Three conjectures in extremal spectral graph theory

We prove three conjectures regarding the maximization of spectral invariants over certain families of graphs. Our most difficult result is that the join of P2 and Pn−2 is the unique graph of maximum spectral radius over all planar graphs. This was conjectured by Boots and Royle in 1991 and independently by Cao and Vince in 1993. Similarly, we prove a conjecture of Cvetković and Rowlinson from 1990 stating that the unique outerplanar graph of maximum spectral radius is the join of a vertex and Pn−1. Finally, we prove a conjecture of Aouchiche et al from 2008 stating that a pineapple graph is the unique connected graph maximizing the spectral radius minus the average degree. To prove our theorems, we use the leading eigenvector of a purported extremal graph to deduce structural properties about that graph. Using this setup, we give short proofs of several old results: Mantel’s Theorem, Stanley’s edge bound and extensions, the Kővari-Sós-Turán Theorem applied to ex (n,K2,t), and a partial solution to an old problem of Erdős on making a triangle-free graph bipartite.