In Graph Theory
In computer science, the concept of transitive closure can be thought of as constructing a data structure that makes it possible to answer reachability questions. That is, can one get from node a to node d in one or more hops? A binary relation tells you only that node a is connected to node b, and that node b is connected to node c, etc. After the transitive closure is constructed, as depicted in the following figure, in an O(1) operation one may determine that node d is reachable from node a. The data structure is typically stored as a matrix, so if matrix = 1, then it is the case that node 1 can reach node 4 through one or more hops.
The transitive closure of a directed acyclic graph (DAG) is the reachability relation of the DAG and a strict partial order.
Read more about this topic: Transitive Closure
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