Commuting decompositions of complete graphs

We say that two graphs G and H with the same vertex set commute if their adjacency matrices commute. In this article, we show that for any natural number r, the complete multigraph K is decomposable into commuting perfect matchings if and only if n is a 2‐power. Also, it is shown that the complete graph K_n is decomposable into commuting Hamilton cycles if and only if n is a prime number. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs     

Bi-resolving Graph Homomorphisms and Extensions of Bi-closing codes

Given two graphs G and H, there is a bi-resolving (or bi-covering) graph homomorphism from G to H if and only if their adjacency matrices satisfy certain matrix relations. We investigate the bi-covering extensions of bi-resolving homomorphisms and give several sufficient conditions for a bi-resolving homomorphism to have a bi-covering extension with an irreducible domain. Using these results, we prove that a bi-closing code between subshifts can be extended to an n-to-1 code between irreducible shifts of finite type for all large n.     

On the Commuting Graph of Dihedral Group

Let Γ be a non-abelian group and Ω ? Γ. We define the commuting graph G = 𝒞(Γ, Ω) with vertex set Ω and two distinct elements of Ω are joined by an edge when they commute in Γ. In this article, among some properties of commuting graphs, we investigate distant properties as well as detour distant properties of commuting graph on D_2n. We also study the metric dimension of commuting graph on D_2n and compute its resolving polynomial.     

On the characteristic polynomial of a special class of graphs and spectra of balanced trees

Let H be a simple graph with n vertices and G be a sequence of n rooted graphs G₁,G₂,…,G_n. Godsil and McKay [C.D. Godsil, B.D. McKay, A new graph product and its spectrum, Bull. Austral. Math. Soc. 18 (1978) 21-28] defined the rooted product H(G), of H by G by identifying the root vertex of G_i with the ith vertex of H, and determined the characteristic polynomial of H(G). In this paper we prove a general result on the determinants of some special matrices and, as a corollary, determine the characteristic polynomials of adjacency and Laplacian matrices of H(G).Rojo and Soto [O. Rojo, R. Soto, The spectra of the adjacency matrix and Laplacian matrix for some balanced trees, Linear Algebra Appl. 403 (2005) 97-117] computed the characteristic polynomials and the spectrum of adjacency and Laplacian matrices of a class of balanced trees. As an application of our results, we obtain their conclusions by a simple method.     

On the Szeged and the Laplacian Szeged spectrum of a graph

For a given graph G its Szeged weighting is defined by w(e)=n_u(e)n_v(e), where e=uv is an edge of G,n_u(e) is the number of vertices of G closer to u than to v, and n_v(e) is defined analogously. The adjacency matrix of a graph weighted in this way is called its Szeged matrix. In this paper we determine the spectra of Szeged matrices and their Laplacians for several families of graphs. We also present sharp upper and lower bounds on the eigenvalues of Szeged matrices of graphs.     

Distance spectra and distance energy of integral circulant graphs

The distance energy of a graph G is a recently developed energy-type invariant, defined as the sum of absolute values of the eigenvalues of the distance matrix of G. There was a vast research for the pairs and families of non-cospectral graphs having equal distance energy, and most of these constructions were based on the join of graphs. A graph is called circulant if it is Cayley graph on the circulant group, i.e. its adjacency matrix is circulant. A graph is called integral if all eigenvalues of its adjacency matrix are integers. Integral circulant graphs play an important role in modeling quantum spin networks supporting the perfect state transfer. In this paper, we characterize the distance spectra of integral circulant graphs and prove that these graphs have integral eigenvalues of distance matrix D. Furthermore, we calculate the distance spectra and distance energy of unitary Cayley graphs. In conclusion, we present two families of pairs (G₁,G₂) of integral circulant graphs with equal distance energy - in the first family G₁ is subgraph of G₂, while in the second family the diameter of both graphs is three.     

Bounds for eigenvalues of certain stochastic matrices

We consider the class of stochastic matrices M generated in the following way from graphs: if G is an undirected connected graph on n vertices with adjacency matrix A, we form M from A by dividing the entries in each row of A by their row sum. Being stochastic, M has the eigenvalue λ=1 and possibly also an eigenvalue λ=-1. We prove that the remaining eigenvalues of M lie in the disk ¦λ¦?1–n^-3, and show by examples that the order of magnitude of this estimate is best possible. In these examples, G has a bar-bell structure, in which n/3 of the vertices are arranged along a line, with n/3 vertices fully interconnected at each end. We also obtain better bounds when either the diameter of G or the maximal degree of a vertex is restricted.     

