The 3-Connected Graphs with Exactly Three Non-Essential Edges

An edge e of a simple 3-connected graph G is essential if neither the deletion G\e nor the contraction G/e is both simple and 3–connected. Tutte’s Wheels Theorem proves that the only simple 3–connected graphs with no non-essential edges are the wheels. In earlier work, as a corollary of a matroid result, the authors determined all simple 3-connected graphs with at most two non-essential edges. This paper specifies all such graphs with exactly three non-essential edges. As a consequence, with the exception of the members of 10 classes of graphs, all 3-connected graphs have at least four non-essential edges.