Eigenvalues of the Derangement Graph

Cheng Yeaw Ku, David B. Wales

Published 2008-03-19Version 1

We consider the Cayley graph on the symmetric group Sn generated by derangements. It is well known that the eigenvalues of this grpah are indexed by partitions of n. We investigate how these eigenvalues are determined by the shape of their corresponding partitions. In particular, we show that the sign of an eigenvalue is the parity of the number of cells below the first row of the corresponding Ferrers diagram. We also provide some lower and upper bounds for the absolute values of these eigenvalues.