Maximizing signless Laplacian or adjacency spectral radius of graphs subject to fixed connectivity

In this paper, we characterize the graphs with maximum signless Laplacian or adjacency spectral radius among all graphs with fixed order and given vertex or edge connectivity. We also discuss the minimum signless Laplacian or adjacency spectral radius of graphs subject to fixed connectivity. Consequently we give an upper bound of signless Laplacian or adjacency spectral radius of graphs in terms of connectivity. In addition we confirm a conjecture of Aouchiche and Hansen involving adjacency spectral radius and connectivity.     

Extremal graph characterization from the upper bound of the Laplacian spectral radius of weighted graphs

We consider weighted graphs, where the edge weights are positive definite matrices. In this paper, we obtain two upper bounds on the spectral radius of the Laplacian matrix of weighted graphs and characterize graphs for which the bounds are attained. Moreover, we show that some known upper bounds on the Laplacian spectral radius of weighted and unweighted graphs can be deduced from our upper bounds.     

On the signless Laplacian spectral radius of graphs with cut vertices

In this paper, we show that among all the connected graphs with n vertices and k cut vertices, the maximal signless Laplacian spectral radius is attained uniquely at the graph G_n,k, where G_n,k is obtained from the complete graph K_n-k by attaching paths of almost equal lengths to all vertices of K_n-k. We also give a new proof of the analogous result for the spectral radius of the connected graphs with n vertices and k cut vertices (see [A. Berman, X.-D. Zhang, On the spectral radius of graphs with cut vertices, J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 83 (2001) 233-240]). Finally, we discuss the limit point of the maximal signless Laplacian spectral radius.     

The smallest signless Laplacian spectral radius of graphs with a given clique number

The signless Laplacian spectral radius of a graph G is the largest eigenvalue of its signless Laplacian matrix. In this paper, the first four smallest values of the signless Laplacian spectral radius among all connected graphs with maximum clique of size greater than or equal to 2 are obtained.     

Graphs with maximal signless Laplacian spectral radius

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. It is known that connected graphs G that maximize the signless Laplacian spectral radius ρ(Q(G)) over all connected graphs with given numbers of vertices and edges are (degree) maximal. For a maximal graph G with n vertices and r distinct vertex degrees δ_r>δ_r-1>?>δ₁, it is proved that ρ(Q(G))<ρ(Q(H)) for some maximal graph H with n+1 (respectively, n) vertices and the same number of edges as G if either G has precisely two dominating vertices or there exists an integer such that δ_i+δ_r+1-i?n+1 (respectively, δ_i+δ_r+1-i?δ_l+δ_r-l+1). Graphs that maximize ρ(Q(G)) over the class of graphs with m edges and m-k vertices, for k=0,1,2,3, are completely determined.     

A lower bound for the spectral radius of a digraph

We show that the spectral radius ρ(D) of a digraph D with n vertices and c₂ closed walks of length 2 satisfies Moreover, equality occurs if and only if D is the symmetric digraph associated to a -regular graph, plus some arcs that do not belong to cycles. As an application of this result, we construct new sharp upper bounds for the low energy of a digraph, which extends Koolen and Moulton bounds of the energy to digraphs.     

A note on the signless Laplacian eigenvalues of graphs

In this paper, we consider the signless Laplacians of simple graphs and we give some eigenvalue inequalities. We first consider an interlacing theorem when a vertex is deleted. In particular, let G-v be a graph obtained from graph G by deleting its vertex v and κ_i(G) be the ith largest eigenvalue of the signless Laplacian of G, we show that κ_i+1(G)-1?κ_i(G-v)?κ_i(G). Next, we consider the third largest eigenvalue κ₃(G) and we give a lower bound in terms of the third largest degree d₃ of the graph G. In particular, we prove that . Furthermore, we show that in several situations the latter bound can be increased to d₃-1.     

Towards a spectral theory of graphs based on the signless Laplacian, II

A spectral graph theory is a theory in which graphs are studied by means of eigenvalues of a matrix M which is in a prescribed way defined for any graph. This theory is called M-theory. We outline a spectral theory of graphs based on the signless Laplacians Q and compare it with other spectral theories, in particular to those based on the adjacency matrix A and the Laplacian L. As demonstrated in the first part, the Q-theory can be constructed in part using various connections to other theories: equivalency with A-theory and L-theory for regular graphs, common features with L-theory for bipartite graphs, general analogies with A-theory and analogies with A-theory via line graphs and subdivision graphs. In this part, we introduce notions of enriched and restricted spectral theories and present results on integral graphs, enumeration of spanning trees, characterizations by eigenvalues, cospectral graphs and graph angles.     

On the spectral radii and the signless Laplacian spectral radii of c-cyclic graphs with fixed maximum degree

If G is a connected undirected simple graph on n vertices and n+c-1 edges, then G is called a c-cyclic graph. Specially, G is called a tricyclic graph if c=3. Let Δ(G) be the maximum degree of G. In this paper, we determine the structural characterizations of the c-cyclic graphs, which have the maximum spectral radii (resp. signless Laplacian spectral radii) in the class of c-cyclic graphs on n vertices with fixed maximum degree . Moreover, we prove that the spectral radius of a tricyclic graph G strictly increases with its maximum degree when , and identify the first six largest spectral radii and the corresponding graphs in the class of tricyclic graphs on n vertices.     

