Symmetry factoring of the characteristic equations of graphs corresponding to polyhedra

A systematic procedure is described which uses two-and three-fold symmetry elements in graphs to reduce their adjacency matrices to lead to corresponding factorings of their characteristic polynomials. A graph splitting algorithm based on this matrix reduction procedure is described. Applications of these methods to the factoring of the characteristic polynomials of 28 polyhedra with nine or less vertices are given. General expressions for the eigenvalues of prisms, pyramids, and bipyramids in terms of the eigenvalues of their basal or equatorial regular polygons are calculated by closely related matrix methods.