Extensions on spectral extrema of \(\theta_{1,2,5}\)-free graphs with given size (Q6985246)

Let \(\mathcal{F}\) be a set of graphs. A graph \(G\) is called \(\mathcal{F}\)-free if it does not contain any subgraph isomorphic to a graph in \(\mathcal{F}\). In 1985, \textit{R. A. Brualdi} and \textit{A. J. Hoffman} [Linear Algebra Appl. 65, 133--146 (1985; Zbl 0563.15012)] posed an interesting problem: What is the maximal spectral radius of an \(\mathcal{F}\)-free graph with a given size \(m\)? The above problem is referred to as the Brualdi-Hoffman-Turán problem. This paper addresses this problem for \(\theta_{1,2,5}\)-free graphs. The theta graph \(\theta_{p,q,r}\) is a graph consisting of three internally disjoint paths of lengths \(p\), \(q\), and \(r\), sharing the same pair of endpoints. In this study, the authors present a new method to characterize the graphs with the maximum spectral radius among all \(\theta_{1,2,5}\)-free graphs for \(m \geq 39\), where \(m \equiv 1\pmod 3\) or \(m \equiv 2\pmod 3\).