Solution to a conjecture on resistance distances of block tower graphs

Abstract

Let $G$ be a connected graph. The resistance distance between two vertices $u$ and $v$ of $G$, denoted by $R_G[u,v]$, is defined as the net effective resistance between them in the electric network constructed from $G$ by replacing each edge with a unit resistor. The resistance diameter of $G$, denoted by $D_r(G)$, is defined as the maximum resistance distance among all pairs of vertices of $G$. Let $P_n=a_1{a}_2\dots a_n$ be the $n$-vertex path graph and $C_4=b_1{b}_2{b}_3{b}_4{b}_1$ be the 4-cycle. Then the $n$-th block tower graph $G_n$ is defined as the the Cartesian product of $P_n$ and $C_4$, that is, $G_n=P_n\square C_4$. Clearly, the vertex set of $G_n$ is $\{(a_i,b_j)|i=1,\dots ,n;j=1,\dots ,4\}$. In [Discrete Appl. Math. 320 (2022) 387--407], Evans and Francis proposed the following conjecture on resistance distances of $G_n$ and $G_{n+1}$: \begin{equation*} \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty}\left(R_{G_{n+1}}[(a_{1},b_1),(a_{n+1},b_3)]-R_{G_{n}}[(a_{1},b_1),(a_{n},b_3)]\right)=\frac{1}{4}. \end{equation*} In this paper, combining algebraic methods and electrical network approaches, we confirm and further generalize this conjecture. In addition, we determine all the resistance diametrical pairs in $G_n$, which enables us to give an equivalent explanation of the conjecture.

19 pages,8 figures