Questions tagged [spectral-graph-theory]

Questions related to the spectrum of graphs, defined using one of the possible variants of the discrete Laplace operator or Laplacian matrix. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrete_Laplace_operator

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What are good mathematical models for spider webs?

Sometimes I see spider webs in very complex surroundings, like in the middle of twigs in a tree or in a bush. I keep thinking “if you understand the spider web, you understand the space around it”. ...
Claus's user avatar
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60 votes
5 answers
10k views

Intuitively, what does a graph Laplacian represent?

Recently I saw an MO post Algebraic graph invariant $\mu(G)$ which links Four-Color-Theorem with Schrödinger operators: further topological characterizations of graphs? that got me interested. ...
GraphX's user avatar
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39 votes
6 answers
4k views

Is the Laplacian on a manifold the limit of graph Laplacians?

Here's the sort of thing I have in mind. Let $M$ be a Riemannian manifold, compact if it helps, and let $\Delta_M$ be the Laplace-Beltrami operator. Choose a sequence of triangulations of $M$ so ...
Paul Siegel's user avatar
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34 votes
1 answer
724 views

Which graphs on $n$ vertices have the largest determinant?

This is a question that seems like it should have been studied before, but for some reason I cannot find much at all about it, and so I am asking for any pointers / references etc. The determinant of ...
Gordon Royle's user avatar
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25 votes
3 answers
973 views

Algebraic graph invariant $\mu(G)$ which links Four-Color-Theorem with Schrödinger operators: further topological characterizations of graphs?

30 years ago, Yves Colin de Verdière introduced the algebraic graph invariant $\mu(G)$ for any undirected graph $G$, see [1]. It was motivated by the study of the second eigenvalue of certain ...
Claus's user avatar
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24 votes
6 answers
2k views

Factorization of the characteristic polynomial of the adjacency matrix of a graph

Let $G$ be a regular graph of valence $d$ with finitely many vertices, let $A_G$ be its adjacency matrix, and let $$P_G(X)=\det(X-A_G)\in\mathbb{Z}[X]$$ be the adjacency polynomial of $G$, i.e., the ...
Joe Silverman's user avatar
21 votes
5 answers
999 views

Spectral theory of graph Laplacian besides $\lambda_2$

Most of what I've seen about the spectral theory of the graph Laplacian concentrates on $\lambda_2$, the second-smallest eigenvalue. This eigenvalue contains information regarding the connectivity of ...
John D. Cook's user avatar
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20 votes
5 answers
2k views

The middle eigenvalues of an undirected graph

Let $ \lambda_1 \ge \lambda_2 \ge \dots \ge \lambda_{2n} $ be the collection of eigenvalues of an adjacency matrix of an undirected graph $G$ on $2n$ vertices. I am looking for any work or references ...
Tomaž Pisanski's user avatar
18 votes
7 answers
3k views

Spectral properties of Cayley graphs

Let $G$ be a finite group. Do eigenvalues of its Cayley graph say anything about the algebraic properties of $G$? The spectrum of Cayley graph may depend on the presentation, so it's not a good ...
Marcin Kotowski's user avatar
17 votes
8 answers
9k views

The first eigenvalue of a graph - what does it reflect?

A big-picture question: what "physical properties" of a graph, and in particular of a bipartite graph, are encoded by its largest eigenvalue? If $U$ and $V$ are the partite sets of the graph, with the ...
Seva's user avatar
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17 votes
1 answer
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Graph embeddings in the projective plane: for the 35 forbidden minors, do we know their Colin de Verdière numbers?

