Families of graphs with twin pendent paths and the Braess edge

TL;DR

This paper investigates how adding specific edges to certain graph families, especially those with twin pendent paths, affects Kemeny's constant, revealing counter-intuitive behaviors in random walk travel times.

Contribution

It introduces tools to identify edges that increase Kemeny's constant and analyzes asymptotic behaviors in graph families with cut-vertices and pendent paths.

Findings

Identification of edges that increase Kemeny's constant in specific graph families

Asymptotic analysis of graph families with twin pendent paths

Examples of graphs exhibiting counter-intuitive random walk properties

Abstract

In the context of a random walk on an undirected graph, Kemeny's constant can measure the average travel time for a random walk between two randomly chosen vertices. We are interested in graphs that behave counter-intuitively in regard to Kemeny's constant: in particular, we examine graphs with a cut-vertex at which at least two branches are paths, regarding whether the insertion of a particular edge into a graph results in an increase of Kemeny's constant. We provide several tools for identifying such an edge in a family of graphs and for analising asymptotic behaviour of the family regarding the tendency to have that edge; and classes of particular graphs are given as examples. Furthermore, asymptotic behaviours of families of trees are described.