Commuting graphs of groups and related numerical parameters

Given a finite group G, we denote by Δ(G) the commuting graph of G which is defined as follows: the vertex set is G and two distinct vertices x and y are joined by an edge if and only if xy = yx. Clearly, Δ(G) is always connected for any group G. We denote by κ(G) the number of spanning trees of Δ(G). In the present paper, among other results, we first obtain the value κ(G) for some specific groups G, such as Frobenius groups, Dihedral groups, AC-groups, etc. Next, we characterize the alternating group A₅, in the class of nonsolvable groups through its tree-number κ(A₅). Finally, we classify the finite groups for which the power graph and the commuting graph coincide.