On the multiplicity of α as an eigenvalue of Aα(G) of graphs with pendant vertices

Let G be a simple undirected graph. Let 0 ≤ α ≤ 1 . Let A α ( G ) = α D ( G ) + ( 1 − α ) A ( G ) where D ( G ) and A ( G ) are the diagonal matrix of the vertex degrees of G and the adjacency matrix of G, respectively. Let p ( G ) > 0 and q ( G ) be the number of pendant vertices and quasi-pendant vertices of G, respectively. Let m G ( α ) be the multiplicity of α as an eigenvalue of A α ( G ) . It is proved that m G ( α ) ≥ p ( G ) − q ( G ) with equality if each internal vertex is a quasi-pendant vertex. If there is at least one internal vertex which is not a quasi-pendant vertex, the equality m G ( α ) = p ( G ) − q ( G ) + m N ( α ) is determined in which m N ( α ) is the multiplicity of α as an eigenvalue of the matrix N. This matrix is obtained from A α ( G ) taking the entries corresponding to the internal vertices which are non quasi-pendant vertices. These results are applied to search for the multiplicity of α as an eigenvalue of A α ( G ) when G is a path, a caterpillar, a circular caterpillar, a generalized Bethe tree or a Bethe tree. For the Bethe tree case, a simple formula for the nullity is given.