RESEARCH / Focused target
The upper local degree comparison fails on P6
RELEASED FOUNDATIONS / PROPOSED CONNECTION
Research connections
All source anchors (1)
- D5/S3/Combinatorics/SpectralGraph/GuerreroVertexEnergyDegreeBounds.resultAbsent from this graph
Problem
The question
J. Guerrero, Laplacian Energies of Vertices, arXiv:2201.01252v1, Remark 6 (Conjecture), page 13, states:
According to numerical experiments the analog result is true for the energy of vertices, that is: $d_{\min}LE_G(v)\le E_G(v)\le d_{\max}LE_G(v)$ for all $v\in V$.
The standing assumptions are that $G$ is simple and connected. The definitions are $E_G(v)=|A|{vv}$, $L=I-D^{-1/2}AD^{-1/2}$ and $LE_G(v)=|L-I|{vv}$. The Library note contains the source quotations and locators. The preregistration is #19702. The v1 conjecture is refuted by the path on six vertices at zero-based index $2$.
Statement echo
| Source clause | Lean counterpart | Fidelity |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Finite simple graph | V, Fintype V, SimpleGraph V in claim | Undirected loopless graph; arbitrary finite vertex type |
| Connected | G.Connected | Hypothesis on the entire conjunction |
| Every vertex | ∀ v : V | Universal quantifier |
| $\lvert A\rvert$ and $E_G(v)=\lvert A\rvert_{vv}$ | matAbs, vertexEnergy, SimpleGraph.adjMatrix | Real symmetric spectral absolute value via cfc |
| $D^{-1/2}=\operatorname{diag}(1/\sqrt{d_v})$ | degInvSqrt | Natural degrees coerced to real numbers |
| $L=I-D^{-1/2}AD^{-1/2}$ | normLap | Literal real matrix expression |
| $LE_G(v)=\varphi_v(\lvert L-I\rvert)$ | normLapVertexEnergy | $\varphi_v(M)=M_{vv}$ |
| Both degree inequalities | Conjunction in claim | minDegree and maxDegree coerced to real numbers |
| Negative answer | result : ¬ claim | One graph and one vertex refute the universal conjunction |
| Implementation instances | DecidableEq V, DecidableRel G.Adj | Finite graph operations; no additional mathematical restriction |
Real division fixes reciprocal zero to zero. The counterexample has positive degrees, so this totalization does not affect the refutation.
Motivation
Our foothold
The source compares the global trace energies by minimum and maximum degree, then asks for the analogous comparison at each diagonal entry. Summation forgets how slack is distributed among vertices.
Gap
Missing bridges
The bounded literature screen in #19702 covers arXiv v1, the publisher metadata,
Arizmendi–Guerrero (arXiv:2205.14527), On Randić energy of a vertex
(arXiv:2509.22539), On the vertex Seidel energy of graphs (arXiv:2602.17741),
MathDB, google-deepmind/formal-conjectures, and repository owners.
No settlement of the quoted assertion was located in that scope. The publisher
full text and two citing papers were not read in full. Literature completeness
is ASSUMED-UNVERIFIED; the conclusion concerns the quoted v1 statement.
Route
Proposed approach
The Lean module
GuerreroVertexEnergyDegreeBounds
uses SimpleGraph.pathGraph 6. Its private exists_b provides a real root
$b$ of $b^3+b^2-2b-1=0$ with $1<b<4/3$.
Private positive semidefinite square-root certificates identify the two
spectral absolute values, using Mathlib's CFC.sqrt_unique in abs_a and
abs_neg_r. Private adjacency_energy and normalized_energy give
$$E_{P_6}(2)=\frac{7+4b-2b^2}{7},\qquad LE_{P_6}(2)=\frac{4+\sqrt5}{10}.$$
Private adjacency_lower and normalized_upper prove
$$2LE_{P_6}(2)<\frac54<E_{P_6}(2).$$
Private path_max identifies the maximum degree as two. The public result
applies the conjecture to this connected graph and vertex and contradicts
its upper inequality. All proof steps are conservatively classified
bind-only; the module's admission basis is
open-problem-resolution (#19702; Refuted).
