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In this context, the simple reference count of an object is the [[in degree]] of its vertex. Deleting a vertex is like collecting an object. It can only be done when the vertex has no incoming edges, so it does not affect the out degree of any other vertices, but it can affect the in degree of other vertices, causing their corresponding objects to be collected as well.
In the graph interpretation, reference cycles are [[cycle]]s. The connected component containing the special vertex contains the objects that can't be collected, while other connected components of the graph only contain garbage. By the nature of reference counting, each of these garbage components must contain at least one cycle.
== Dealing with inefficiency of updates ==
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