The Hoffman number of a graph (Q1861267)

For a connected graph \(G\) with \(n\) vertices, let \(\{\lambda_1, \lambda_2, \dots, \lambda_r\}\) be the set of distinct positive eigenvalues of the Laplacian matrix \(L(G)\) of \(G\), and let \(\mu(G)=\lambda_1\lambda_2\cdots\lambda_r/n\). The author generalizes a result of \textit{A. Hoffman} [Am. Math. Mon. 70, 30-36 (1963; Zbl 0112.14901)] by showing that the polynomial \(P_G(x)=(x-\lambda_1)(x-\lambda_2)\cdots(x-\lambda_r)\) satisfies \(P_G(L(G))=(-1)^r \mu(G) J\), where \(J\) denotes the all-one matrix. As a consequence from Gallois theory, the number \(\mu(G)\), called the Hoffman number, turns out to be a positive integer. The paper describes numerous further properties of \(\mu(G)\).