Trace of Multi-variable Matrix Functions and its Application to Functions of Graph Spectrum

Matrix extension of a scalar function of a single variable is well-studied in literature. Of particular interest is the trace of such functions. It is known that for diagonalizable matrices, $M$, the function $g(M) = \text{Tr}(f(M)) = \sum_{j=1}^n f(\mu_j)$ (where $\{\mu_j\}_{j=1,2,\cdots,n}$ are the eigenvalues of $M$) inherits the monotonocity and convexity properties of $f$ (i.e., for $g$ to be convex, $f$ need not be operator convex -- convexity is sufficient). In this paper we formalize the idea of matrix extension of a function of multiple variables, study the monotonicity and convexity properties of the trace, and thus show that a function of form $g(M) = \sum_{j_1=1}^n \sum_{j_2=1}^n \cdots \sum_{j_m=1}^n f(\mu_{j_1}, \mu_{j_2},\cdots, \mu_{j_m})$ also inherits the monotonocity and convexity properties of the multi-variable function, $f$. We apply these results to functions of the spectrum of the weighted Laplacian matrix of undirected, simple graphs.