Spectral Graph Theory (CBMS Regional Conference Series in Mathematics, No. 92) [Paperback]

Fan R. K. Chung (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 3, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0821803158 | ISBN-13: 978-0821803158

Beautifully written and elegantly presented, this book is based on 10 lectures given at the CBMS workshop on spectral graph theory in June 1994 at Fresno State University. Chung's well-written exposition can be likened to a conversation with a good teacher--one who not only gives you the facts, but tells you what is really going on, why it is worth doing, and how it is related to familiar ideas in other areas. The monograph is accessible to the nonexpert who is interested in reading about this evolving area of mathematics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The book presents a very complete picture of how various properties of a graph--from Cheeger constants and diameters to more recent developments such as log-Sobolev constants and Harnack inequalities--are related to the spectrum. Even though the point of view of the book is quite geometric, the methods and exposition are purely graph-theoretic. As a result, the book is quite accessible to a reader who does not have any background in geometry. As the author writes, `the underlying mathematics of spectral graph theory through all its connections to the pure and applied, the continuous and discrete, can be viewed as a single unified subject.' Anyone who finds this sentence appealing is encouraged to give this book a try. He or she will not be disappointed. ---- Mathematical Reviews

Incorporates a great deal of recent work, much of it due to the author herself ... clear, without being pedantic, and challenging, without being obscure. ---- Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society

Product Details

• Paperback: 207 pages
• Publisher: American Mathematical Society (December 3, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821803158
• ISBN-13: 978-0821803158
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #388,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elegant and coherent, but a bit dry and unmotivated, September 7, 2006

By 

S. Huntsman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spectral Graph Theory (CBMS Regional Conference Series in Mathematics, No. 92) (Paperback)

This book is elegant and accessible, with a coherent presentation, but is a bit dry and unmotivated. The book would benefit from more applications, which should not be hard to find. I felt like Chapter 8 was the high point of the book, with a discussion of random walks, a matrix-tree theorem and invariant field theory.

The researcher who needs an arsenal of technical results in a clear style will find it here; the student who desires some added perspective may come away somewhat dissatisfied.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Less than or equal to, April 30, 2009

By 

R. Bagula "Roger L. Bagula" (Lakeside, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spectral Graph Theory (CBMS Regional Conference Series in Mathematics, No. 92) (Paperback)

I found some very good stuff in this book.
It is buried deep though.
Again Fan Chung writes a book on graph theory with
just about no simple examples or graphs at all.
The Cheeger constant and, both the volume and diameter measures
are not presented in an accessible way: just no real way to
calculate them is given.
What is important seems to be what isn't mentioned anywhere:
the Cartan, Dykin and Coxeter approach to graphs and large scale symmetry.
The treatment of the buckyball is the one concrete example and
the results instead of being explain are just given
without sufficient explanation.
I have also to review Fan Chung's 2006 lecture with Linyaun Lu Complex Graphs and Networks (Cbms Regional Conference Series in Mathematics) which appears to be a little better written.
Some one seem to have told Fan Chung that proofs with less an or equal to are O. K.: they are in most cases a bad mistake in a book such as this for graduate students.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The secret of the Laplacian, September 22, 2009

By 

Nicola Rebagliati "nicolaennio" - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spectral Graph Theory (CBMS Regional Conference Series in Mathematics, No. 92) (Paperback)

This book is intended for the professional mathematician that want to learn about the misteries of the eigenspectrum of the graph laplacian.

A lot of misteries, a lot of fun.