The trace norm of r-partite graphs and matrices

The trace norm $\left\Vert G\right\Vert _{\ast}$ of a graph $G$ is the sum of its singular values, i.e., the absolute values of its eigenvalues. The norm $\left\Vert G\right\Vert _{\ast}$ has been intensively studied under the name of graph energy, a concept introduced by Gutman in 1978. This note studies the maximum trace norm of $r$-partite graphs, which raises some unusual problems for $r>2$. It is shown that, if $G$ is an $r$-partite graph of order $n,$ then $$\left\Vert G\right\Vert _{\ast}<\frac{n^{3/2}}{2}\sqrt{1-1/r}+\left( 1-1/r\right) n.$$ For some special $r$ this bound is tight: e.g., if $r$ is the order of a symmetric conference matrix, then, for infinitely many $n,$ there is a graph $G\$of order $n$ with $$\left\Vert G\right\Vert _{\ast}>\frac{n^{3/2}}{2}\sqrt{1-1/r}-\left( 1-1/r\right) n.$$