EIGENVALUES OF GRAPHS WITH THREEFOLD SYMMETRY

In many cases, the spectrum of one graph contains the entire spectrum of a second, smaller graph. The larger (composite) graph and the smaller (component) graph are said to be subspectral. Rules are given for constructing two subspectral components of a composite graph which has threefold symmetry such that the eigenvalues of one component and the eigenvalues of the second component taken twice comprise the complete spectrum of the composite graph. The mathematical basis for these rules is shown to be a unitary transformation upon the eigenvalue equation of the adjacency matrix of the composite graph by the matrix which represents threefold rotation. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.