On the Spectra of Certain Graphs Arising from Finite Fields

Cayley graphs on a subgroup ofGL(3,p),p>3 a prime, are defined and their properties, particularly their spectra, studied. It is shown that these graphs are connected, vertex-transitive, nonbipartite, and regular, and their degrees are computed. The eigenvalues of the corresponding adjacency matrices depend on the representations of the group of vertices. The “1-dimensional” eigenvalues can be completely described, while a portion of the “higher dimensional” eigenfunctions are discrete analogs of Bessel functions. A particular subset of these graphs is conjectured to be Ramanujan and this is verified for over 2000 graphs. These graphs follow a construction used by Terras on a subgroup ofGL(2,p). This method can be extended further to construct graphs using a subgroup ofGL(n, p) forn≥4. The 1-dimensional eigenvalues in this case can be expressed in terms of the 1-dimensional eigenvalues of graphs fromGL(2,p) andGL(3,p); this part of the spectra alone is sufficient to show that forn≥4, the graphs fromGL(n, p) are not in general Ramanujan.     

The Laplacian spread of graphs

The Laplacian spread of a graph is defined as the difference between the largest and second smallest eigenvalues of the Laplacian matrix of the graph. In this paper, bounds are obtained for the Laplacian spread of graphs. By the Laplacian spread, several upper bounds of the Nordhaus-Gaddum type of Laplacian eigenvalues are improved. Some operations on Laplacian spread are presented. Connected c-cyclic graphs with n vertices and Laplacian spread n − 1 are discussed.     

On the embedding of graphs into graphs with few eigenvalues

A graph is called of type k if it is connected, regular, and has k distinct eigenvalues. For example graphs of type 2 are the complete graphs, while those of type 3 are the strongly regular graphs. We prove that for any positive integer n, every graph can be embedded in n cospectral, non-isomorphic graphs of type k for every k ≥ 3. Furthermore, in the case k ≥ 5 such a family of extensions can be found at every sufficiently large order. Some bounds for the extension will also be given. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

On graphs whose Laplacian matrices have distinct integer eigenvalues

In this paper, we investigate graphs for which the corresponding Laplacian matrix has distinct integer eigenvalues. We define the set S_i,n to be the set of all integers from 0 to n, excluding i. If there exists a graph whose Laplacian matrix has this set as its eigenvalues, we say that this set is Laplacian realizable. We investigate the sets S_i,n that are Laplacian realizable, and the structures of the graphs whose Laplacian matrix has such a set as its eigenvalues. We characterize those i < n such that S_i,n is Laplacian realizable, and show that for certain values of i, the set S_i,n is realized by a unique graph. Finally, we conjecture that S_n,n is not Laplacian realizable for n ≥ 2 and show that the conjecture holds for certain values of n. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

Random walks on highly symmetric graphs

We consider uniform random walks on finite graphs withn nodes. When the hitting times are symmetric, the expected covering time is at least 1/2n logn-O(n log logn) uniformly over all such graphs. We also obtain bounds for the covering times in terms of the eigenvalues of the transition matrix of the Markov chain. For distance-regular graphs, a general lower bound of (n-1) logn is obtained. For hypercubes and binomial coefficient graphs, the limit law of the covering time is obtained as well.     

The Laplacian spectra of graphs with a tree structure

Trees are very common in the theory and applications of combinatorics. In this article, we consider graphs whose underlying structure is a tree, except that its vertices are graphs in their own right and where adjacent graphs (vertices) are linked by taking their join. We study the spectral properties of the Laplacian matrices of such graphs. It turns out that in order to capture known spectral properties of the Laplacian matrices of trees, it is necessary to consider the Laplacians of vertex-weighted graphs. We focus on the second smallest eigenvalue of such Laplacians and on the properties of their corresponding eigenvector. We characterize the second smallest eigenvalue in terms of the Perron branches of a tree. Finally, we show that our results are applicable to advancing the solution to the problem of whether there exists a graph on n vertices whose Laplacian has the integer eigenvalues 0, 1, …, n ? 1.     

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.     

The distance spectrum of the path Pn and The First Distance Eigenvector of Connected Graphs

Forumulas are given for all of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the distance matrix of the path P_n on n vertices. It is shown that P_n has the maximum distance spectral radius among all connected graphs of order n, and an ordering property of the entries of the Perron-Frobenius eigenvector is presented.     

Spectra of Some Interesting Combinatorial Matrices Related to Oriented Spanning Trees on a Directed Graph

The Laplacian of a directed graph G is the matrix L(G) = O(G) –, A(G) where A(G) is the adjaceney matrix of G and O(G) the diagonal matrix of vertex outdegrees. The eigenvalues of G are the eigenvalues of A(G). Given a directed graph G we construct a derived directed graph D(G) whose vertices are the oriented spanning trees of G. Using a counting argument, we describe the eigenvalues of D(G) and their multiplicities in terms of the eigenvalues of the induced subgraphs and the Laplacian matrix of G. Finally we compute the eigenvalues of D(G) for some specific directed graphs G. A recent conjecture of Propp for D(H _n ) follows, where H _n stands for the complete directed graph on n vertices without loops.     

