On the first two eigenvalues of regular graphs

Shengtong Zhang

Published 2023-09-15Version 1

Let $G$ be a regular graph with $m$ edges, and let $\mu_1, \mu_2$ denote the two largest eigenvalues of $A_G$, the adjacency matrix of $G$. We show that $$\mu_1^2 + \mu_2^2 \leq \frac{2(\omega - 1)}{\omega} m$$ where $\omega$ is the clique number of $G$. This confirms a conjecture of Bollob\'{a}s and Nikiforov for regular graphs.