Cayley Graphs are a powerful tool used in group theory to visually represent groups and their structure. Given a group and a generating set , a Cayley graph is constructed by representing each element of the group as a vertex, and connecting vertices with directed edges based on the elements of the generating set. Specifically, there is a directed edge from vertex to vertex for each . This allows for an intuitive understanding of the relationships and operations within the group. Additionally, Cayley graphs can reveal properties such as connectivity and symmetry, making them essential in both algebraic and combinatorial contexts. They are particularly useful in analyzing finite groups and can also be applied in computer science for network design and optimization problems.
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