Applied Mathematics and Computation 402 (2021) 126139

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Applied Mathematics and Computation

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/amc

The minimal augmented Zagreb index of k-apex trees for

k ∈ {1, 2, 3}
Kun Cheng a, Muhuo Liu a, Francesco Belardo b
a
Department of Mathematics, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China
b
Department of Mathematics and Applications “R. Caccioppoli”, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples I-80126, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: For a graph G containing no component isomorphic to the 2-vertex path graph, the aug-
Received 9 September 2020 mented Zagreb index (AZI) of G is defined as
Revised 18 January 2021
 3
Accepted 24 February 2021  d ( u )d ( v )
AZI (G ) = .
d (u ) + d (v ) − 2
uv ∈E ( G )
MSC:
05C09
This topological index has been proved to be closely correlated with the formation heat
05C92 of heptanes and octanes. A k-apex tree is a connected graph G admitting a k-subset of
05C35 vertices X such that G − X is a tree, but for any subset of vertices X  of order less than k,
05C75 G − X  is not a tree. In this paper, we determine the minimum AZI among all k-apex trees
for k ∈ {1, 2, 3}.
Keywords:
Augmented Zagreb index © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
General atom-bond connectivity
Quasi-tree
Topological index

1. Introduction

Throughout this paper, we restrict to simple and connected graphs. For a graph G = (V (G ), E (G )) and v ∈ V (G ), we denote
by N (v ) the neighbor set of v, and by |N (v )| = d (v ) the degree (or valency) of v. As usual, let (G ) = max{d (v ) : v ∈ V (G )}
be the maximum degree of G. If d (v ) = r, then v is said to be an r-vertex. A 1-vertex is also called a pendant vertex, while
a vertex with degree at least two is called a non-pendant vertex. Similarly, an edge uv of G is called a pendant (resp., non-
pendant) if one (resp., none) of its end-vertices is a pendant vertex. We will omit the graph in the argument whenever it is
clear from the context.
In Chemical Graph Theory, various topological indices, determined by the combinatorial structure of the graph, are cor-
related to the chemical and physical property of the corresponding molecule. Among such topological indices we have the
atom-bond connectivity (ABC) index of G defined in [6] as

 d (u ) + d (v ) − 2
ABC (G ) = .
d ( u )d ( v )
uv∈E ( G )

The above index is closely correlated with the alkanes heat of formation, and a quantum-chemical explanation for this
correlation is provided in [5]. Further studies by Furtula et al. [7] extended the ABC index to the generalized ABC index of

E-mail address: liumuhuo@163.com (M. Liu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amc.2021.126139
0 096-30 03/© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
K. Cheng, M. Liu and F. Belardo Applied Mathematics and Computation 402 (2021) 126139

Fig. 1.1. The graphs Wn;c and Fn .

G, that is,
 α
 d (u ) + d (v ) − 2
ABCα (G ) = .
d ( u )d ( v )
uv∈E ( G )

In particular, ABC−3 (G ) is called the augmented Zagreb index (AZI) of G, where G does not admit components isomorphic to
the 2-vertex path graph. Hence,
 3
 d ( u )d ( v )
AZI (G ) = .
d (u ) + d (v ) − 2
uv∈E ( G )

The authors of [7] also showed that the AZI performs better compared to the ABC index in predicting the heat of formation
of heptanes and octanes. We refer the reader to [8–11,17,19] for further chemical applications of the AZI, ABC index, and
other topological indices.
We introduce here the additional notations used in the paper. Let X be a subset of V (G ), and by G − X we denote the
graph obtained from G by deleting the vertices of X and the edges incident to any of them. In particular, G − {v} is shortened
to G − v. As usual, by Pn , Cn , and Kn , we denote the path, the cycle, and the complete graph on n vertices, respectively. Let
G and H be two disjoint graphs,
 the join G ∨ H is the graph
 whose vertex set is V (G ∨ H ) = V (G ) ∪ V (H ) and the edge set is
E (G ∨ H ) = E (G ) ∪ E (H ) ∪ uv : u ∈ V (G ) and v ∈ V (H ) . The join of two co-cliques of orders s and n − s is Ks,n−s , also called
the complete bipartite graph. Particularly, K1,n−1 is the star on n vertices. If G is a (connected) graph on n vertices and
n + c − 1 edges, then G is said to be a c-cyclic graph. Clearly, G is a tree (resp., unicyclic graph, bicyclic graph) when c = 0
(resp., c = 1, c = 2). Hereafter, by U(n ) (resp., B(n )), we denote the class of unicyclic (resp., bicyclic) graphs on n vertices. As
shown in Figure 1.1, let Wn;c be the c-cyclic graph on n vertices obtained from K2,c+1 by attaching n − c − 3 pendant vertices
to a (c + 1 )-vertex of K2,c+1 , and let Fn be the tricyclic graph obtained from K2,4 by attaching two pendant vertices to v1
and n − 8 pendant vertices to v2 , where {v1 , v2 } are the two 4-vertices of K2,4 .
A quasi-tree is a graph G having a vertex v ∈ V (G ) such that G − v is a tree [21]. The latter concept has been generalized
to k-apex trees by Xu et al. in [20] as in the following definition.

