Spectral radius and fractional matchings in graphs

Abstract

A {\it fractional matching} of a graph $G$ is a function $f$ giving each edge a number in $[0,1]$ so that $\sum_{e \in \Gamma(v)} f(e) \le 1$ for each $v\in V(G)$, where $\Gamma(v)$ is the set of edges incident to $v$. The {\it fractional matching number} of $G$, written $\alpha'_*(G)$, is the maximum of $\sum_{e \in E(G)} f(e)$ over all fractional matchings $f$. Let $G$ be an $n$-vertex connected graph with minimum degree $d$, let $\lambda_1(G)$ be the largest eigenvalue of $G$, and let $k$ be a positive integer less than $n$. In this paper, we prove that if $\lambda_1(G) < d\sqrt{1+\frac{2k}{n-k}}$, then $\alpha'_*(G) > \frac{n-k}{2}$. As a result, we prove $\alpha'_*(G) \ge \frac{nd^2}{\lambda_1(G)^2 + d^2}$, we characterize when equality holds in the bound.