Limit points for the spectral radii of signed graphs (Q6184523)

Let \(\gamma = (G,\sigma)\) be a signed graph. Its spectral radius is the largest absolute value of its adjacency eigenvalues. \textit{A. J. Hoffman} [Ars Comb. 3, 3--14 (1977; Zbl 0445.05067)] determined the limit points of spectral radii of non-negative symmetric integral matrices up to \(h := 2 + \sqrt{5}\). This number is now known as the (adjacency) Hoffman limit value. Hoffman's strategy essentially consisted of reducing the problem to the adjacency matrices of graphs. Hoffman's result, which is Theorem 1.1 in this paper, pioneered a fruitful investigation on limit points of graphs eigenvalues. The literature offers other fascinating results on limit points, and it would be interesting to study their counterparts in the contexts of signed graphs and unbalanced signed graphs. The two facets of the Hoffman program (with respect to the matrix \(M\) and the class \(G\)) are: (1) establishing all the possible M-limit points; (2) finding the items in \(G\) whose M-spectral radius does not exceed a fixed M-limit point (if there exists any). The authors identify the real numbers which are limit points of spectral radii of signed graphs. This is one of the two aspects of a problem in spectral graph theory known as the Hoffman program, implemented here for signed graphs. This paper contains interesting results useful to signed graphs and its allied areas.