The molecular topological index is a graph index defined by
where
are the components of the vector
with
the adjacency matrix,
the graph distance matrix,
and
the vector of vertex degrees
of a graph. The molecular topological index is well-defined
only for connected graphs, being indeterminate
for disconnected graphs having isolated
nodes and infinity for all other disconnected
graphs.
Unless otherwise stated, hydrogen atoms are usually ignored in the computation of such indices as organic chemists usually do when they write a benzene ring as a hexagon (Devillers and Balaban 1999, p. 25).
The molecular topological index is not very discriminant, with the three 10-node nonisomorphic graphs illustrated above for example sharing
the same index value of 440 (Devillers and Balaban 1999, p. 140). In fact, the
paw graph and square graph
on four nodes are already indistinguishable using the index (both have index 48),
with the number of non-MTI-unique connected graphs
on , 2, ... nodes given by 0, 0, 0, 2, 12, 87, 815, 11086,
... (OEIS A193125).
Precomputed values of the molecular topological index for common graphs are implemented in the Wolfram Language as GraphData[graph, "MolecularTopologicalIndex"].
The following table summarizes values of the molecular topological index for various special classes of graphs. The index of each value list in the table starts at 1. An X indicates that the family or its molecular topological index is not defined for the corresponding parameter value. Some cited OEIS sequences extend a formula to parameters outside the family's domain, while this table lists the values for the graphs themselves.
| graph class | OEIS | |
| Andrásfai graph | A192790 | 4, 80, 336, 880, 1820, 3264, 5320, ... |
| antiprism graph | A192791 | X, X, 240, 448, 760, 1200, 1792, 2560, ... |
| Apollonian network | A192792 | 72, 360, 2556, 22572, 219636, 2204244, ... |
| cocktail
party graph | A181773 | X, 48, 240, 672, 1440, 2640, 4368, 6720, 9792, ... |
| complete bipartite graph | A192418 | 4, 48, 180, 448, 900, 1584, 2548, 3840, 5508, ... |
| complete graph | A181617 | 0, 4, 24, 72, 160, 300, 504, 784, 1152, ... |
| complete tripartite graph | A192491 | 24, 240, 864, 2112, 4200, 7344, 11760, 17664, ... |
| crossed prism graph | A192793 | X, 360, 900, 1872, 3420, 5688, 8820, ... |
| crown graph | A192796 | X, X, 132, 360, 760, 1380, 2268, 3472, 5040, ... |
| cube-connected cycle graph | A192191 | X, X, 5544, 57408, 458400, 3339648, 21641088, ... |
| cycle graph | A192797 | X, X, 24, 48, 80, 132, 196, 288, ... |
| folded cube graph | A192826 | X, 72, 448, 2400, 13824, 72128, 389120, ... |
| gear graph | A192827 | X, X, 231, 440, 715, 1056, 1463, 1936, ... |
| grid graph | A192828 | 0, 48, 440, 2008, 6468, 16736, 37248, ... |
| grid graph | A192829 | 0, 360, 8064, 68928, 355470, 1340424, 4086180, ... |
| halved cube graph | A192830 | 0, 4, 72, 672, 4800, 30240, ... |
| hypercube
graph | A192831 | 4, 48, 360, 2304, 13600, 76032, 407680, ... |
| Möbius ladder | A192833 | X, X, 180, 336, 600, 936, 1428, 2016, 2808, ... |
| Mycielski graph | A192834 | 0, 4, 80, 800, 6248, 43424, 283880, 1793600, ... |
| odd
graph | A192835 | 0, 24, 540, 12040, 258300, 5258484, ... |
| pan graph | A192836 | X, X, 48, 83, 126, 193, 272, 383, 510, 677, 864, ... |
| path graph | A121318 | 0, 4, 16, 38, 74, 128, 204, 306, 438, 604, 808, ... |
| permutation star graph | A192837 | 0, 4, 132, 4680, 214080, 12416400, ... |
| prism
graph | A192838 | X, X, 180, 360, 600, 972, 1428, 2064, 2808, ... |
| rook graph | A192832 | 0, 48, 576, 2880, 9600, 25200, 56448, 112896, ... |
| star graph | A016742 | 0, 4, 16, 36, 64, 100, 144, 196, 256, ... |
| sun graph | A192845 | X, X, 180, 400, 740, 1224, 1876, 2720, 3780, ... |
| sunlet graph | A192846 | X, X, 126, 256, 430, 696, 1022, 1472, ... |
| tetrahedral Johnson graph | A192847 | 7020, 30240, 100800, 281232, 687960, ... |
| triangular graph | A192849 | X, 0, 24, 240, 1080, 3360, 8400, 18144, ... |
| web graph | A192850 | X, X, 414, 832, 1390, 2232, 3262, 4672, ... |
| wheel graph | A139098 | X, X, X, 72, 128, 200, 288, 392, 512, ... |
Closed forms are summarized in the following table. The formulas for path graphs and grid
graphs apply for .
Their
members are singleton graphs and have index 0.