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Abstract Given integers$$n> k > 0$$ $n>k>0$, and a set of integers$$L \subset [0, k-1]$$ $L\subset [0,k-1]$, anL-systemis a family of sets$$\mathcal {F}\subset \left( {\begin{array}{c}[n]\\ k\end{array}}\right) $$ $F\subset \left(\begin{array}{c}\left[n\right]\\ k\end{array}\right)$such that$$|F \cap F'| \in L$$ $|F\cap F^{\prime }|\in L$for distinct$$F, F'\in \mathcal {F}$$ $F,F^{\prime }\in F$.L-systems correspond to independent sets in a certain generalized Johnson graphG(n, k, L), so that the maximum size of anL-system is equivalent to finding the independence number of the graphG(n, k, L). TheLovász number$$\vartheta (G)$$ $\vartheta \left(G\right)$is a semidefinite programming approximation of the independence number$$\alpha $$ $\alpha$of a graphG. In this paper, we determine the leading order term of$$\vartheta (G(n, k, L))$$ $\vartheta \left(G\right(n,k,L\left)\right)$of any generalized Johnson graph withkandLfixed and$$n\rightarrow \infty $$ $n\to \infty$. As an application of this theorem, we give an explicit construction of a graphGonnvertices with a large gap between the Lovász number and the Shannon capacityc(G). Specifically, we prove that for any$$\epsilon > 0$$ $ϵ>0$, for infinitely manynthere is a generalized Johnson graphGonnvertices which has ratio$$\vartheta (G)/c(G) = \Omega (n^{1-\epsilon })$$ $\vartheta \left(G\right)/c\left(G\right)=\Omega \left(n^{1-ϵ}\right)$, which improves on all known constructions. The graphGa fortiorialso has ratio$$\vartheta (G)/\alpha (G) = \Omega (n^{1-\epsilon })$$ $\vartheta \left(G\right)/\alpha \left(G\right)=\Omega \left(n^{1-ϵ}\right)$, which greatly improves on the best known explicit construction. 

The spread of a graph $$G$$ is the difference between the largest and smallest eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix of $$G$$. In this paper, we consider the family of graphs which contain no $$K_{s,t}$$-minor. We show that for any $$t\geq s \geq  2$$ and sufficiently large $$n$$, there is an integer $$\xi_{t}$$ such that the extremal $$n$$-vertex $$K_{s,t}$$-minor-free graph attaining the maximum spread is the graph obtained by joining a graph $$L$$ on $(s-1)$ vertices to the disjoint union of $$\lfloor \frac{2n+\xi_{t}}{3t}\rfloor$$ copies of $$K_t$$ and $$n-s+1 - t\lfloor \frac{2n+\xi_t}{3t}\rfloor$$ isolated vertices. Furthermore, we give an explicit formula for $$\xi_{t}$$ and an explicit description for the graph $$L$$ for $$t \geq \frac32(s-3) +\frac{4}{s-1}$$. 

The spread of a graph $$G$$ is the difference between the largest and smallest eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix of $$G$$. Gotshall, O'Brien and Tait conjectured that for sufficiently large $$n$$, the $$n$$-vertex outerplanar graph with maximum spread is the graph obtained by joining a vertex to a path on $n-1$ vertices. In this paper, we disprove this conjecture by showing that the extremal graph is the graph obtained by joining a vertex to a path on $$\lceil(2n-1)/3\rceil$$ vertices and $$\lfloor(n-2)/3\rfloor$$ isolated vertices. For planar graphs, we show that the extremal $$n$$-vertex planar graph attaining the maximum spread is the graph obtained by joining two nonadjacent vertices to a path on $$\lceil(2n-2)/3\rceil$$ vertices and $$\lfloor(n-4)/3\rfloor$$ isolated vertices. 

The positive and negative square energies of a graph, $s^+(G)$ and $s^-(G)$, are the sums of squares of the positive and negative eigenvalues of the adjacency matrix, respectively. The first results on square energies revealed symmetry between $s^+(G)$ and $s^-(G)$. This paper reviews examples of asymmetry between these parameters, for example using large random graphs and the ratios $s^+/s^-$ and $s^-/s^+$, as well as new examples of symmetry. Some questions previously asked about $$s^{+}$$ and $$s^{-}$$ are answered and several further avenues of research are suggested.