Vector-chromatic p-energy lower-bound conjecture

From papers

Let GG be a graph, let p2p\geq 2, and let χv(G)\chi_v(G) denote its vector chromatic number. Let Ep+(G)\mathcal{E}_p^+(G) and Ep(G)\mathcal{E}_p^-(G) denote its positive and negative pp-energies. Vector-chromatic p-energy conjecture. For all p2p\geq 2,

χv(G)1+max{Ep+(G)Ep(G),Ep(G)Ep+(G)}1p1.\chi_v(G)\geq 1+\max\left\{\frac{\mathcal{E}_p^+(G)}{\mathcal{E}_p^-(G)},\frac{\mathcal{E}_p^-(G)}{\mathcal{E}_p^+(G)}\right\}^{\frac{1}{p-1}}.

This would extend the established lower bounds for the vector chromatic number at p=2p=2 and p=p=\infty. The supplied text gives counterexamples for the analogous range 0p1.1540\leq p\leq 1.154, but does not resolve the conjecture for p2p\geq 2.

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Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Clive Elphick, Quanyu Tang and Shengtong Zhang, “A Spectral Lower Bound on Chromatic Numbers using p-Energy”, arXiv:2504.01295 (2025).

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