2-Factors in Graphs

An account of 2-factors in graphs and their history is presented. We give a direct graph-theoretic proof of the 2-Factor Theorem and a new variant of it, and also a new complete characterisation of the maximal graphs without 2-factors. This is based on the important works of Tibor Gallai on 1-factors and of Hans-Boris Belck on k-factors, both published in 1950 and independently containing the theory of alternating chains. We also present an easy proof that a $(2k+1)$-regular graph with at most $2k$ leaves has a 2-factor, and we describe all connected $(2k+1)$-regular graphs with exactly $2k+1$ leaves without a 2-factor. This generalises Julius Petersen's famous theorem, that any 3-regular graph with at most two leaves has a 1-factor, and it generalises the extremal graphs Sylvester discovered for that theorem.