Characterizing planarity using theta graphs (Q4376501)

The authors give a characterization of planar graphs in terms of their claws (= three half-edges incident with a common vertex) and their theta graphs (= subhomeomorphs of \(K_{2,3}\)). Specifically, one begins by choosing local rotations for all the claws in a graph. Such a choice is consistent if each theta subgraph can be embedded in the plane so that the edges of its two claws are oriented according to the given local rotation. The main theorem: a graph is planar if and only if it admits a consistent choice of local rotations for its claws. Furthermore, one can begin with an arbitrary choice of local rotations for the claws, and determine whether there is a consistent choice by considering a certain graph whose vertices correspond to the claws of the given graph and whose edges correspond to its theta subgraphs.