A unique characterization of spectral extrema for friendship graphs (Q2170783)

Summary: Turán-type problem is one of central problems in extremal graph theory. \textit{P. Erdős} et al. [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. B 64, No. 1, 89--100 (1995; Zbl 0822.05036)] obtained the exact Turán number of the friendship graph \(F_k\) for \(n\geqslant 50k^2\), and characterized all its extremal graphs. \textit{S. Cioabă} et al. [Electron. J. Comb. 27, No. 4, Research Paper P4.22, 19 p. (2020; Zbl 1453.05059)] initially introduced Triangle Removal Lemma into a spectral Turán-type problem, then showed that \(\mathrm{SPEX}(n, F_k)\subseteq \mathrm{EX}(n, F_k)\) for \(n\) large enough, where \(\mathrm{EX}(n, F_k)\) and \(\mathrm{SPEX}(n, F_k)\) are the families of \(n\)-vertex \(F_k\)-free graphs with maximum size and maximum spectral radius, respectively. In this paper, the family \(\mathrm{SPEX}(n, F_k)\) is uniquely determined for sufficiently large \(n\). Our key approach is to find various alternating cycles or closed trails in nearly regular graphs. Some typical spectral techniques are also used. This presents a probable way to characterize the uniqueness of extremal graphs for some of other spectral extremal problems. In the end, we mention several related conjectures.