An \(A_{\alpha}\)-spectral Erdős-Sós theorem (Q6199194)

Summary: Let \(G\) be a graph and let \(\alpha\) be a real number in \([0,1]\). In [Appl. Anal. Discrete Math. 11, No. 1, 81--107 (2017; Zbl 1499.05384)], \textit{V. Nikiforov} proposed the \(A_\alpha\)-matrix for \(G\) as \(A_{\alpha}(G)=\alpha D(G)+(1-\alpha)A(G)\), where \(A(G)\) and \(D(G)\) are the adjacency matrix and the degree diagonal matrix of \(G\), respectively. The largest eigenvalue of \(A_{\alpha}(G)\) is called the \(A_\alpha\)-index of \(G.\) The famous Erdős-Sós conjecture states that every \(n\)-vertex graph with more than \(\frac{1}{2}(k-1)n\) edges must contain every tree on \(k+1\) vertices. In this paper, we consider an \(A_\alpha \)-spectral version of this conjecture. For \(n>k,\) let \(S_{n, k}\) be the join of a clique on \(k\) vertices with an independent set of \(n-k\) vertices and denote by \(S^+_{n,k}\) the graph obtained from \(S_{n, k}\) by adding one edge. We show that for fixed \(k\geqslant 2, \, 0<\alpha<1\) and \(n\geqslant\frac{88k^2(k+1)^2}{\alpha^4(1-\alpha)}\), if a graph on \(n\) vertices has \(A_\alpha \)-index at least as large as \(S_{n,k} \) (resp. \(S^+_{n, k})\), then it contains all trees on \(2k+2\) (resp. \(2k+3)\) vertices, or it is isomorphic to \(S_{n,k} \) (resp. \(S^+_{n, k})\). These extend the results of \textit{S. Cioabă} et al. [SIAM J. Discrete Math. 37, No. 3, 2228--2239 (2023; Zbl 1522.05223)], in which they confirmed the adjacency spectral version of the Erdős-Sós conjecture.