Construct · 3 fields · 3 citations

adjacency: one construct, many systems

One name. One construct. Different systems. One map.

● invariant · one construct, three systems Nearest construct by meaning·not indexed
rooms and their connections read as a graphatoms and bonds read as a graphadjacency3 SYSTEMSGraph adjacencyHARARY · GRAPH THEORYSpatial adjacencyHILLIER & HANSON · SPACE SYNTAXMolecular adjacencyTRINAJSTIĆ · CHEMICAL GRAPHS

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2026

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Graph theory

Two nodes directly joined by an edge

In graph theory, adjacency is the basic relation that two vertices are directly joined by an edge; it is recorded in the adjacency matrix, whose entries mark which pairs of nodes connect. Frank Harary's Graph Theory is a standard treatment in which adjacency and the adjacency matrix underpin paths, connectivity, and the whole structure of a graph. The referent is a binary connection relation on the nodes of a network, the same abstract relation that, borrowed outward, describes which rooms open onto each other and which atoms are bonded.[1]

Unit
The binary relation, and its matrix, marking which pairs of nodes share an edge
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Encoded in the adjacency matrix and summarized by each node's degree and the graph's connectivity

Architecture & planning

which spaces in a plan directly connect to or open onto one another, often represented as a graph.

In architecture and planning, adjacency is which spaces directly connect to or open onto one another, the relational backbone of a plan that space-planning diagrams and "space syntax" turn into graphs of rooms and links. Hillier and Hanson's The Social Logic of Space represents buildings and settlements as graphs whose adjacency and depth encode how layout structures movement and social encounter. It is the same adjacency relation as in graph theory, transposed from abstract nodes to real rooms and streets and measured by configurational graph properties.[2]

Unit
The pattern of direct connections among rooms, spaces, or streets in a layout
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Derived from a plan's connectivity graph using space-syntax measures such as depth and integration

Chemistry

which atoms in a molecule are directly bonded, captured in a molecular adjacency matrix used to compute structural descriptors.

In chemical graph theory, adjacency is which atoms in a molecule are directly bonded, captured in the molecular adjacency matrix from which topological indices and structural descriptors are computed. Nenad Trinajstić's Chemical Graph Theory develops how such adjacency representations of molecules relate structure to properties. It is the identical adjacency relation of graph theory, here realised as the bonding pattern of a molecule and measured through graph-derived indices rather than room plans or abstract networks.[3]

Unit
The bonding relation among atoms, encoded in the molecular adjacency matrix
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Read from the molecular adjacency matrix and condensed into topological indices linked to chemical properties

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Nearby constructs

architecture3 fields · 4 citationsjingle · one word, three constructsconnectivity5 fields · 6 citationsjingle · one word, five constructscrown2 fields · 2 citationsjingle · one word, two constructs

References

  1. Harary, F. (1969). Graph theory. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 9780201027877
  2. Hillier, B., & Hanson, J. (1984). The social logic of space. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521233651
  3. Trinajstić, N. (1992). Chemical graph theory (2nd ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 9780849342561

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