The Graph Minor Theorem of Robertson and Seymour asserts that any minor-closed graph property is determined by a finite set of forbidden graph minors. It is a broad generalization e.g. of the ...
Claus's user avatar
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17 votes
2 answers
924 views

Convexity of spectral radius of Markov operators, Random walks on non-amenable groups

Let $P_1,P_2$ denote stochastic transition matrices on a countable set $I$. Consider $P_1,P_2$ as operators on $\ell^2(I)$ given by multiplication. Question Under which conditions can we show that ...
Mika's user avatar
  • 171
15 votes
2 answers
959 views

Groups with a rational generating function for the word problem

This question comes more from curiosity than a specific research problem. Let G be a group and S a finite symmetric generating set. By the WP(G,S) I mean the set of all words in the free monoid on S ...
Benjamin Steinberg's user avatar
14 votes
1 answer
2k views

Reasons for difficulty of Graph Isomorphism and why Johnson graphs are important?

In http://jeremykun.com/2015/11/12/a-quasipolynomial-time-algorithm-for-graph-isomorphism-the-details/ it is mentioned: 'In discussing Johnson graphs, Babai said they were a source of “unspeakable ...
user avatar
13 votes
3 answers
4k views

What is a "Ramanujan Graph"?

I noticed an apparent conflict in the definition in literature about what is a "Ramanujan graph, which I was wondering if someone could kindly clarify. (1) The Hoory-Linial-Wigderson review on ...
user6818's user avatar
  • 1,863
13 votes
3 answers
438 views

How can I prove that a particular family of graphs is integral?

I'm working with an infinite family of graphs that seems to always have all integral eigenvalues, and I'd like to find some way to prove that (if it's true). Call the graphs $G_{n,k}$ and define them ...
jamisans's user avatar
  • 393
13 votes
1 answer
597 views

$\ell^1$-norm of eigenvectors of Erdős-Renyi Graphs

Setting. Let $G(n,p)$ denote the usual Erdős-Renyi (random) graphs. For each such graph there is an associated Laplacian matrix $L = D - A$ where $D$ collects the degrees on the diagonal and $A$ is ...
Stefan Steinerberger's user avatar
13 votes
0 answers
1k views

A new lower bound for the chromatic number of a graph?

Let $S_{+}(G)$ denote the sum of the squares of the positive eigenvalues of the adjacency matrix of a graph $G$. Let $S_{-}(G)$ denote the sum of the squares of the negative eigenvalues and $q$ the ...
Clive elphick's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
599 views

Is there Matrix-Tree theorem for counting the bases of a connected matroid?

The famous Kirchhoff's Matrix-Tree theorem counts the number of spanning trees of a connected graph, that is, the number of bases of its cycle matroid. But it appeals to vertices, that's why I do not ...
Fedor Petrov's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
545 views

Suggestion for framing a course in Representation theory + Spectral graph theory

I am going to give a course in spectral graph theory to graduate students. I want to learn and teach the connection between the spectral graph theory and the representation theory of finite groups. I ...
12 votes
1 answer
481 views

Spectrum of induced subgraphs of Paley graph

Let $G_q$ be a Paley graph on $q$ vertices, where $q=1 \text{ (mod 4)}$, i.e., the vertices of $G_q$ are the elements of the finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$, and there is an edge between vertices $a,b \in ...
karakusc's user avatar
  • 171
12 votes
1 answer
823 views

How to find or constrain "particularly good" (two-sided) spectral expanders?

I'm new to graph theory, but a response to a question I asked a while ago introduced me to the concept of expander graphs. A k-regular graph (henceforth "graph") on n nodes has eigenvalues k = λ1 ≥ ...
Robin Saunders's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
830 views

Are these three different notions of a graph Laplacian?

I seem to see three different things that are being called the Laplacian of a graph, One is the matrix $L_1 = D - A$ where $D$ is a diagonal matrix consisting of degrees of all the vertices and $A$ ...
user6818's user avatar
  • 1,863
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

Eigenvalues of the complement of a graph

Let $A$ and $\widetilde A$ be the adjacency matrices of a graph $G$ and of its complement, respectively. Is there any relation between the eigenvalues of $A + \widetilde A$ and the eigenvalues of $A$ ...
GA316's user avatar
  • 1,209
11 votes
2 answers
873 views

Algebraic properties of graph of chess pieces

For the purpose of this question, a chess piece is the King, Queen, Rook, Bishop or Knight of the game of chess. To a chess piece is attached a graph which represents the legal moves it can make on an ...
Olivier's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
303 views

Variant of an Expander graph: Probability that S random points cast a shadow/projection of size at most S/2 on each face of a cube.

