Sums of Laplacian eigenvalues and sums of degrees

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autore principale: Lew, Alan
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866913977325322240
author Lew, Alan
author_facet Lew, Alan
contents Let $X$ be a simplicial complex. For $1\le i\le\dim(X)$, let $X(i)$ be the set of $i$-dimensional faces of $X$, and let $f_i(X)=|X(i)|$. For $0\le i\le \dim(X)-1$, let $L_i^+(X)$ be the $i$-th upper Laplacian operator of $X$. For $σ\in X$ and $1\le r\le \dim(X)$, we denote by $\text{deg}_X^{(r)}(σ)$ the number of $r$-dimensional faces of $X$ containing $σ$. For a symmetric matrix $M\in \mathbb{R}^{n\times n}$ and $1\le i\le n$, let $λ_i(M)$ be the $i$-th largest eigenvalue of $M$. We prove that for every complex $X$, $1\le r\le\dim(X)$, and $1\le k\le f_{r-1}(X)/(r+1)$, \[ \sum_{i=1}^k λ_i(L_{r-1}^+(X)) \le \max \left\{ \sum_{σ\in A} \text{deg}_X^{(r)}(σ) :\, A\subset X(r-1),\, |A|=(r+1)k \right\}. \] This bound is sharp, and it extends a classical result of Anderson and Morley, corresponding to the special case $k=1,\, r=1$. As a consequence, we show that for all $1\le r\le \dim(X)$ and $1\le k\le f_{r-1}(X)$, \[ \sum_{i=1}^{k} λ_i(L_{r-1}^+(X)) \le f_r(X) + \binom{(r+1)k}{2}. \] In the case $r=1$, we obtain the following improved bound: for every $k\ge 1$ and every graph $G=(V,E)$ with $|V|\ge k$, \[ \sum_{i=1}^k λ_i(L(G)) \leq |E|+k^2, \] where $L(G)=L_0^{+}(G)$ is the Laplacian matrix of $G$. This improves upon previously known bounds for all $k\ge 3$, and may be seen as a further step towards Brouwer's conjecture, which states that $\sum_{i=1}^k λ_i(L(G)) \leq |E|+\binom{k+1}{2}.$ As an additional application, we show that if $X$ is an $(r+1)$-partite $r$-dimensional simplicial complex on vertex set $V$, and $1\le k\le f_{r-1}(X)$, then \[ \sum_{i=1}^{k} λ_i(L_{r-1}^+(X)) \le \sum_{i=1}^k \left|\{v\in V:\, \text{deg}^{(r)}_X(v)\ge i\}\right|. \] This resolves a special case of a conjecture of Duval and Reiner, which states that the above inequality holds for all simplicial complexes.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_04209
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Sums of Laplacian eigenvalues and sums of degrees
Lew, Alan
Combinatorics
Let $X$ be a simplicial complex. For $1\le i\le\dim(X)$, let $X(i)$ be the set of $i$-dimensional faces of $X$, and let $f_i(X)=|X(i)|$. For $0\le i\le \dim(X)-1$, let $L_i^+(X)$ be the $i$-th upper Laplacian operator of $X$. For $σ\in X$ and $1\le r\le \dim(X)$, we denote by $\text{deg}_X^{(r)}(σ)$ the number of $r$-dimensional faces of $X$ containing $σ$. For a symmetric matrix $M\in \mathbb{R}^{n\times n}$ and $1\le i\le n$, let $λ_i(M)$ be the $i$-th largest eigenvalue of $M$. We prove that for every complex $X$, $1\le r\le\dim(X)$, and $1\le k\le f_{r-1}(X)/(r+1)$, \[ \sum_{i=1}^k λ_i(L_{r-1}^+(X)) \le \max \left\{ \sum_{σ\in A} \text{deg}_X^{(r)}(σ) :\, A\subset X(r-1),\, |A|=(r+1)k \right\}. \] This bound is sharp, and it extends a classical result of Anderson and Morley, corresponding to the special case $k=1,\, r=1$. As a consequence, we show that for all $1\le r\le \dim(X)$ and $1\le k\le f_{r-1}(X)$, \[ \sum_{i=1}^{k} λ_i(L_{r-1}^+(X)) \le f_r(X) + \binom{(r+1)k}{2}. \] In the case $r=1$, we obtain the following improved bound: for every $k\ge 1$ and every graph $G=(V,E)$ with $|V|\ge k$, \[ \sum_{i=1}^k λ_i(L(G)) \leq |E|+k^2, \] where $L(G)=L_0^{+}(G)$ is the Laplacian matrix of $G$. This improves upon previously known bounds for all $k\ge 3$, and may be seen as a further step towards Brouwer's conjecture, which states that $\sum_{i=1}^k λ_i(L(G)) \leq |E|+\binom{k+1}{2}.$ As an additional application, we show that if $X$ is an $(r+1)$-partite $r$-dimensional simplicial complex on vertex set $V$, and $1\le k\le f_{r-1}(X)$, then \[ \sum_{i=1}^{k} λ_i(L_{r-1}^+(X)) \le \sum_{i=1}^k \left|\{v\in V:\, \text{deg}^{(r)}_X(v)\ge i\}\right|. \] This resolves a special case of a conjecture of Duval and Reiner, which states that the above inequality holds for all simplicial complexes.
title Sums of Laplacian eigenvalues and sums of degrees
topic Combinatorics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.04209