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Source. Sections 6.0–6.6, printed pp. 463–465, with the lifting result 4.14 (published PDF).
Statement. Put
Every component of has odd size and an internal matching omitting any specified vertex. Every maximum matching has exactly internal edges in each , matches each vertex of to a distinct component of , and restricts to a perfect matching of . If is bipartite, every is a singleton.
Proof. Start the source construction with the particular maximum matching under consideration. By Theorem 6.2, its complete outer blocks are exactly the intrinsic components , and its ordinary inner vertices are exactly . The nested lifting property gives odd order and internal matchings omitting any chosen vertex. The starting matching uses internal edges in each block.
Each inner vertex is matched to an outer quotient vertex in its planted tree, so each vertex of is matched to . A block with internal edges has only one remaining vertex; hence two such matching edges cannot meet the same component. The remaining ordinary vertices form and are matched perfectly by the completed algorithm. Since the starting maximum matching was arbitrary, these assertions hold for every maximum matching.
In a bipartite graph there is no odd circuit. The algorithm therefore performs no blossom contraction. Every outer block, and hence every , is a singleton.
In the notation of Edmonds–Fulkerson's matching input, and . The existence form used there follows in particular. Its separate local all-maximum and arbitrary-base lifting proof remains a distinct argument. This page extracts the consequences of the present original's arbitrary-starting-maximum construction; it does not claim the later paper's starred display appears verbatim here.