Hypergraphs: connection and separation

Abstract

In this paper we study fundamental connectivity properties of hypergraphs from a graph-theoretic perspective, with the emphasis on cut edges, cut vertices, and blocks. To prepare the ground, we define various types of subhypergraphs, as well as various types of walks in a hypergraph. We then prove a number of new results involving cut edges, cut vertices, and blocks. In particular, we describe the exact relationship between the block decomposition of a hypergraph and the block decomposition of its incidence graph.