Cycle basis
In graph theory, a branch of mathematics, a cycle basis of an undirected graph is a set of simple cycles that forms a basis of the cycle space of the graph. That is, it is a minimal set of cycles that allows every even-degree subgraph to be expressed as a symmetric difference of basis cycles. A fundamental cycle basis may be formed from any spanning tree or spanning forest of the given graph, by selecting the cycles formed by the combination of a path in the tree and a single edge outside the tree. Alternatively, if the edges of the graph have positive weights, the minimum weight cycle basis may be constructed in polynomial time. In planar graphs, the set of bounded cycles of an embedding of the graph forms a cycle basis. The minimum weight cycle basis of a planar graph corresponds to the Gomory–Hu tree of the dual graph. (Wikipedia).
