow by repeatedly finding augmenting paths and updating‬
‭the residual graph.‬