Conjectura
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← problemsGT006openMathematics/ Combinatorics/ Graph theory

The cycle double cover conjecture

Maintainer — open

Does every bridgeless graph have a family of cycles covering each edge exactly twice?

Motivation

Szekeres 1973 and Seymour 1979, independently.

It is equivalent to statements about embeddings of graphs in surfaces and about nowhere-zero flows, which is unusual and unhelpful: three formulations, three sets of tools, all stuck. A minimal counterexample is known to be a snark — a cyclically 4-edge-connected cubic graph with no 3-edge-colouring.

Szekeres 1973; Seymour 1979.

Lean API
import Mathlib.Combinatorics.SimpleGraph.Finite
import Mathlib.Combinatorics.SimpleGraph.Acyclic

namespace Conjectura.GT006

/-- Does every bridgeless graph admit a family of cycles covering each edge exactly
twice? Szekeres 1973 and Seymour 1979. Equivalent to statements about embeddings in
surfaces and about nowhere-zero flows, which is why it resists all three. -/
def goal : Prop :=
  ∀ (V : Type) [Fintype V] [DecidableEq V] (G : SimpleGraph V) [DecidableRel G.Adj],
    (∀ e ∈ G.edgeSet, ¬ G.IsBridge e) →
      ∃ (n : ℕ) (c : Fin n → Finset (Sym2 V)),
        ∀ e ∈ G.edgeSet, (Finset.univ.filter (fun i => e ∈ c i)).card = 2

end Conjectura.GT006
Definition7
FintypeFintype

class

AdjG.Adj

structure

edgeSetG.edgeSet

abbrev

IsBridgeG.IsBridge

def

FinsetFinset

structure

Sym2Sym2

abbrev

Related work0
    For your AI
    Download as .md
    I am proving a theorem in Lean 4 and submitting it to Conjectura.
    
    ## Problem GT006 — The cycle double cover conjecture
    
    Does every bridgeless graph have a family of cycles covering each edge exactly twice?
    
    ## Environment (fixed — do not assume anything newer)
    
    - Lean toolchain: `leanprover/lean4:v4.33.0-rc1`
    - Mathlib: `v4.33.0-rc1`
    
    If a lemma you want does not exist in that Mathlib, prove it inline instead of
    importing something newer.
    
    ## The exact statement I must prove
    
    ```lean
    theorem solution : ∀ (V : Type) [Fintype V] [DecidableEq V] (G : SimpleGraph V) [DecidableRel G.Adj],
        (∀ e ∈ G.edgeSet, ¬ G.IsBridge e) → ∃ (n : ℕ) (c : Fin n → Finset (Sym2 V)), ... := by
      sorry
    ```
    
    ## The file I submit
    
    ```lean
    import Conjectura.Problems.GT006.Statement
    
    namespace Submission
    
    theorem solution : Conjectura.GT006.goal := by
      sorry
    
    end Submission
    
    ```
    
    ## The Lean definitions of every term in this problem
    
    These are the actual definitions your proof will be checked against. Do not
    substitute your own version of any of them.
    
    ### Fintype
    
    class
    
    ```lean
    Fintype
    ```
    Defined in Mathlib.
    
    ### Adj
    
    structure
    
    ```lean
    G.Adj
    ```
    Defined in Mathlib.
    
    ### edgeSet
    
    abbrev
    
    ```lean
    G.edgeSet
    ```
    Defined in Mathlib.
    
    ### IsBridge
    
    def
    
    ```lean
    G.IsBridge
    ```
    Defined in Mathlib.
    
    ### Finset
    
    structure
    
    ```lean
    Finset
    ```
    Defined in Mathlib.
    
    ### Sym2
    
    abbrev
    
    ```lean
    Sym2
    ```
    Defined in Mathlib.
    
    ### filter
    
    def
    
    ```lean
    Finset.univ.filter
    ```
    Defined in Mathlib.
    
    ## Rules — submissions violating these are rejected automatically
    
    1. **Do not change the name or type of `solution`.** It must satisfy the
       statement above exactly.
    2. **Do not redefine or shadow anything from the problem's Statement module.**
       Declaring your own `goal`, or redefining a name it depends on, produces a
       proof of a *different* statement and is rejected. This is the single most
       common rejection.
    3. **No `sorry`** anywhere, including in helper lemmas. It surfaces as the
       axiom `sorryAx` and is detected transitively through imports.
    4. **No `native_decide`** — it surfaces as `Lean.ofReduceBool` and is not
       accepted, because it trusts compiled code rather than the kernel.
    5. Only these axioms are permitted: `propext`, `Classical.choice`,
       `Quot.sound`.
    6. Follow Mathlib style: hypotheses left of the colon, explicit types,
       `snake_case` theorem names, `UpperCamelCase` types.
    
    ## What I want from you
    
    Here is my argument in informal mathematics:
    
    > [PASTE YOUR PROOF SKETCH HERE]
    
    Turn it into Lean 4 that compiles under the environment above and satisfies the
    statement exactly. Where you are unsure a lemma exists in this Mathlib version,
    say so explicitly rather than guessing a name.

    Submissions are not open yet

    Conjectura is in beta. You can read every statement, every definition and the Lean behind them, and download the exact files the checker uses — but proofs are not being accepted yet.

    The reason is a deliberate order of operations. Accepting a proof means running a stranger’s code and standing behind a verdict, and no statement here yet carries a researcher’s name. A machine-checked answer to a question nobody has vouched for is worth very little, so the vouching comes first.

    The English write-ups are also switched off during the beta. Nothing on this page is generated by a model.

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