The Laplacian spectral excess theorem for distance-regular graphs

Abstract

The spectral excess theorem states that, in a regular graph Γ, the average excess, which is the mean of the numbers of vertices at maximum distance from a vertex, is bounded above by the spectral excess (a number that is computed by using the adjacency spectrum of Γ), and Γ is distance-regular if and only if equality holds. In this note we prove the corresponding result by using the Laplacian spectrum without requiring regularity of Γ.