The path as the unique minimum spectral-sum graph

Let nn denote the order of a connected graph, and let the spectral sum be λ1(G)+λ2(G)\lambda_1(G)+\lambda_2(G), where λ1(G)\lambda_1(G) and λ2(G)\lambda_2(G) are the largest and second-largest adjacency eigenvalues. The path-minimization conjecture. For sufficiently large nn, the path uniquely minimizes the spectral sum among all connected graphs of order nn. The minimization of spectral sum remains open, and this conjecture proposes the extremal graph for the connected case.

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Primary source

Hitesh Kumar, Lele Liu, Hermie Monterde, Shivaramakrishna Pragada and Michael Tait, “Maximum spectral sum of graphs”, arXiv:2604.00512 (2026).

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