Extremal values of degree-based entropies of bipartite graphs

Abstract

We characterize the bipartite graphs that minimize the (first-degree based) entropy, among all bipartite graphs of given size, or given size and (upper bound on the) order. The extremal graphs turn out to be complete bipartite graphs, or nearly complete bipartite. Here we make use of an equivalent representation of bipartite graphs by means of Young tableaux, which make it easier to compare the entropy of related graphs. We conclude that the general characterization of the extremal graphs is a difficult problem, due to its connections with number theory, but they are easy to find for specific values of the order n and size m. We also give a direct argument to characterize the graphs maximizing the entropy given order and size. We indicate that some of our ideas extend to other degree-based topological indices as well.