Energy and independence number

Abstract

For a graph $G$ of order $n$, with adjacency eigenvalues $\lambda_1(G) \geq \cdots \geq \lambda_n(G)$, the \emph{energy} of $G$ is defined to be \[\mathcal{E}(G)=\sum_{i=1}^{n} |\lambda_i(G)|.\] A well-known conjecture from the 1980s by Fajtlowicz states that for any graph $G$, \[\mathcal{E}(G) \ge 2\left(n-\alpha(G)\right),\] where $\alpha(G)$ denotes the independence number. We prove this conjecture.