Betweenness centers of graphs

RESUMO

The betweenness centrality of a vertex $v$ in a graph $G = (V,E)$ is the sum of the relative numbers of shortest paths of $G$ that pass through $v$. The vertices of $G$ which have the maximum (resp. minimum) betweenness induce the betweenness center (resp. betweenness periphery) of $G$. We study betweenness of graphs and their localization in graph blocks, presenting sufficient conditions for graphs (in terms of diameter or block sizes) to have those centers contained in a single block. Further, we show that each graph occurs as the subgraph induced by the betweenness center of some graph (as well as the subgraph induced by the betweenness periphery). For trees, we show, by an alternative proof, that their betweenness center is always contained in a path; in addition, we enumerate trees of order at most 20 according to the order of their betweenness centers.