Definition 1.1. [20, 22] For k ≥ 1, a k-apex tree is a (connected) graph G admitting a k-subset of vertices Vk ⊆ V (G ), such
that G − Vk is a tree, but G − X is not a tree for any X ⊆ V (G ) and |X | < k. The subset Vk is called a k-quasi vertex set of G.

Recently, extremal results of AZI have received the attention of several scholars. The first result was given in [7] by
Furtula et al., who showed that the star K1,n−1 is the unique graph minimizing the AZI among all trees on n ≥ 2 vertices.
Afterwards, Huang et al. [12] and Zhan et al. [23] independently proved that the graphs obtained from K1,n−1 by adding
either one edge, or two non-adjacent edges minimize the AZI in the class of unicyclic and bicyclic graphs on n ≥ 5 vertices,
respectively. Ali [1] showed that Wn;3 is the unique minimizer for the AZI among all tricyclic graphs on n vertices (n ≥ 6).
Lin et al. [14] identified that the doubly balanced stars uniquely maximize the AZI among all trees with n vertices for n ≥ 19,
and they also posed the problem to characterize the extremal graphs for the AZI among all connected graphs on n vertices
and m edges, with m ≥ n. The latter problem was attacked by Liu et al. [15], who showed that Wn;c uniquely minimizes the
AZI of c-cyclic graphs on n vertices for n ≥ 2c + 1 and c ≥ 3.
On the other hand, many extremal results on the topological indices of k-apex trees are also reported, for example, the
extremal (weighted) Harary index of k-apex trees has been determined in [20,21], the extremal matching energy of k-apex
trees has been studied in [22], and the unified extremal results for general sum-connectivity, Zeroth-order general Randić
index, second Zagreb index and general spectral radius of k-apex trees have been determined in [16].
In this paper, we shall consider the extremal AZI of k-apex trees, and our main results are described in the subsequent
theorems. Let Tkn denote the class of k-apex trees on n vertices.

Theorem 1.1. Let G ∈ T1n . If n ≥ 6, then


AZI (G ) ≥ AZI K1 ∨ (K2 ∪ (n − 3 )K1 ) ,
with equality if and only if G = K1 ∨ (K2 ∪ (n − 3 )K1 ).

2
K. Cheng, M. Liu and F. Belardo Applied Mathematics and Computation 402 (2021) 126139

Theorem 1.2. Let G ∈ T2n . If n ≥ 9, then


AZI (G ) ≥ AZI K1 ∨ (2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 ) ,
with equality if and only if G = K1 ∨ (2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 ).

Theorem 1.3. Let G ∈ T3n . If n ≥ 14, then


AZI (G ) ≥ AZI Fn ,
with equality if and only if G = Fn .

We only determine the minimal AZI of k-apex trees for k ∈ {1, 2, 3}. As for the case of c-cyclic graphs, we believe that
identifying the minimal AZI of k-apex trees for k ≥ 4 is a difficult task. The remainder of this paper is organized as follows.
In Section 2, we recall some preliminary results to be used later. In Section 3 we prove Theorem 1.1, and in Section 4 we
prove Theorem 1.2. Finally, the more challenging proof of Theorem 1.3 is given in Section 5.

