On the spectra of prefix-reversal graphs

Abstract

In this paper, we study spectral properties of prefix-reversal graphs. These graphs are obtained by connecting two elements of $C_m\wr S_n$ via prefix reversals. If $m=1,2$, the corresponding prefix-reversal graphs are the classic pancake and burnt pancake graphs. If $m>2$, then one can consider the directed and undirected versions of these graphs. We prove that the spectrum of the undirected prefix-reversal graph $\mathbb{P}_m(n)$ contains all even integers in the interval $[0,2n]\setminus\{2\lfloor n/2\rfloor\}$ and if $m\equiv0\pmod4$, we then show that the spectrum contains all even integers in $[0,2n]$. In the directed case, we show that the spectrum of the directed prefix-reversal graph $P(m,n)$ contains all integers in the interval $[0,n]\setminus\{\lfloor n/2\rfloor\}$. As a consequence, we show that in either case, the prefix-reversal graphs have a small spectral gap.