Skip to main content
Log in

An Upper Bound for the Height of a Tree with a Given Eigenvalue

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Combinatorica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this paper we prove that every totally real algebraic integer \(\lambda \) of degree \(d \ge 2\) occurs as an eigenvalue of some tree of height at most \(d(d+1)/2+3\). In order to prove this, for a given algebraic number \(\alpha \ne 0\), we investigate an additive semigroup that contains zero and is closed under the map \(x \mapsto \alpha /(1-x)\) for \(x \ne 1\). The problem of finding the smallest such semigroup seems to be of independent interest.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bass, H., Estes, D.R., Guralnick, R.M.: Eigenvalues of symmetric matrices and graphs. J. Algebra 168, 536–567 (1994)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  2. Biggs, N.: Algebraic Graph Theory, Cambridge Mathematical Library, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Brouwer, A.E., Haemers, W.H.: Spectra of Graphs Universitext. Springer, New York (2012)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  4. Cvetković, D., Doob, M., Sachs, H.: Spectra of Graphs, 3rd edn. Johann Ambrosius Barth, Leipzig (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Estes, D.R.: Eigenvalues of symmetric integer matrices. J. Number Theory 42, 292–296 (1992)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  6. Hoffman, A.J.: Eigenvalues of graphs. In: Studies in graph theory, Part II, Studies in Math., Vol. 12, Mathematical Association of America, Washington, DC, pp. 225–245 (1975)

  7. Knuth, D.E.: The Art of Computer Programming, Vol. 1: Fundamental Algorithms. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Motzkin, T.: From among \(n\) conjugate algebraic integers, \(n-1\) can be approximately given. Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 53, 156–162 (1947)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  9. Renteln, P.: On the spectrum of the perfect matching derangement graph. J. Algebraic Combin. 56, 215–228 (2022)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  10. Rowlinson, P.: The main eigenvalues of a graph: a survey. Appl. Anal. Discrete Math. 1, 445–471 (2007)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  11. Salez, J.: Every totally real algebraic integer is a tree eigenvalue. J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 111, 249–256 (2015)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  12. Tian, F., Wang, Y.: On the multiplicity of positive eigenvalues of a graph. Linear Algebra Appl. 652, 105–124 (2022)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  13. Yu, Q., Liu, F., Zhang, H., Heng, Z.: Note on graphs with irreducible characteristic polynomials. Linear Algebra Appl. 629, 72–86 (2021)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  14. Zhang, Y., Zhou, Q., Wong, D.: A note on the multiplicities of the eigenvalues of a tree. Linear Algebra Appl. 652, 97–104 (2022)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I thank the referees for pointing out several inaccuracies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Artūras Dubickas.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dubickas, A. An Upper Bound for the Height of a Tree with a Given Eigenvalue. Combinatorica 44, 299–310 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00493-023-00071-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00493-023-00071-2

Keywords

Mathematics Subject Classification

Navigation