Falsifier
What would falsify this route
The universal upper bound would imply $E_{P_6}(2)\le 2LE_{P_6}(2)$, contradicting the kernel-checked strict bounds. A statement restricted to a different graph class is not refuted unless that class contains this witness. The universal lower bound is a separate question.
Evidence
Evidence to collect
The sole public theorem is
D5.S3.Combinatorics.SpectralGraph.GuerreroVertexEnergyDegreeBounds.result.
The axiom closure of every public declaration is contained in
${\texttt{propext},\texttt{Classical.choice},\texttt{Quot.sound}}$.
The public result is the designated refutation result (basis=refutes) and is exempt from four-slot escape registration (CLAUDE.md §3.9).
The auxiliary numerical experiment is in
trureturing-experiments at commit 6a1a95527d8ae0d28202baf47e3a99b976a978bc.
From this worktree, the command
python3 ../trureturing-experiments/docs/reports/guerrero-2022-vertex-energy-degree-bounds-remark-6/check.py
exits 0 with RESULT PASS; check.py has SHA-256
cc91b24d50779d983ea47cb7b43896bdf86231092e63ae72ffae57013a548328.
The tested scope is precisely $t=1,2,3,4$, of orders $6,12,18,24$.
For each, the upper violations are exactly the $2t$ central vertices, with
$E=1.268286$ and $d_{\max}LE=1.247214$ at the displayed precision.
For $P_6$, the two closed expressions agree with the numerical diagonals to
$10^{-12}$; the computed comparison is
$1.268286021528>79/63=1.253968253968>5/4>1.247213595500$.
This experiment is corroboration, not the Lean proof or a uniform-family certificate.
Triage
Scope assessment
| Item | Status and evidence |
| --- | --- |
| Upper local degree bound at index $2$ of $P_6$ | Proved (kernel-checked): public result, using private adjacency_lower, normalized_upper, and path_max |
| Blow-up family $G_t$ for all $t\ge1$ | Open in this settlement; no uniform Lean theorem or tensor-identity proof is delivered |
| Symmetric central vertex, zero-based index $3$ | Computed: the experiment checks it at $t=1$ and all central copies for $t=2,3,4$; no Lean theorem at index $3$ |
| Universal conjectured lower bound | Open: refuting the upper conjunct does not decide the lower inequality |
| Finite blow-up checks | Computed: the experiment entry above, exactly $t=1,2,3,4$; no extrapolation to unbounded $t$ |
| Failure mechanism | Proved in prose: a global summed inequality alone cannot imply its vertexwise analogue, since result refutes that analogue while the source's global comparison is a separate literature result |
| Proof-shape boundary | Classification: result and its private proof steps are bind-only; named external settlement supplies admission, not an escape-witness claim |
What the settlement shows
Kernel-checked: the upper local comparison fails already on a connected path, without loops, multiple edges or isolated vertices. The exact normalized energy and the strict separation at $5/4$ identify the failure at a diagonal entry, rather than a change in the definition of either energy.
Proved in prose: for a positive-degree $d$-regular graph, $D^{-1/2}=d^{-1/2}I$, hence $L-I=-A/d$. Spectral diagonalization gives $|L-I|=|A|/d$, so $E_G(v)=dLE_G(v)$ at every vertex. Thus the comparison survives as equality on this class; this argument is not an additional Lean theorem. The refutation does not assert a general replacement inequality.
Computed: the finite blow-up checks show the same obstruction at orders $6,12,18,24$ with minimum degrees $1,2,3,4$. The infinite-family tensor identities remain outside this Lean settlement. The symmetric central vertex has the finite numerical evidence stated above.
Open: the universal lower bound and a Lean proof of its survival at every vertex of $P_6$ are not delivered. Neither is a classification of graphs satisfying the local comparison.
The source's global trace comparison is not refuted. No conclusion about the validity of the paper's other theorems is asserted. Any use of the conjectured upper local bound requires a separate hypothesis or replacement; the publisher edition's use or revision of Remark 6 is unverified.
ASSUMED-UNVERIFIED
Unverified assumptions
Literature completeness and priority are unverified. The journal edition may revise or omit Remark 6. Numerical evidence is restricted to the finite scope stated above. No uniform blow-up result, universal lower-bound verdict, or general replacement inequality is asserted.