The \(k\)-Sombor index of trees (Q6561560)

\textit{T. Réti} et al. [Contrib. Math. 3, 11--18 (2021; Zbl 1538.05072)] defined the so-called \(k\)-Sombor index as follows: \N\[\NSO_k(G) = \sum_{uv \in E(G)}\sqrt[k]{d(u)^k + d(v)^k} \N\]\Nfor a positive real number \(k\), and a graph \(G=(V(G), E(G))\), where \(d(u)\) denotes the degree of the vertex \(u\) in \(G\). This is a natural generalization of the Sombor index \(SO_2(G)\), introduced by Gutman in 2021. Also, \(SO_1(G)\) is the first Zagreb index of \(G\). In this paper, the authors obtain the extremal values of the \(k\)-Sombor index with \(k \geq 1\) for trees with some given parameters, such as matching number, number of pendant vertices and diameter. This generalizes the results on Sombor index due to \textit{H. Chen} et al. [MATCH Commun. Math. Comput. Chem. 87, No. 1, 23--49 (2022; Zbl 1503.92084)]. The behavior of \(SO_k(G)\) for \(k <1\) appears quite different from that for \(k \geq 1\). To show this behavior, the authors characterize the extremal trees with respect to \(SO_{\frac 1 2}\) with given matching number, number of pendant vertices and diameter. They also propose three conjectures for further study.