Sample Questions for the CS 6385 Midterm Exam
Contains 7 pages. The correct answer to each question is provided at the bottom of its page.
EXAM RULES:
1. Exactly one answer is correct for each multiple choice question. Encircle the number
of the chosen answer. You have two options for each multiple choice question, allowing
to get partial credit even for multiple choice:
(a) Select one answer. If you selected the correct one, then it is worth 1 point, other-
wise 0.
(b) You may select 2 answers. If the correct one is among them, then it is worth 1/2
point, otherwise 0. This allows partial credit for multiple choice questions. Note
that by selecting 2 answers you may double your chance to hit the correct one,
but at the price of getting only half of the points for this question.
2. Your choice of the answer(s) should be clear and unambigous. If you feel you have to
revisit a question and must change some of your choices during the exam, you can still
do it, given that you mark clearly and unambiguously your final choices. If ambiguity
remains for a question regarding your final choice(s), then it will be counted as an
unanswered question.
3. The instructor cannot give any hint during the exam about the answers. Therefore,
please refrain from asking questions that could lead to such hints (even remotely),
because such questions cannot be answered.
4. It is an open-notes exam, but no other help is allowed. In particular, no device can be
used that has a communicating capability (laptop, cellphone, etc). The work has to
be fully individual.
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MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
2 Assume the variables x, y occur in a linear programming task. We would like to add the
new constraint |2x| + |3y| ≤ 3 to the LP. Which of the following formulations does it
correctly, given that we must keep the formulation linear:
1. if (x ≥ 0 and y ≥ 0) then 2x + 3y ≤ 3 else −2x − 3y ≤ 3
2. 2x + 3y ≤ 3, −2x − 3y ≤ 3
3. x + y ≤ 3, −x + y ≤ 3, x − y ≤ 3, −x − y ≤ 3
4. 2x + 3y ≤ 3, −2x + 3y ≤ 3, 2x − 3y ≤ 3, −2x − 3y ≤ 3
5. x ≤ 3, y ≤ 3, 2x + 3y ≤ 3
6. x ≤ 3, y ≤ 3, 2x + 3y ≤ 3, −2x − 3y ≤ 3
Correct answer: 4.
2
3 Consider the maximum flow problem from a source node s to a destination node t in a
directed graph. Assume we were able to find a flow that pushes a total of 10 units of
flow through the graph from s to t. (But it may not be a maximum flow.) Which of
the following is correct:
1. If originally each edge has capacity at most 5 and we increase the capacity of each
edge by 1, then the maximum s-t flow will necessarily be at least 12.
2. If we remove all edges from the graph on which the found flow is 0, then the
minimum cut capacity between s and t in the new graph necessarily remains the
same as in the original graph.
3. If there is a cut in the graph that separates s and t, and its capacity is 11, then
the found flow was not maximum.
4. If the found flow is maximum and all edge capacities are integers, then there must
be at least 10 edges that are saturated by the flow, that is, they are filled up to
their capacities.
Correct answer: 1.
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5 Assume a large network with undirected links has minimum cut size 4, that is, it cannot
be disconnected by removing less than 4 links, but it can be disconnected by removing
4 links. We would like to disconnect the network in the following strong sense: we
remove enough links so that the network falls apart into at least 3 components. In
other words, the disconnected network cannot be made connected again by adding a
single link. To achieve this strong disconnection, which of the following is true:
1. It is always enough to remove the links of a minimum cut.
2. It is always enough to remove the links of a minimum cut plus one additional link.
3. It is always enough to remove a number of links that is at most twice the size a
minimum cut.
4. We may have to remove a number of links that can be arbitrarily higher than the
size of a minimum cut.
Correct answer: 4.
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PROBLEM SOLVING
9 Consider a network with directed links, and each link in this network has 1 Mb/s capacity.
Assume that from a source node s to a terminal node t the network can carry a flow of
20 Mb/s, but not more. Let us call a link critical if it has the following property: if the
link is removed, then the network cannot carry the 20 Mb/s flow from s to t anymore.
a) Is it possible that this network contains less than 20 critical links? Justify your
answer.
Answer: No, it is not possible. Let us consider a maximum flow, which has
value 20 Mb/s, according to the conditions. If we look at a minimum cut which
separates s and t, then, due to the max flow min cut theorem, this cut must have
capacity 20 Mb/s. Since each link has 1 Mb/s capacity, there must be 20 links in
the cut. If we remove any of these links, the capacity of the cut goes down to 19
Mb/s, so it is not possible to send 20 Mb/s flow anymore. Thus, each link in the
minimum cut is critical and there are 20 of them.
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b) Is it possible that this network contains more than 20 critical links? Justify your
answer.
Answer: Yes, it is possible. For example, let the network have 3 nodes: s, a, t.
Define the links in the following way: connect s to a by 20 directed links, each
of capacity 1 Mb/s, and also connect a to t by 20 directed links, each of capacity
1 Mb/s. Then the maximum flow from a to t is 20 Mb/s. The links between s
and a form a minimum cut in which each link is critical. The same is true for the
links that connect a to t. Thus, this network satisfies the conditions and it has
40 critical links.
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9 * Consider an undirected graph, and let λ(a, b) denote the edge connectivity between
any two different nodes a, b.
Let x, y, z be three distinct nodes in the graph. Does the inequality
λ(x, z) ≥ min{λ(x, y), λ(y, z)}
always hold? Justify your answer!
Answer: Yes. Let λ(x, z) = k. Then x and z can be separated by removing k
edges. But this cut must also separate at least one of the source-destination pairs
(x, y), or (y, z). The reason is this: if none of them is separated by this cut, then after
removing the cut, a path would remain connecting x, y, and another path connecting
y, z. Together they would provide connection between x and z, contradicting to the
fact that we removed a cut between (x, z). Thus, at least one of the pairs (x, y) and
(y, z) must be separated by these k edges, so at least one of λ(x, y) and λ(y, z)} must
be ≤ k. This is equivalent to min{λ(x, y), λ(y, z)} ≤ k, which proves the statement,
since k = λ(x, z).
Comment. One may ask here: could it be true that the inequality
λ(x, z) ≥ min{λ(x, y), λ(y, z)}
always holds with equality?
The answer is no. In some cases the inequality may be strict. Consider the following
example. Let the graph contain 5 nodes: x, y, z, a, b. Connect x with a, b, y and connect
z also with a, b, y. Then λ(x, y) = 2, since removing the (x, y) and y, z) edges separates
x and y. Similarly, the removal of the same two edges separates y and z, so λ(y, z) = 2.
(Draw a figure to see it.) On the other hand, λ(x, z) = 3, since there are 3 edge-disjoint
paths between x and z, namely, x − a − z, x − b − z and x − y − z.
