NIST

flow network

(definition)

Definition: A weighted, directed graph with two specially marked nodes, the source s and the sink t, and a capacity function that maps edges to positive real numbers, u: E |→ R+.

See also st-digraph, maximum-flow problem, flow function, blocking flow.

Note: A graph with multiple sources or sinks may be converted into a flow network by adding a supersource, which has infinite capacity to all sources, or a supersink, which has infinite capacity from all sinks.

From Algorithms and Theory of Computation Handbook, page 7-10, Copyright © 1999 by CRC Press LLC. Appearing in the Dictionary of Computer Science, Engineering and Technology, Copyright © 2000 CRC Press LLC.

Author: CRC-A


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If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul Black.

Entry modified 17 December 2004.
HTML page formatted Mon Feb 2 13:10:39 2015.

Cite this as:
Algorithms and Theory of Computation Handbook, CRC Press LLC, 1999, "flow network", in Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Vreda Pieterse and Paul E. Black, eds. 17 December 2004. (accessed TODAY) Available from: http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/flownetwork.html