Friendship Two-Graphs

A friendship graph is a graph in which every two distinct vertices have exactly one common neighbor. All finite friendship graphs are known, each of them consists of triangles having a common vertex. We extend friendship graphs to two-graphs, a two-graph being an ordered pair G = (G ₀, G ₁) of edge-disjoint graphs G ₀ and G ₁ on the same vertex-set V(G ₀) = V(G ₁). One may think that the edges of G are colored with colors 0 and 1. In a friendship two-graph, every unordered pair of distinct vertices u, v is connected by a unique bicolored 2-path. The pairs of adjacency matrices of friendship two-graphs are solutions to the matrix equation AB + BA = J − I, where A and B are n × n symmetric 0 − 1 matrices, J is an n × n matrix with every entry being 1, and I is the identity n × n matrix. We show that there is no finite friendship two-graph with minimum vertex degree at most two. However, we construct an infinite such graph, and this construction can be extended to an infinite (uncountable) family. Also, we find a finite friendship two-graph, conjecture that it is unique, and prove this conjecture for the two-graphs that have a dominating vertex.     

On the domination number of the cartesian product of the cycle of length n and any graph

Let γ(G) denote the domination number of a graph G and let C_n□G denote the cartesian product of C_n, the cycle of length n?3, and G. In this paper, we are mainly concerned with the question: which connected nontrivial graphs satisfy γ(C_n□G)=γ(C_n)γ(G)? We prove that this equality can only hold if n≡1 (mod 3). In addition, we characterize graphs which satisfy this equality when n=4 and provide infinite classes of graphs for general n≡1 (mod 3).     

Strongly self-dual graphs

We present a class of graphs whose adjacency matrices are nonsingular with integral inverses, denoted h-graphs. If the h-graphs G and H with adjacency matrices M(G) and M(H) satisfy M(G)^-1=SM(H)S, where S is a signature matrix, we refer to H as the dual of G. The dual is a type of graph inverse. If the h-graph G is isomorphic to its dual via a particular isomorphism, we refer to G as strongly self-dual. We investigate the structural and spectral properties of strongly self-dual graphs, with a particular emphasis on identifying when such a graph has 1 as an eigenvalue.     

On Compact Graphs

Let G be a finite simple graph with adjacency matrix A, and let P（A） be the convex closure of the set of all permutation matrices commuting with A. G is said to be compact if every doubly stochastic matrix which commutes with A is in P（A）. In this paper, we characterize 3-regular compact graphs and prove that if G is a connected regular compact graph, G - v is also compact, and give a family of almost regular compact connected graphs.     

Symmetry classes of spanning trees of Aztec diamonds and perfect matchings of odd squares with a unit hole

We say that two graphs are similar if their adjacency matrices are similar matrices. We show that the square grid G _n of order n is similar to the disjoint union of two copies of the quartered Aztec diamond QAD _n−1 of order n−1 with the path P _n ⁽²⁾ on n vertices having edge weights equal to 2. Our proof is based on an explicit change of basis in the vector space on which the adjacency matrix acts. The arguments verifying that this change of basis works are combinatorial. It follows in particular that the characteristic polynomials of the above graphs satisfy the equality P(G _n )=P(P _n ⁽²⁾)[P(QAD _n−1)]². On the one hand, this provides a combinatorial explanation for the “squarishness” of the characteristic polynomial of the square grid—i.e., that it is a perfect square, up to a factor of relatively small degree. On the other hand, as formulas for the characteristic polynomials of the path and the square grid are well known, our equality determines the characteristic polynomial of the quartered Aztec diamond. In turn, the latter allows computing the number of spanning trees of quartered Aztec diamonds. We present and analyze three more families of graphs that share the above described “linear squarishness” property of square grids: odd Aztec diamonds, mixed Aztec diamonds, and Aztec pillowcases—graphs obtained from two copies of an Aztec diamond by identifying the corresponding vertices on their convex hulls. We apply the above results to enumerate all the symmetry classes of spanning trees of the even Aztec diamonds, and all the symmetry classes not involving rotations of the spanning trees of odd and mixed Aztec diamonds. We also enumerate all but the base case of the symmetry classes of perfect matchings of odd square grids with the central vertex removed. In addition, we obtain a product formula for the number of spanning trees of Aztec pillowcases. Research supported in part by NSF grant DMS-0500616.     

Connected graphs with maximal Q-index: The one-dominating-vertex case

By the signless Laplacian of a (simple) graph G we mean the matrix Q(G)=D(G)+A(G), where A(G),D(G) denote respectively the adjacency matrix and the diagonal matrix of vertex degrees of G. For every pair of positive integers n,k, it is proved that if 3?k?n-3, then H_n,k, the graph obtained from the star K_1,n-1 by joining a vertex of degree 1 to k+1 other vertices of degree 1, is the unique connected graph that maximizes the largest signless Laplacian eigenvalue over all connected graphs with n vertices and n+k edges.     