2. Preliminaries

Let the vertices of C3 be labeled v1 , v2 and v3 . By Qn (q1 , q2 , q3 ) we denote the unicyclic graph obtained by attaching qi
pendant vertices to vi , where qi ≥ 0 for i ∈ {1, 2, 3} and q1 + q2 + q3 = n − 3.
 
Lemma 2.1. [23] If q1 ≥ q2 ≥ q3 and q2 ≥ 1, then AZI Qn (q1 + 1, q2 − 1, q3 ) < AZI Qn (q1 , q2 , q3 ) .

Lemma 2.2. [3] Let G be a connected graph with two non-adjacent vertices u and v. If α ≤ 1/2 and α = 0, then ABCα (G + uv ) >
ABCα (G ).

Hereafter, let (x, y ) denote the function below defined:

xy
3
(x, y ) = .
x+y−2
Lemma 2.3. [13] Let x and y be two real numbers, where min{x, y} ≥ 1.
(i ) (1, y ) is decreasing for y ≥ 2.
(ii ) (2, y ) = 8 for any real number y.
(iii ) If y ≥ 3 is fixed, then (x, y ) > 8 is increasing for x ≥ 3.
Lemma 2.4. [2] For a real number p, let

3  3
xy ( x − p )y
f (x, y ) = − ,
x+y−2 x+y− p−2
where min{x, y} ≥ 2. If x > p ≥ 1, then the function f (x, y ) is increasing on y for y ≥ 2.

Lemma 2.5. [18] Let G be a connected graph on n vertices, e edges, p pendant vertices, maximum degree , and minimum
non-pendant vertex degree δ1 . Then,
 3  3
 δ12
AZI (G ) ≥ p + (e − p ) .
−1 2δ1 − 2

3. The proof of Theorem 1.1

Let Cn,p be the unicyclic graph obtained from Cn−p by attaching p pendant vertices to a vertex of the cycle Cn−p , where
0 ≤ p ≤ n − 3. In this section, we shall prove a stronger result than Theorem 1.1, that is,
 
Theorem 3.1. Let G ∈ T1n \ K1 ∨ (K2 ∪ (n − 3 )K1 ) . If n ≥ 6, then

AZI (G ) ≥ AZI (Cn,n−4 ) > AZI K1 ∨ (K2 ∪ (n − 3 )K1 ) ,
where the equality holds if and only if G = Cn,n−4 .

Lemma 3.1. [12, 23] If n ≥ 5 and G ∈ B(n ), then

n − 1 3
AZI (G ) ≥ 48 + (n − 5 )(n − 1, 1 ) = (n − 5 ) + 48,
n−2

where the equality holds if and only if G = K1 ∨ 2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 .
  
Lemma 3.2. [12, 23] If n ≥ 6 and G ∈ U(n ) \ K1 ∨ K2 ∪ (n − 3 )K1 , then

n − 2 3 
AZI (G ) ≥ AZI (Cn,n−4 ) = (n − 4 ) + 32 > AZI K1 ∨ (K2 ∪ (n − 3 )K1 ) ,
n−3

3
K. Cheng, M. Liu and F. Belardo Applied Mathematics and Computation 402 (2021) 126139

where the equality holds if and only if G = Cn,n−4 .

Lemma 3.3. If n ≥ 6, then

 
AZI K1 ∨ (2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 ) > AZI Cn,n−4 .

Proof. By Lemmas 3.1 and 3.2, we have

 
AZI K1 ∨ (2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 ) − AZI Cn,n−4
= 16 + (n − 5 )(1, n − 1 ) − (n − 4 )(1, n − 2 )
15n6 − 231n5 + 1467n4 − 4909n3 + 9117n2 − 8905n + 3577
= > 0,
( n − 2 )3 ( n − 3 )3
as claimed. 
 
Proof of Theorem 3.1. Let G ∈ T1n \ K1 ∨ (K2 ∪ (n − 3 )K1 ) such that AZI (G ) is minimal. By Definition 1.1, G is not a tree. If
 
G is a bicyclic graph, then Lemmas 3.1 and 3.3 imply that AZI (G ) ≥ AZI K1 ∨ (2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 ) > AZI Cn,n−4 . Since Cn,n−4 ∈
  
T1n \ K1 ∨ (K2 ∪ (n − 3 )K1 ) , G can not be a bicyclic graph. Since AZI (G ) > AZI Cn,n−4 for any bicyclic graph G, in view of

Lemma 2.2, we conclude that AZI (G ) > AZI Cn,n−4 for any c-cyclic graph G with c ≥ 2. Hence, G is a unicyclic graph. Now,
the result follows from Lemma 3.2. 

