In graph theory, the Laman graphs are a family of sparse graphs describing the minimally rigid systems of rods and joints in the plane. Formally, a Laman graph is a graph on n vertices such that, for all k, every k-vertex subgraph has at most 2k − 3 edges, and such that the whole graph has exactly 2n − 3 edges. Laman graphs are named after Gerard Laman, of the University of Amsterdam, who in 1970 used them to characterize rigid planar structures.This characterization, however, had already been discovered in 1927 by Hilda Geiringer.