The clique operator on matching and chessboard graphs

Given positive integers m,n, we consider the graphs G_n and G_m,n whose simplicial complexes of complete subgraphs are the well-known matching complex M_n and chessboard complex M_m,n. Those are the matching and chessboard graphs. We determine which matching and chessboard graphs are clique-Helly. If the parameters are small enough, we show that these graphs (even if not clique-Helly) are homotopy equivalent to their clique graphs. We determine the clique behavior of the chessboard graph G_m,n in terms of m and n, and show that G_m,n is clique-divergent if and only if it is not clique-Helly. We give partial results for the clique behavior of the matching graph G_n.     

Graphically abelian groups

We define a group G to be graphically abelian if the function g?g⁻¹ induces an automorphism of every Cayley graph of G. We give equivalent characterizations of graphically abelian groups, note features of the adjacency matrices for Cayley graphs of graphically abelian groups, and show that a non-abelian group G is graphically abelian if and only if G=E×Q, where E is an elementary abelian 2-group and Q is a quaternion group.     

Spectral characterization of line graphs of starlike trees

Two graphs are said to be A-cospectral if they have the same adjacency spectrum. A graph G is said to be determined by its adjacency spectrum if there is no other non-isomorphic graph A-cospectral with G. A tree is called starlike if it has exactly one vertex of degree greater than 2. In this article, we prove that the line graphs of starlike trees with maximum degree at least 12 are determined by their adjacency spectra.     

Infinitely many pairs of cospectral integral regular graphs

A graph G is called integral if all the eigenvalues of the adjacency matrix A(G) of G are integers. In this paper, the graphs G ₄(a, b) and G ₅(a, b) with 2a+6b vertices are defined. We give their characteristic polynomials from matrix theory and prove that the (n+2)-regular graphs G ₄(n, n+2) and G ₅(n, n+2) are a pair of non-isomorphic connected cospectral integral regular graphs for any positive integer n.     

Path factors and parallel knock-out schemes of almost claw-free graphs

An H₁,{H₂}-factor of a graph G is a spanning subgraph of G with exactly one component isomorphic to the graph H₁ and all other components (if there are any) isomorphic to the graph H₂. We completely characterise the class of connected almost claw-free graphs that have a P₇,{P₂}-factor, where P₇ and P₂ denote the paths on seven and two vertices, respectively. We apply this result to parallel knock-out schemes for almost claw-free graphs. These schemes proceed in rounds in each of which each surviving vertex eliminates one of its surviving neighbours. A graph is reducible if such a scheme eliminates every vertex in the graph. Using our characterisation, we are able to classify all reducible almost claw-free graphs, and we can show that every reducible almost claw-free graph is reducible in at most two rounds. This leads to a quadratic time algorithm for determining if an almost claw-free graph is reducible (which is a generalisation and improvement upon the previous strongest result that showed that there was a O(n^5.376) time algorithm for claw-free graphs on n vertices).     

On the OBDD size for graphs of bounded tree- and clique-width

We study the size of OBDDs (ordered binary decision diagrams) for representing the adjacency function f_G of a graph G on n vertices. Our results are as follows:

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for graphs of bounded tree-width there is an OBDD of size O(logn) for f_G that uses encodings of size O(logn) for the vertices;

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for graphs of bounded clique-width there is an OBDD of size O(n) for f_G that uses encodings of size O(n) for the vertices;

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for graphs of bounded clique-width such that there is a clique-width expression for G whose associated binary tree is of depth O(logn) there is an OBDD of size O(n) for f_G that uses encodings of size O(logn) for the vertices;

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for cographs, i.e. graphs of clique-width at most 2, there is an OBDD of size O(n) for f_G that uses encodings of size O(logn) for the vertices. This last result complements a recent result by Nunkesser and Woelfel [R. Nunkesser, P. Woelfel, Representation of graphs by OBDDs, in: X. Deng, D. Du (Eds.), Proceedings of ISAAC 2005, in: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 3827, Springer, 2005, pp. 1132-1142] as it reduces the size of the OBDD by an O(logn) factor using encodings whose size is increased by an O(1) factor.

     

On the rational spectra of graphs with abelian singer groups

Let G be a finite abelian group. We investigate those graphs $\text{G}$ admitting G as a sharply 1-transitive automorphism group and all of whose eigenvalues are rational. The study is made via the rational algebra $\text{P}$(G) of rational matrices with rational eigenvalues commuting with the regular matrix representation of G. In comparing the spectra obtainable for graphs in $\text{P}$(G) for various G's, we relate subschemes of a related association scheme, subalgebras of $\text{P}$(G), and the lattice of subgroups of G. One conclusion is that if the order of G is fifth-power-free, any graph with rational eigenvalues admitting G has a cospectral mate admitting the abelian group of the same order with prime-order elementary divisors.