English

A lower bound for the second largest up-Laplacian eigenvalue of a simplicial complex

Combinatorics 2026-08-03 v1

Abstract

Let KK be a finite kk-dimensional simplicial complex with at least two kk-faces, and let \Lupk1(K)=kk\T\Lup_{k-1}(K)=\partial_k\partial_k^{\T} be its (k1)(k-1)-dimensional up-Laplacian. Writing d2(K)d_2(K) for the second largest upper degree of a (k1)(k-1)-face, we prove the sharp bound λ2(\Lupk1(K))  d2(K)+k1. \lambda_2\bigl(\Lup_{k-1}(K)\bigr)\ \ge\ d_2(K)+k-1 . For k=1k=1, this recovers the graph inequality λ2(L(G))d2(G)\lambda_2(L(G))\ge d_2(G) of Li and Pan. We also show that the full graph inequality of Brouwer and Haemers does not extend directly to simplicial complexes: the natural candidate λm(\Lupk1(K))dm(K)m+k+1\lambda_m(\Lup_{k-1}(K))\ge d_m(K)-m+k+1 already fails for m=3m=3.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2608.01694,
  title  = {A lower bound for the second largest up-Laplacian eigenvalue of a simplicial complex},
  author = {Vinayak Gupta},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.01694},
  year   = {2026}
}