Consider an integer cube of size $\sqrt{k} \times \sqrt{k} \times \sqrt{k}$, where $k$ is an asymptotically large perfect square number. Place k points in this cube at uniformly random locations, i.e.,...
codingTheorist's user avatar
11 votes
0 answers
548 views

Ramanujan Digraphs?

In Gowers' paper on quasirandom groups, he suggests a spectral theory of bipartite graphs employ the singular values of the bipartite adjacency matrix. Accordingly, singular values appear to be a ...
mdevos's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
653 views

Is there a continuous analogue of Ramanujan graphs?

I think it might help to think of the following definition of a Ramanujan graph - a graph whose non-trivial eigenvalues are such that their magnitude is bounded above by the spectral radius of its ...
Student's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
4k views

Random bipartite graphs

Consider the following situation: I have a set $A$ of $n$ vertices and a set $B$ of $N = n^2$vertices. I consider the bipartite graph $(A, B)$ and put at random $M = n^{1 + \varepsilon}$ edges (or I ...
Michal Kotowski's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
1k views

Eigenfunctions of random graphs

Consider a random $d$-regular graph on $n$ vertices. What can be said about its nontrivial (i.e. orthogonal to the constant) eigenfunctions? For example, I'm interested whether there are "nodal zones",...
Michal Kotowski's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
325 views

An upper bound for the largest Laplacian eigenvalue of a graph in terms of its diameter

Let $G$ be a simple graph with $n$ vertices and $\lambda$ be the largest eigenvalue of its Laplacian operator $L=D-A$. I have some evidence for the following conjecture: Conjecture: If G has ...
Mostafa's user avatar
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10 votes
0 answers
212 views

Cospectral mate of rhombic dodecahedron

I am wondering if the following pair of cospectral graphs was previously known. The rhombic dodecahedron graph looks like this (graph6 string: 'M?????rrAiTOd_YO?'): As far as I know, it was previously ...
David Roberson's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
2k views

What happens to eigenvalues when edges are removed?

I am stuck at the following : Let $G$ be a graph and $A$ is its adjacency matrix. Let the eigenvalues of $A$ be $\lambda_1\le \lambda_2\leq \cdots \leq \lambda_n$. If we remove some edges from the ...
Charlotte's user avatar
  • 444
9 votes
3 answers
332 views

Spectrum of orthogonality graph (2)

The orthogonality graph, $\Omega(n)$, has vertex set the set of $\pm 1$ vectors of length $n$, with orthogonal vectors being adjacent. I am only interested when $4|n$, since otherwise $\Omega(n)$ is ...
Clive elphick's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
232 views

Conjecture of van der Holst and Pendavingh related to bound for Colin de Verdière invariant

In their 2009 paper (“On a graph property generalizing planarity and flatness”. In: Combinatorica 29.3 (May 2009), pp. 337–361. issn: 1439-6912. doi: 10.1007/s00493-009-2219-6.), van der Holst and ...
soerenssen's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
3k views

Connection between eigenvalues of matrix and its Laplacian.

Hello! There are two definitions of graph spectrum: 1) Eigenvalues of adjacency matrix $A$. 2) Eigenvalues of Laplacian of adjacency matrix ($L$). Different sources offer different properties based ...
TotalNoob's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
246 views

Expansion in strongly regular graphs

Have you seen the following statement proven anywhere? Let $G$ be a strongly regular graph with parameters $(n,k,\lambda,\mu)$ with $\lambda,\mu>0$. Then there is no set $A$ of at least $n/4$ ...
EJI's user avatar
  • 93
9 votes
1 answer
401 views

Coherence between different ranking methods of a graph's vertices

Given a (connected) graph $G$ it is natural to want to rank its vertices, with the more "central" vertices ranked higher. Two natural ways of doing it are: By the degrees. By the entries in a Perron ...
Felix Goldberg's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
500 views

Are there two-sided $\varepsilon$-expanders with independent sets of size $(1-\varepsilon)n$?

