On the extremal properties of the average eccentricity

The eccentricity of a vertex is the maximum distance from it to another vertex and the average eccentricity $ecc (G)$ of a graph $G$ is the mean value of eccentricities of all vertices of $G$. The average eccentricity is deeply connected with a topological descriptor called the eccentric connectivity index, defined as a sum of products of vertex degrees and eccentricities. In this paper we analyze extremal properties of the average eccentricity, introducing two graph transformations that increase or decrease $ecc (G)$. Furthermore, we resolve four conjectures, obtained by the system AutoGraphiX, about the average eccentricity and other graph parameters (the clique number, the Randi\' c index and the independence number), refute one AutoGraphiX conjecture about the average eccentricity and the minimum vertex degree and correct one AutoGraphiX conjecture about the domination number.