4. The proof of Theorem 1.2

This section is devoted to the proof of Theorem 1.2. Let G be a c-cyclic graph with c > 0 (trees are not considered).
The base graph of G, denoted by R(G ), is the subgraph of G obtained by stepwise deleting the pendant vertices, until
the obtained graph has no more pendant vertices. Clearly, R(G ) is uniquely determined, and it keeps the same cyclomatic
number of G. On the other hand, G is obtained from R(G ) by attaching some hanging trees to the vertices of R(G ). In the
forthcoming discussion, by Tv we denote a rooted tree whose root is v (the root is a vertex of Tv ).

Lemma 4.1. Let G ∈ Tkn . If k ≥ 2 and G is a unicyclic graph whose unique cycle is Cg , then |V (Tu )| ≥ k holds for each vertex u of
Cg . Moreover, G[Vk ] is a rooted tree for each k-quasi vertex set Vk of G.

Proof. If |V (Tu )| ≤ k − 1 holds for some vertex u of Cg , then G − V (Tu ) is a tree, contrary to Definition 1.1. Thus, |V (Tu )| ≥ k
holds for each vertex u of Cg , as claimed. Now, we prove the additional statement.
If Vk ∩ V (Cg ) = ∅, then Cg is also a cycle of G − Vk , and thus G − Vk is not a tree. This implies that Vk ∩ V (Cg ) = ∅. Suppose
that Vk ∩ V (Cg ) = {u1 , u2 , . . . , us }. If s ≥ 2, then |V (Tu1 )| ≤ k − 1, contrary to |V (Tu1 )| ≥ k. Thus, s = 1 and so V (Tu1 ) = Vk . 
 
Lemma 4.2. If n ≥ 8 , then AZI Qn (n − 5, 1, 1 ) > AZI K1 ∨ (2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 ) .

Proof. By Lemmas 2.3 and 3.1, we have

 
AZI Qn (n − 5, 1, 1 ) − AZI K1 ∨ (2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 )
= 2(1, 3 ) + (3, 3 ) + 2(3, n − 3 ) + (n − 5 )(1, n − 3 ) − (n − 5 )(1, n − 1 ) − 48

> 18 + 2(3, n − 3 ) − 48 + (n − 5 ) (1, n − 3 ) − (1, n − 1 )
> 18 + 2(3, 5 ) − 48 > 0,
as desired. 

A special cycle C is a cycle whose vertices have degree at least three. In the remainder of this  section, let G be a graph
of
T2n such that AZI (G ) is minimum. Note that K1 ∨ (2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 ) ∈ T2n . Thus, if AZI (G ) > AZI K1 ∨ (2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 ) , then
we get a contradiction to the choice of G.

Lemma 4.3. If n ≥ 9, then G is not a unicyclic graph with girth g ≥ 4.

Proof. Assume, by way of contradiction, that G is a unicyclic graph with girth g ≥ 4. By Lemma 4.1 Cg is a special cycle of
G. Hence, by Lemma 2.3, each edge of Cg contributes to AZI (G ) at least (3, 3 ), and, for each 2-quasi vertex set V2 of G, the
edge belonging to G[V2 ] of G contributes to AZI (G ) exactly (3, 1 ). Furthermore, by Lemma 2.3, the other n − g − 1 edges of
G contribute to AZI (G ) at least (n − g − 1 )(1, ). Since  ≤ n − 5 by Lemma 4.1, it is

AZI (G ) ≥ g(3, 3 ) + (3, 1 ) + (n − g − 1 )(n − 5, 1 )

≥ 4(3, 3 ) + (3, 1 ) + (n − 5 )(n − 5, 1 )

> 48 + (n − 5 )(n − 5, 1 ) > AZI K1 ∨ (2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 ) ,
by Lemmas 2.3 and 3.1. The latter is a contradiction to the choice of G. 

