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Maximum Nullity


Let F be a field, G=(V,E) be a simple undirected graph on n vertices, and let S(F,G) be the set of all n×n symmetric matrices whose nonzero off-diagonal elements occur in exactly the positions corresponding to the edges of G. Then the maximum nullity M(F,G) is the maximum of the nullity over all matrices in S(F,G).

In general, the value of the maximum nullity depends in the field F. The most common case of F=R is commonly assumed unless otherwise stated, in whihc case F is simply omitted from the notation.

The maximum nullity is related to the minimum rank mr(F,G) by the rank-nullity theorem

 mr(F,G)+M(F,G)=n.

See also

Minimum Rank, Null Space, Nullity, Rank, Rank-Nullity Theorem, Zero Forcing Number

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References

AIM Minimum Rank--Special Graphs Work Group. "Zero Forcing Sets and the Minimum Rank of Graphs." Lin. Alg. Appl. 428, 1628-1648, 2008.Almodovar, E.; DeLoss, L.; Hogben, L.; Hogenson, K.; Murphy, K.; Peters, T.; and Ramírez, C. A. "Minimum Rank, Maximum Nullity and Zero Forcing Number for Selected Graph Families." Involve: A Journal of Mathematics 3, 371-392, 2010.American Institute of Mathematics. "Graph Catalog: Families of Graphs." https://aimath.org/WWN/matrixspectrum/catalog2.html.American Institute of Mathematics. "AIM Minimum Rank Graph Catalog." http://admin.aimath.org/resources/graph-invariants/minimumrankoffamilies/#/super.American Institute of Mathematics. "AIM Minimum Rank Graph Catalog References." https://web.archive.org/web/20160207084159/http://orion.math.iastate.edu/lhogben/AIMmrgraphcatrefs.pdf.Barrett, W.; Hunnell, M.; Hutchens, J.; and Sinkovic, J. "The Classification of Graphs on 8 vertices with Coinciding Zero Forcing number and Maximum Nullity." 12 Jun 2025. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.10726.Barrett, W.; van der Holst, H.; and Loewy, R. "Graphs Whose Minimal Rank is Two." Elec. J. Lin. Alg. 11, 258-280, 2004.DeLoss, L.; Grout, J.; Hogben, L.; McKay, T.; Smith, J.; and Tims, J. "Table of Minimum Ranks of Graphs of Order at Most 7 and Selected Optimal Matrices." 4 Dec 2008. https://arxiv.org/abs/0812.0870.Fallat, S. M. and Hogben, L. "Minimum Rank, Maximum Nullity, and Zero Forcing Number of Graphs." Ch. 46 in Handbook of Linear Algebra, 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2014.Nylen, P. M. "Minimum-Rank Matrices With Prescribed Graph." Lin. Alg. Appl. 248, 303-316, 1996.

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Maximum Nullity." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/MaximumNullity.html