On eigenvalues of random complexes

We consider higher-dimensional generalizations of the normalized Laplacian and the adjacency matrix of graphs and study their eigenvalues for the Linial–Meshulam model X^k(n, p) of random k-dimensional simplicial complexes on n vertices. We show that for p = Ω(logn/n), the eigenvalues of each of the matrices are a.a.s. concentrated around two values. The main tool, which goes back to the work of Garland, are arguments that relate the eigenvalues of these matrices to those of graphs that arise as links of (k - 2)-dimensional faces. Garland’s result concerns the Laplacian; we develop an analogous result for the adjacency matrix.     

Large families of laplacian isospectral graphs

Two graphs are isomorphic only if they are Laplacian isospectral, that is, their Laplacian matrices share the same multiset of eigenvalues. Large families of nonisomorphic Laplacian isospectral graphs are exhibited for which the common multiset of eigenvalues consists entirely of integers.     

Perfect Matchings of Cellular Graphs

We introduce a family of graphs, called cellular, and consider the problem of enumerating their perfect matchings. We prove that the number of perfect matchings of a cellular graph equals a power of 2 times the number of perfect matchings of a certain subgraph, called the core of the graph. This yields, as a special case, a new proof of the fact that the Aztec diamond graph of order n introduced by Elkies, Kuperberg, Larsen and Propp has exactly 2 ^n(n+1)/2 perfect matchings. As further applications, we prove a recurrence for the number of perfect matchings of certain cellular graphs indexed by partitions, and we enumerate the perfect matchings of two other families of graphs called Aztec rectangles and Aztec triangles.     

Efficient reduction for path problems on circular-arc graphs

An efficient reduction process for path problems on circular-arc graphs is introduced. For the parity path problem, this reduction gives anO(n+m) algorithm for proper circular-arc graphs, and anO(n+m) algorithm for general circular-arc graphs. This reduction also gives anO(n+m) algorithm for the two path problem on circular-arc graphs.     

Note on unicyclic graphs with given number of pendent vertices and minimal energy

For a simple graph G, the energy E(G) is defined as the sum of the absolute values of all eigenvalues of its adjacency matrix. Let G(n,p) denote the set of unicyclic graphs with n vertices and p pendent vertices. In [H. Hua, M. Wang, Unicyclic graphs with given number of pendent vertices and minimal energy, Linear Algebra Appl. 426 (2007) 478-489], Hua and Wang discussed the graphs that have minimal energy in G(n,p), and determined the minimal-energy graphs among almost all different cases of n and p. In their work, certain case of the values was left as an open problem in which the minimal-energy species have to be chosen in two candidate graphs, but cannot be determined by comparing of the corresponding coefficients of their characteristic polynomials. This paper aims at solving the problem completely, by using the well-known Coulson integral formula.     

Graphs S(n, k) and a Variant of the Tower of Hanoi Problem

For any n 1 and any k 1, a graph S(n, k) is introduced. Vertices of S(n, k) are n-tuples over {1, 2,. . . k} and two n-tuples are adjacent if they are in a certain relation. These graphs are graphs of a particular variant of the Tower of Hanoi problem. Namely, the graphs S(n, 3) are isomorphic to the graphs of the Tower of Hanoi problem. It is proved that there are at most two shortest paths between any two vertices of S(n, k). Together with a formula for the distance, this result is used to compute the distance between two vertices in O(n) time. It is also shown that for k 3, the graphs S(n, k) are Hamiltonian.     

From regular boundary graphs to antipodal distance-regular graphs

Let Γ be a regular graph with n vertices, diameter D, and d + 1 different eigenvalues λ > λ₁ > ··· > λ_d. In a previous paper, the authors showed that if P(λ) > n − 1, then D ≤ d − 1, where P is the polynomial of degree d − 1 which takes alternating values ± 1 at λ₁, …, λ_d. The graphs satisfying P(λ) = n − 1, called boundary graphs, have shown to deserve some attention because of their rich structure. This paper is devoted to the study of this case and, as a main result, it is shown that those extremal (D = d) boundary graphs where each vertex have maximum eccentricity are, in fact, 2-antipodal distance-regular graphs. The study is carried out by using a new sequence of orthogonal polynomials, whose special properties are shown to be induced by their intrinsic symmetry. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 27: 123–140, 1998     

On the Laplacian energy of a graph

In this paper we consider the energy of a simple graph with respect to its Laplacian eigenvalues, and prove some basic properties of this energy. In particular, we find the minimal value of this energy in the class of all connected graphs on n vertices (n = 1, 2, ...). Besides, we consider the class of all connected graphs whose Laplacian energy is uniformly bounded by a constant α ⩾ 4, and completely describe this class in the case α = 40.     

Geodesic subgraphs

Define a geodesic subgraph of a graph to be a subgraph H with the property that any geodesic of two points of H is in H. The trivial geodesic subgraphs are the complete graphs K_n' n ≧ 0, and G itself. We characterize all (finite, simple, connected) graphs with only the trivial geodesic subgraphs, and give an algorithm for their construction. We do this also for triangle-free graphs.     

Simplices and Spectra of Graphs

In this note we show that the (n−2)-dimensional volumes of codimension 2 faces of an n-dimensional simplex are algebraically independent quantities of the volumes of its edge-lengths. The proof involves computation of the eigenvalues of Kneser graphs. We also show examples of families of simplices (of dimension 4 or greater) which show that the set of (n−2)-dimensional volumes of (n−2)-dimensional faces of a simplex do not determine its volume.