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K. Cheng, M. Liu and F. Belardo Applied Mathematics and Computation 402 (2021) 126139

Lemma 4.4. If n ≥ 9, then G is not a unicyclic graph with girth g = 3.

Proof. Assume, by way of contradiction, that G is a unicyclic graph with girth g = 3. By Lemma 4.1, C3 is a special triangle
with V (C3 ) = {v1 , v2 , v3 }. Let G contain exactly p pendant vertices. Then, p ≤ n − 3. We consider the following three cases:

Case 1. p = n − 3. By Lemmas 2.1 and 4.1 we have G = Qn (n − 5, 1, 1 ), and thus Lemma 4.2 implies that AZI (G ) > AZI K1 ∨

(2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 ) , a contradiction.
Case 2. p = n − 4. By Lemma 4.1, G is the unicyclic graph obtained from C3 byattaching a pendant vertex to v3 and two
rooted trees Tv1 and Tv2 to v1 and v2 , respectively, where min |V (Tv1 )|, |V (Tv2 )| ≥ 2. Since p = n − 4, there exists exactly
one non-pendant vertex u ∈ V (Tv1 ) ∪ V (Tv2 ). Without loss of generality, we assume that u ∈ V (Tv1 ) and {u1 , u2 , . . . , us } are
all pendant neighbor of u. Then, s ≥ 1.
Recall that p = n − 4. Thus, {v1 , v2 , v3 , u} are all non-pendant vertices of G, and uv1 ∈ E (G ), as u ∈ V (Tv1 ). Moreover,
 ≤ n − 4 by Lemma 4.1.
If  = 3, then d (v1 ) = d (v2 ) = d (v3 ) = 3. Hence, G is obtained from Q6 (1, 1, 1 ) by attaching one or two pendant vertices
to the pendant vertex of Q6 (1, 1, 1 ). The latter implies that n ≤ 8, a contradiction. Thus,  = max{d (u ), d (v1 ), d (v2 )} ≥ 4.
If d (u ) ≥ 3, by Lemmas 2.3 and 4.1, the four edges {uv1 , v1 v2 , v1 v3 , v2 v3 } contribute to AZI (G ) at least 3(3, 3 ) +
(4, 3 ) > 47. If d (u ) = 2, by Lemmas 2.3 and 4.1, the edges {uv1 , v1 v2 , v1 v3 , v2 v3 } contribute to AZI (G ) at least (3, 3 ) +
2(4, 3 ) + 8 > 47. In both cases, by Lemma 2.3 the remaining n − 4 pendant edges of G contribute to AZI (G ) at least
(n − 4 )(1, ). Combining the latter with Lemma 2.3 and  ≤ n − 4, we have
AZI (G ) > 47 + (n − 4 )(1, )
> 48 + (n − 5 )(1, )

> 48 + (n − 5 )(1, n − 1 ) = AZI K1 ∨ (2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 ) ,
by Lemma 3.1. This is a contradiction to the choice of G.
Case 3. p ≤ n − 5. In this case, G contains at least n − p ≥ 5 non-pendant edges. By Lemma 4.1, there exist five non-
pendant edges of G contributing to AZI (G ) at least 16 + 3(3, 3 ) > 50, and all other n − 5 edges contribute to AZI (G ) as
least (n − 5 )(1, ) by Lemma 2.3. Thus,

AZI (G ) > 50 + (n − 5 )(1, ) > 48 + (n − 5 )(1, n − 1 ) = AZI K1 ∨ (2K2 ∪ (n − 5 )K1 )
by Lemmas 2.3 and 3.1. This is a contradiction to the choice of G. 

Proof of Theorem 1.2.. Assume that G is a graph of T2n such that AZI (G ) is minimum. By Definition 1.1, G is not a tree. By
Lemmas 4.3 and 4.4, G is not a unicyclic graph. Now, by Lemmas 2.2 and 3.1, we can conclude that G = K1 ∨ 2K2 ∪ (n −

5 )K1 . 

