What a Math Party Game Tells Us About Graph Theory — Quanta Magazine

My latest column for Quanta Magazine explores some deep (and recent!) results in graph theory using a simple mathematical party game. Trying to get your entire group of friends to each shake an odd number of hands leads to some fundamental and surprising results, like the impossibility of some simple configurations.

This also ties in to some recent research that has determined new bounds on the way a graph can be partitioned into subgraphs. You can read the full article here, which includes some fun and challenging exercises at the end.