On Singular Signed Graphs with Nullspace Spanned by a Full Vector: Signed Nut Graphs

A signed graph has edge weights drawn from the set {+1, −1}, and is sign-balanced if it is equivalent to an unsigned graph under the operation of sign switching; otherwise it is sign-unbalanced. A nut graph has a one dimensional kernel of the 0-1 adjacency matrix with a corresponding eigenvector tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bašić Nino, Fowler Patrick W., Pisanski Tomaž, Sciriha Irene
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Zielona Góra 2022-11-01
Series:Discussiones Mathematicae Graph Theory
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.7151/dmgt.2436
Description
Summary:A signed graph has edge weights drawn from the set {+1, −1}, and is sign-balanced if it is equivalent to an unsigned graph under the operation of sign switching; otherwise it is sign-unbalanced. A nut graph has a one dimensional kernel of the 0-1 adjacency matrix with a corresponding eigenvector that is full. In this paper we generalise the notion of nut graphs to signed graphs. Orders for which regular nut graphs with all edge weights +1 exist have been determined recently for the degrees up to 12. By extending the definition to signed graphs, we here find all pairs (ρ, n) for which a ρ-regular nut graph (sign-balanced or sign-unbalanced) of order n exists with ρ ≤ 11. We devise a construction for signed nut graphs based on a smaller ‘seed’ graph, giving infinite series of both sign-balanced and sign-unbalanced ρ -regular nut graphs. Orders for which a regular nut graph with ρ = n − 1 exists are characterised; they are sign-unbalanced with an underlying graph Kn for which n ≡ 1 (mod 4). Orders for which a regular sign-unbalanced nut graph with ρ = n − 2 exists are also characterised; they have an underlying cocktail-party graph CP(n) with even order n ≥ 8.
ISSN:2083-5892