Maximum \(A_\alpha\)-spectral radius of \(\{C(3, 3), C(4, 3)\}\)-free graphs (Q7020880)

For a simple graph \(G\), let \(A(G)\) denote the adjacency matrix of \(G\) and \(D(G)\) denote the diagonal degree matrix of \(G\). The signless Laplacian matrix of \(G\) is then the matrix \(Q(G) = A(G) + D(G)\). \textit{V. Nikiforov} [Appl. Anal. Discrete Math. 11, No. 1, 81--107 (2017; Zbl 1499.05384)] proposed to unite the study of the spectra of the adjacency matrix and the signless Laplacian matrix of \(G\) by defining the \(A_{\alpha}\)-matrix of \(G\) as:\N\[\NA_{\alpha}(G) = \alpha D(G) + (1-\alpha)A(G),\, \alpha \in [0, 1].\N\]\NNote that \(A_0(G) = A(G)\), \(2A_{\frac12}(G) = Q(G)\) and \(A_1(G) = D(G)\). The \(A_{\alpha}\)-spectral radius of \(G\) is the largest eigenvalue of \(A_{\alpha}(G)\). A spectral Turán problem for the \(A_{\alpha}\)-matrix of \(G\) is a question of the following form: given \(\alpha \in [0, 1]\) and a family of forbidden graphs \(\mathcal{F}\), which \(\mathcal{F}\)-free graph on \(n\) vertices has maximum \(A_{\alpha}\)-spectral radius? This question is a generalization of the usual spectral Turán problem, where the goal is to maximize the spectral radius of the adjacency matrix.\N\NIn this paper, the authors study the following \(A_{\alpha}\)-spectral Turán problem: which graph on \(n\) vertices has maximum \(A_{\alpha}\)-spectral radius among all \(\{C(3, 3), C(4, 3)\}\)-free graphs? For integers \(t \ge 3\) and \(\ell \ge 3\), the graph \(C(t, \ell)\) is the graph obtained from the cycles \(C_t\) and \(C_{\ell}\) by superimposing one edge from \(C_t\) onto an edge from \(C_{\ell}\). The main result of the paper is that for \(\alpha \in [0, \frac12)\), the complete bipartite graph \(K_{\lfloor{\frac{n}{2}\rfloor}, \lceil{\frac{n}{2}\rceil}}\) has maximum \(A_{\alpha}\)-spectral radius when \(n\ge \frac{10}{1-2\alpha} + 1\), and it is the unique extremal example. The question is left open for the range \(\alpha \in [\frac12, 1)\).\N\NIf a \(\{C(3, 3), C(4, 3)\}\)-free graph also contains no triangle, then by previously known results it follows that the complete bipartite graph \(K_{\lfloor{\frac{n}{2}\rfloor}, \lceil{\frac{n}{2}\rceil}}\) has maximum \(A_{\alpha}\)-spectral radius for \(\alpha \in [0, \frac12)\). The heart of the proof is in considering what happens when a \(\{C(3, 3), C(4, 3)\}\)-free graph \(G\) does contain a triangle. In this case, using structural properties of \(\{C(3, 3), C(4, 3)\}\)-free graphs and various technical calculations, the authors are able to show that that the \(A_{\alpha}\)-spectral radius of \(G\) is strictly smaller than that of \(K_{\lfloor{\frac{n}{2}\rfloor}, \lceil{\frac{n}{2}\rceil}}\).