Combinatorics of orientation reversing polygons (Q1075334)

Let G be a connected finite graph. An embedding of G in a surface S is a parity embedding iff each of its polygons is a reversing polygon (r- polygon), i.e. the polygon whose regular neighborhood is a Möbius strip. Some other concepts used in the paper are e.g. a skew embedding, a graph encoded map (gem) and an imbalance in a gem. We state the next three theorems: Theorem 2. A polygon P is an r-polygon iff P is a homomorphic image of an odd circuit from a corresponding gem. Theorem 4. An embedding of G is a parity embedding iff there exists a skew embedding of G on an orientable surface. Theorem 5. Let G be an Eulerian graph for which there exists either an embedding in the real projective plane or skew embedding in the sphere. Then the minimum cardinality of an imbalance equals the maximum of an edge disjoint set of r-circuits.