5. The proof of Theorem 1.3

Let u0 be a vertex in the base graph of G. If |V (Tu0 )| = q ≥ 3, then denote by G∗ (u0 ) the graph obtained from G by
deleting all vertices of V (Tu0 ) \ {u0 } and then adding one new edge between u0 and a pendant vertex of K1,q−2 . From the
definition, it is easily checked that

For k ≥ 2, if G is a k-apex tree, then G∗ (u0 ) is also a k-apex tree. (5.1)

Proposition 5.1. Let G = G∗ (u0 ), u0 ∈ R(G ) with N (u0 ) ∩ V (R(G )) = {v0 , w0 }, and d (v0 ) ≥ d (w0 ) ≥ 3. Suppose that |V (Tu0 )| =
q ≥ 3 and V (Tu0 ) \ {u0 } contains exactly t non-pendant vertices. If one of the following conditions holds: (i ) t = 0, d (v0 ) = 3
and q ≥ 7; (ii) t = 0 , d (v0 ) ≥ 4 and q ≥ 5. (iii ) t = 1, d (u0 ) = 3 and q ≥ 6; (iv ) t = 1, d (u0 ) ≥ 4 and q ≥ 5; (v ) t ≥ 2; then
AZI (G ) > AZI G∗ (u0 ) .

Proof. We first prove (i ) and (ii ). Assume t = 0, then G[V (Tu0 )] = K1,q−1 , so d (u0 ) = q + 1. From the definition of AZI, we
have

AZI (G ) − AZI G∗ (u0 ) = (q + 1, d (v0 )) + (q + 1, d (w0 )) + (q − 1 )(q + 1, 1 )
−(3, d (v0 )) − (3, d (w0 )) − 16 − (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 ).
If d (v0 ) = 3, then d (w0 ) = 3. Hence,

AZI (G ) − AZI G∗ (u0 )

= 2 (q + 1, 3 ) − (3, 3 ) + (q − 1 )(q + 1, 1 ) − 16 − (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 )


9 
q + 1 3
q − 2
3q + 3 3
=2 − 3
+ (q − 1 ) − 16 − (q − 3 ) 3
q+2 4 q q−3
551q8 − 5280q7 + 6903q6 + 29402q5 − 31068q4 − 66024q3 − 3520q2 − 6528q − 2304
= >0
32q3 (q − 3 )2 (q + 2 )3

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K. Cheng, M. Liu and F. Belardo Applied Mathematics and Computation 402 (2021) 126139

for q ≥ 7. This implies that (i ) holds.

If d (v0 ) ≥ 4 and q ≥ 5, then Lemmas 2.3 and 2.4 imply that

AZ I (G ) − AZ I (G∗ (u0 ) ) ≥ (q + 1, 4 ) − (3, 4 ) + (q + 1, 3 ) − (3, 3 ) + (q − 1 )(q + 1, 1 ) − 16 − (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 )

>(q + 1, 4 ) + (q + 1, 3 ) + (q − 1 )(q + 1, 1 ) − (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 ) − 41.5

= f (q )/ 2q3 (q − 3 )2 (q + 3 )3 (q + 2 )3 ,

where f (q ) = 103q11 −9q10 −2886q9 −3238q8 + 24909q7 + 49977q6 −51198q5 −194022q4 −135648q3 −18252q2 −14904q −
3888. Since f (q ) > 0 for q ≥ 5, (ii ) holds.
Next we prove (iii ) and (iv ). Assume now t = 1, then q ≥ 5 and V (Tu0 ) \ {u0 } contains exactly one non-pendant vertex,
say x0 . In this case, d (u ) ≤ q for each u ∈ V (Tu0 ), and u0 x0 ∈ E (G ). If d (x0 ) = 2, then the two edges adjacent to x0 contribute
16 to AZI (G ). Combining the latter with Lemmas 2.3 and 2.4, we get

AZI (G ) − AZI G∗ (u0 ) ≥ (d (u0 ), d (v0 )) + (d (u0 ), d (w0 )) + (3, 3 ) + (q − 2 )(q, 1 )
−(3, d (v0 )) − (3, d (w0 )) − 16 − (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 )

> 2 (d (u0 ), 3 ) − (3, 3 ) + (3, 3 ) + (q − 2 )(q, 1 ) − 16
−(q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 ).
If d (u0 ) ≥ 5, then q ≥ d (u0 ) ≥ 5. By Lemma 2.3(iii),

2 (d (u0 ), 3 ) − (3, 3 ) + (3, 3 ) + (q − 2 )(q, 1 ) − 16 − (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 )

