A calculus for measuring the elegance of abstract graphs

摘要

This paper introduces a system for measuring the elegance of a graph based on the steps needed to build the graph and on its symmetry structure. The measure is designed to capture the essence of the notion of elegance in mathematics, namely, simplicity and clarity. The term “elegance” is used instead of “aesthetics” to distinguish the measure from those dependent on visual representation of a graph. Elegance is based solely on the abstract properties of a graph. A framework for measurement is defined and applied in a special case.