In graph theory the term Heawood family refers to either one of the following two related graph families generated via ΔY- and YΔ-transformations:

• the family of 20 graphs generated from the complete graph ${\displaystyle K_{7}}$.
• the family of 78 graphs generated from ${\displaystyle K_{7}}$ and ${\displaystyle K_{3,3,1,1}}$.

In either setting the members of the graph family are collectively known as Heawood graphs, as the Heawood graph is a member. This is in analogy to the Petersen family, which too is named after its member the Petersen graph.

The Heawood families are significant in topological graph theory. They contain the smallest known examples of intrinsically knotted graphs,^[1] of graphs that are not 4-flat, and of graphs with Colin de Verdière graph invariant ${\displaystyle \mu =6}$.^[2]

The ${\displaystyle K_{7}}$-family is generated from the complete graph ${\displaystyle K_{7}}$ through repeated application of ΔY- and YΔ-transformations. The family consists of 20 graphs, all of which have 21 edges. The unique smallest member, ${\displaystyle K_{7}}$, has seven vertices. The unique largest member, the Heawood graph, has 14 vertices.^[1]

Only 14 out of the 20 graphs are intrinsically knotted, all of which are minor minimal with this property. The other six graphs have knotless embeddings.^[1] This shows that knotless graphs are not closed under ΔY- and YΔ-transformations.

All members of the ${\displaystyle K_{7}}$-family are intrinsically chiral.^[3]

The ${\displaystyle K_{3,3,1,1}}$-family is generated from the complete multipartite graph ${\displaystyle K_{3,3,1,1}}$ through repeated application of ΔY- and YΔ-transformations. The family consists of 58 graphs, all of which have 22 edges. The unique smallest member, ${\displaystyle K_{3,3,1,1}}$, has eight vertices. The unique largest member has 14 vertices.^[1]

All graphs in this family are intrinsically knotted and are minor minimal with this property.^[1]

Unsolved problem in mathematics:

Is the Heawood family the complete list of excluded minors of the 4-flat graphs and for ${\displaystyle \mu \leq 5}$?

(more unsolved problems in mathematics)

The Heawood family generated from both ${\displaystyle K_{7}}$ and ${\displaystyle K_{3,3,1,1}}$ through repeated application of ΔY- and YΔ-transformations is the disjoint union of the ${\displaystyle K_{7}}$-family and the ${\displaystyle K_{3,3,1,1}}$-family. It consists of 78 graphs.

This graph family has significance in the study of 4-flat graphs, i.e., graphs with the property that every 2-dimensional CW complex built on them can be embedded into 4-space. Hein van der Holst (2006) showed that the graphs in the Heawood family are not 4-flat and have Colin de Verdière graph invariant ${\displaystyle \mu =6}$. In particular, they are neither planar nor linkless. Van der Holst suggested that they might form the complete list of excluded minors for both the 4-flat graphs and the graphs with ${\displaystyle \mu \leq 5}$.^[2]

This conjecture can be further motivated from structural similarities to other topologically defined graphs classes:

• ${\displaystyle K_{5}}$ and ${\displaystyle K_{3,3}}$ (the Kuratowski graphs) are the excluded minors for planar graphs and ${\displaystyle \mu \leq 3}$.
• ${\displaystyle K_{6}}$ and ${\displaystyle K_{3,3,1}}$ generate all excluded minors for linkless graphs and ${\displaystyle \mu \leq 4}$ (the Petersen family).
• ${\displaystyle K_{7}}$ and ${\displaystyle K_{3,3,1,1}}$ are conjectured to generate all excluded minors for 4-flat graphs and ${\displaystyle \mu \leq 5}$ (the Heawood family).