Terry Tao's notes on expander graphs has the following exercise: Exercise 13 Let $G$ be a $k$-regular graph on $n$ vertices that is a two-sided $\epsilon$-expander for some $n > k \geq 1$ and $\...
JeremyKun's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
478 views

Where does $2\sqrt{d-1}$ come from in Ramanujan graphs?

Ramanujan graphs are the best spectral expanders: $\lambda_2 \le 2\sqrt{d-1}$. I'm looking for some intuition for this value $2\sqrt{d-1}$. Friedman showed that every random $d$-regular graph ...
Xiaoyu He's user avatar
  • 1,151
8 votes
3 answers
923 views

Classes of graphs for which isospectrum implies isomorphism?

The spectrum of a graph is the (multi)set of eigenvalues of its adjacency matrix (or Laplacian, depending on what you're interested in). In general, two non-isomorphic graphs might have the same ...
Suresh Venkat's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
7k views

Spectrum of an adjacency matrix

The adjacency matrix of a non-oriented connected graph is symmetric, hence its spectrum is real. If the graph is bipartite, then the spectrum of its adjacency matrix is symmetric about 0. A few ...
Delio Mugnolo's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
1k views

When the Lovász theta-function saturates its upper bound

The Lovász $\vartheta$-function of a graph $G$, $\vartheta(G)$, is well-known to be "sandwiched" between the independence number of the graph, $\alpha(G)$, and the chromatic number of its complement, $...
user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
1k views

Generalization or Improvement of Cheeger inequality on Graphs

Let $G=(V,E)$ be an undirected graph with vertex set $V$ and edge set $E$. Let $A$ denote the adjacency matrix of $G$ and $D$ denote the diagonal matrix such that $D_{i,i}$ equals to the degree $d_i$ ...
InfiniteLoops's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
183 views

Is there a bipartite graph with $\sqrt{2}$ as an eigenvalue with high multiplicity, specifically more than in the Heawood graph?

The Heawood graph is a $3$-regular graph on $14$ vertices. Its (adjacency) spectrum is $\{ (3)^1, (\sqrt{2})^6, (-\sqrt{2})^6, (-3)^1 \}$. So, $3/7 \approx 42.8\%$ of its eigenvalues equal $\sqrt{2}$. ...
The Amplitwist's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

graph signal processing

I have read this article https://arxiv.org/abs/1307.5708 about vertix-frequency analysis on graph. David IShuman in this article claims that,"we generalize one of the most important signal ...
niloofar jamshidi's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
959 views

Spectrum of the Laplacian on G(n, p) and G(n, M)

A random graph in $G(n, p)$ model is a graph on $n$ vertices in which for each of the $n\choose{2}$ edges we independently flip a coin, then take the edge with probability $p$ or remove it with $1 - p$...
Michal Kotowski's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
635 views

limiting empirical spectral distribution of the Laplacian matrix on an Erdos-Renyi graph?

Let $G$ be an Erdos-Renyi random graph (i.e. an edge ($ij$) exists with probability $0 < p < 1$ and all edges are independent). Let $L$ be the Laplacian matrix of this graph (i.e $L=D-A$, where $...
Olivier Leveque's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
874 views

Can the graph Laplacian be well approximated by a Laplace-Beltrami operator?

It seems rather well known that given a Laplace-Beltrami operator $\mathcal{L}_{M}$ on a manifold $M$ we can approximate its spectrum by that of a graph Laplacian $L_{G}$ for some $G$ (where $G$ is ...
Felix Goldberg's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
302 views

A conjecture about strongly regular graphs

Let $G \neq K_{v}$ be a $(v,k,\lambda,\mu)$ strongly regular graph. After perusing through Brouwer's tables of parameters I have formed the conjecture $$\lambda-\mu \leq \frac{k}{2}.$$ So far I have ...
Felix Goldberg's user avatar

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