Abstract
The spectral excess theorem, a remarkable result due to Fiol and Garriga, states that a connected regular graph with \(d+1\) distinct eigenvalues is distance-regular if and only if the average excess (the mean of the numbers of vertices at distance \(d\) from every vertex) is equal to the spectral excess (a number that only depends on the spectrum of the graph). In 2012, Lee and Weng gave a generalization of this result in order to make it applicable to non-regular graphs. Up to now, there has been no such characterization for distance-regular digraphs. Motivated by this, we give a variation of the spectral excess theorem for normal digraphs (which is called “SETND” for short), generalizing the above-mentioned results for graphs. We show that the average weighted excess (a generalization of the average excess) is, at most, the spectral excess in a connected normal digraph, with equality if and only if the digraph is distance-regular. To state this, we give some characterizations of weakly distance-regular digraphs. Particularly, we show that whether a given connected digraph is weakly distance-regular only depends on the equality of the two invariants. Distance-regularity of a digraph (also a graph) is in general not determined by its spectrum. As an application of SETND, we show that distance-regularity of a connected normal digraph is determined by the spectrum and the average excess of the digraph. Finally, as another application of SETND, we show that every connected normal digraph \(\Gamma \) with \(d+1\) distinct eigenvalues and diameter \(D\) either is a bipartite digraph, is a generalized odd graph or has odd-girth at most \(\min \{2d-1,2D+1\}\). This generalizes a result of Van Dam and Haemers.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bang-Jensen, J., Gutin, G.: Digraphs: Theory, Algorithms and Applications. Springer Monographs in Mathematics, 2nd edn. Springer, London (2009)
Brouwer, A.E.: personal homepage: http://www.cwi.nl/~aeb/math/dsrg/dsrg.html
Brouwer, A.E., Cohen, A.M., Neumaier, A.: Distance-Regular Graphs. Springer, Berlin (1989)
Brouwer, A.E., Haemers, W.H.: Spectra of Graphs. Springer, Berlin (2012). http://homepages.cwi.nl/~aeb/math/ipm/
Cámara, M., Dalfó, C., Fabrega, J., Fiol, M.A., Garriga, E.: Edge-distance-regular graphs. J. Comb. Theory Ser. A 118, 2071–2091 (2011)
Cámara, M., Fàbrega, J., Fiol, M.A., Garriga, E.: Some families of orthogonal polynomials of a discrete variable and their applications to graphs and codes. Electron. J. Comb. 16(1), R83 (2009)
Comellas, F., Fiol, M.A., Gimbert, J., Mitjana, M.: Weakly distance-regular digraphs. J. Comb. Theory Ser. B 90, 233–255 (2004)
Cvetković, D.M., Doob, M., Sachs, H.: Spectra of Graphs, Theory and Application, second edn. VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin (1982)
Dalfó, C., van Dam, E.R., Fiol, M.A., Garriga, E., Gorissen, B.L.: On almost distance-regular graphs. J. Comb. Theory Ser. A 118, 1094–1113 (2011)
Dalfó, C., van Dam, E.R., Fiol, M.A., Garriga, E.: Dual concepts of almost distance-regularity and the spectral excess theorem. Discrete Math. 312, 2730–2734 (2012)
Damerell, R.M.: Distance-transitive and distance-regular digraphs. J. Comb. Theory Ser. B 31, 46–53 (1981)
Duval, A.M.: A directed graph version of strongly regular graphs. J. Comb. Theory Ser. A 47, 71–100 (1988)
Enomoto, H., Mena, R.A.: Distance-regular digraphs of girth 4. J. Comb. Theory Ser. B 43, 293–302 (1987)
Fiol, M.A.: Algebraic characterizations of distance-regular graphs. Discrete Math. 246, 111–129 (2002)
Fiol, M.A.: On some approaches to the spectral excess theorem for nonregular graphs. J. Comb. Theory Ser. A 120, 1285–1290 (2013)
Fiol, M.A., Garriga, E.: From local adjacency polynomials to locally pseudo-distance-regular graphs. J. Comb. Theory Ser. B 71, 162–183 (1997)
Fiol, M.A., Gago, S., Garriga, E.: A simple proof of the spectral excess theorem for distance-regular graphs. Linear Algebra Appl. 432, 2418–2422 (2010)
Huang, T.: Spectral characterization of odd graphs \(O_{k}, k\le 6\). Graphs Comb. 10, 235–240 (1994)
Huang, T., Liu, C.: Spectral characterization of some generalized odd graphs. Graphs Comb. 15, 195–209 (1999)
Lee, G.S., Weng, C.W.: The spectral excess theorem for general graphs. J. Comb. Theory Ser. A 119, 1427–1431 (2012)
Liebler, R.A., Mena, R.A.: Certain distance-regular digraphs and related rings of characteristic 4. J. Comb. Theory Ser. A 47, 111–123 (1988)
van Dam, E.R.: The spectral excess theorem for distance-regular graphs: a global (over)view. Electron. J. Comb. 15(1), R129 (2008)
van Dam, E.R., Fiol, M.A.: A short proof of the odd-girth theorem. Electron. J. Comb. 19(3), P12 (2012)
van Dam, E.R., Haemers, W.H.: An odd characterization of the generalized odd graphs. J. Comb. Theory Ser. B 101, 486–489 (2011)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research is partially carried out in the IPM-Isfahan Branch and in part supported by a grant from IPM (No. 92050217).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Omidi, G.R. A spectral excess theorem for normal digraphs. J Algebr Comb 42, 537–554 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10801-015-0590-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10801-015-0590-5