Eigenvalues of graphs and a simple proof of a theorem of Greenberg (Q2496648)

Let \(\rho(\tilde X)\) be the spectral radius of the universal cover \(\widetilde X\) of a finite graph \(X\). The author shows that for a given \(\eta>0\), there exists a positive constant \(c=c(X,\eta)\) such that for each finite graph \(Y\) covered by \(X\) it holds that \(| \{\lambda\in\text{ spectrum of }Y: \lambda\geq\rho(X)-\eta\}| \geq c| V(Y)| \). This represents a slight improvement over the result of Greenberg who proved it for \(| \lambda| \geq\rho(X)-\eta\). A similar result regarding the smallest eigenvalue is also proved.