Upper Bounds for the Largest Laplacian Eigenvalue of Simplicial Complexes

Abstract

Let $K$ be a finite $r$-dimensional simplicial complex with vertex set $V$ of size $n$. We study the largest eigenvalue of the combinatorial $(r-1)$-up Laplacian $L^{\operatorname{up}}_{r-1}(K)$. It is known that \[ λ_{\max}\bigl(L^{\operatorname{up}}_{r-1}(K)\bigr)\le n. \] We first give a homological equality criterion for this universal bound, namely, the equality holds if and only if the $r$-dimensional complement $K^c$ of $K$ has a nonzero reduced homology $\widetilde H_{r-1}(K^c,\mathbb{R})$. For $r=1$, this is the classical graph condition that the complement graph is disconnected. Secondly, we prove a sharper upper bound for $λ_{\max}(L^{\operatorname{up}}_{r-1}(K))$: \[ λ_{\max}(L^{\operatorname{up}}_{r-1}(K)) \le \max_{F\in S_r(K)} \bigl|\bigcup_{E \in \partial F} N_K(E) \bigr| \le n,\] where, for an $(r-1)$-face $E$, $N_K(E)$ denotes the set of vertices $u$ outside $E$ such that the union $E \cup \{u\}$ is an $r$-face of $K$. This is the high-dimensional analog of the graph Laplacian bound. We give an explicit characterization of the equality case, and construct a broad family attaining the bound, namely, the partite semiregular complexes with admissible additions.