A sharp upper bound on algebraic connectivity using domination number

Let G be a connected graph of order n. The algebraic connectivity of G is the second smallest eigenvalue of the Laplacian matrix of G. A dominating set in G is a vertex subset S such that each vertex of G that is not in S is adjacent to a vertex in S. The least cardinality of a dominating set is the domination number. In this paper, we prove a sharp upper bound on the algebraic connectivity of a connected graph in terms of the domination number and characterize the associated extremal graphs.     

Graphs whose signless Laplacian spectral radius does not exceed the Hoffman limit value

For a graph matrix M, the Hoffman limit value H(M) is the limit (if it exists) of the largest eigenvalue (or, M-index, for short) of M(H_n), where the graph H_n is obtained by attaching a pendant edge to the cycle C_n-1 of length n-1. In spectral graph theory, M is usually either the adjacency matrix A or the Laplacian matrix L or the signless Laplacian matrix Q. The exact values of H(A) and H(L) were first determined by Hoffman and Guo, respectively. Since H_n is bipartite for odd n, we have H(Q)=H(L). All graphs whose A-index is not greater than H(A) were completely described in the literature. In the present paper, we determine all graphs whose Q-index does not exceed H(Q). The results obtained are determinant to describe all graphs whose L-index is not greater then H(L). This is done precisely in Wang et al. (in press) [21].     

The smallest eigenvalue of the signless Laplacian

Recently the signless Laplacian matrix of graphs has been intensively investigated. While there are many results about the largest eigenvalue of the signless Laplacian, the properties of its smallest eigenvalue are less well studied. The present paper surveys the known results and presents some new ones about the smallest eigenvalue of the signless Laplacian.     

The signless Laplacian spectral radius of tricyclic graphs and trees with k pendant vertices

In this paper, we consider the following problem: of all tricyclic graphs or trees of order n with k pendant vertices (n,k fixed), which achieves the maximal signless Laplacian spectral radius?We determine the graph with the largest signless Laplacian spectral radius among all tricyclic graphs with n vertices and k pendant vertices. Then we show that the maximal signless Laplacian spectral radius among all trees of order n with k pendant vertices is obtained uniquely at T_n,k, where T_n,k is a tree obtained from a star K_1,k and k paths of almost equal lengths by joining each pendant vertex to one end-vertex of one path. We also discuss the signless Laplacian spectral radius of T_n,k and give some results.     

Semiregular trees with minimal Laplacian spectral radius

A semiregular tree is a tree where all non-pendant vertices have the same degree. Among all semiregular trees with fixed order and degree, a graph with minimal (adjacency/Laplacian) spectral radius is a caterpillar. Counter examples show that the result cannot be generalized to the class of trees with a given (non-constant) degree sequence.     

On the distance and distance signless Laplacian spectral radii of bicyclic graphs

The unique graphs with minimum and second-minimum distance (distance signless Laplacian, respectively) spectral radii are determined among bicyclic graphs with fixed number of vertices.     

The Laplacian spectral radius of some bipartite graphs

In this paper, we study the largest Laplacian spectral radius of the bipartite graphs with n vertices and k cut edges and the bicyclic bipartite graphs, respectively. Identifying the center of a star K_1,k and one vertex of degree n of K_m,n, we denote by the resulting graph. We show that the graph (1?k?n-4) is the unique graph with the largest Laplacian spectral radius among the bipartite graphs with n vertices and k cut edges, and (n?7) is the unique graph with the largest Laplacian spectral radius among all the bicyclic bipartite graphs.     

The Laplacian spectral radius for unicyclic graphs with given independence number

In this paper, we give a complete characterization of the extremal graphs with maximal Laplacian spectral radius among all unicyclic graphs with given order and given number of pendent vertices. Then we study the Laplacian spectral radius of unicyclic graphs with given independence number and characterize the extremal graphs completely.     

Bounds and conjectures for the signless Laplacian index of graphs

Using the AutoGraphiX system, we obtain conjectures of the form l(n)?q₁⊕i(G)?u(n) where q₁ denotes the signless Laplacian index of graph is one the four operations is another invariant chosen among minimum, average and maximum degree, average distance, diameter, radius, girth, proximity, remoteness, vertex, edge and algebraic connectivities, independence number, domination number, clique number, chromatic number and matching number, Randi? index, l(n) and u(n) are best possible lower and upper bounds function of the order n of G. Algebraic conjectures are obtained in 120 cases out of 152 and structural conjectures in 12 of the remaining cases. These conjectures are known, immediate or proved in this paper, except for 17 of them, which remain open.     

New upper bounds on the spectral radius of unicyclic graphs

Let G=(V(G),E(G)) be a unicyclic simple undirected graph with largest vertex degree Δ. Let C_r be the unique cycle of G. The graph G-E(C_r) is a forest of r rooted trees T₁,T₂,…,T_r with root vertices v₁,v₂,…,v_r, respectively. Let