Computing the hyperbolicity constant (Q2429111)

If \(X\) is Gromov's \(\delta \)-hyperbolic space, then the hyperbolicity constant of \(X\) is \(\inf\{\delta \geq 0: X\text{ is }\delta \text{-hyperbolic}\}\). The authors study graphs with edges of the same length \(k\). If \(G\) is such graph, then \(J(G)\) denotes the union of the set \(V(G)\) of vertices of \(G\) and the midpoints of the edges of \(G\). Let \(T_1\) denote the set of all geodesic triangles with vertices in \(J(G)\) and which are simple cycles (i.e., simple closed curves). Then \(\delta_1(T)=\inf \{\lambda \geq 0:\text{ every triangle }T\in T_1\text{ is }\lambda \text{-thin}\}\). The main result of the paper states that for every graph \(G\) with edges of equal length \(k\), \(\delta_1(G)=\delta (G)\). In addition, it is shown that the hyperbolicity constant \(\delta(G)\) is a multiple of \(k/4\). As a corollary, the authors derive that for every hyperbolic graph \(G\) with edges of length \(k\), there is a triangle \(T\in T_1\) for which the hyperbolicity constant is attained.