≥ 2 (5, 3 ) − (3, 3 ) + (3, 3 ) + (q − 2 )(q, 1 ) − 16 − (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 )
311q5 − 2991q4 + 10290q3 − 15586q2 + 10455q − 2735
= > 0,
64(q − 3 )2 (q − 1 )3

and, consequently, AZI (G ) > AZI G∗ (u0 ) .
Thus, it remains to consider the case 3 ≤ d (u0 ) ≤ 4. Recall that x0 is the unique non-pendant vertex of V (Tu0 ) \ {u0 }.
Thus, d (x0 ) = q + 2 − d (u0 ) ≥ q − 2 ≥ 3, as q ≥ 5. From the definition of AZI and Lemma 2.4, we have

AZI (G ) − AZI G∗ (u0 ) = (d (u0 ), d (v0 )) + (d (u0 ), d (w0 )) + (d (u0 ), d (x0 ))
+(d (u0 ) − 3 )(d (u0 ), 1 ) + (d (x0 ) − 1 )(d (x0 ), 1 ) − (3, d (v0 ))
−(3, d (w0 )) − 16 − (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 ).
If d (u0 ) = 3 and q ≥ 6, then

AZI (G ) − AZI G∗ (u0 ) = (3, q − 1 ) + (q − 2 )(q − 1, 1 ) − 16 − (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 )
12q7 − 201q6 + 1332q5 − 4541q4 + 8546q3 − 8775q2 + 4536q − 972
=
q3 ( q − 2 )2 ( q − 3 )2
> 0,
and so (iii ) holds.
If d (u0 ) = 4 and q ≥ 5, then Lemma 2.4 implies that
 
AZI (G ) − AZI G∗ (u0 ) ≥ 2 (4, 3 ) − (3, 3 ) + (4, q − 2 ) + (4, 1 )
+(q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 ) − 16 − (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 )
64(q − 2 )3
> (4, q − 2 ) − 9 = −9
q3
55q3 − 384q2 + 768q − 512
= >0
q3
and thus (iv ) holds.
Finally, we show (v ). In this case, since G = G∗ (u0 ), we have q ≥ 5, d (u ) ≤ q − 1 for each vertex u ∈ V (Tu0 ) and Tu0
contains at least two non-pendant edges, which contribute at least 16 to AZI (G ).
If d (u ) ≤ q − 2 for each vertex u ∈ V (Tu0 ), then Lemma 2.3 implies that

AZI (G ) − AZI G∗ (u0 ) ≥ (d (u0 ), d (v0 )) + (d (u0 ), d (w0 )) + 16 + (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 )

− (3, d (v0 )) + (3, d (w0 )) + 16 + (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 ) ≥ 0,

where AZI (G ) = AZI G∗ (u0 ) holds if and only if q − 3 pendant vertices are adjacent to a vertex x0 with degree q − 2, d (u0 ) =
3 and Tu0 contains a 2-vertex which is adjacent to both x0 and u0 , that is, G = G∗ (u0 ), a contradiction.

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K. Cheng, M. Liu and F. Belardo Applied Mathematics and Computation 402 (2021) 126139

If d (u ) = q − 1 for some vertex u ∈ V (Tu0 ), then u = u0 and the other two non-pendant vertices of V (Tu0 ) \ {u0 } are both
2-vertices, as t ≥ 2. Thus,

AZI (G ) − AZI G∗ (u0 ) = (q − 1, d (v0 )) + (q − 1, d (w0 )) + 24 + (q − 4 )(q − 1, 1 )
−(3, d (v0 )) − (3, d (w0 )) − 16 − (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 )
> 8 + (q − 4 )(q − 1, 1 ) − (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 ),
as d (u0 ) = q − 1 ≥ 4. Since q ≥ 5,

(q − 4 )(7q4 − 62q3 + 202q2 − 287q + 151 )

8 + (q − 4 )(q − 1, 1 ) − (q − 3 )(q − 2, 1 ) = > 0.
( q − 3 )2 ( q − 2 )3
Thus, (v ) also holds. 

Recall that Wn;c and Fn are the graphs as shown in Figure 1.1. By an elementary computation, we have

n − 2 3
AZI (Wn;4 ) = (n − 7 ) + 80, (5.2)
n−3
and
8432 n−4

3
AZI (Fn ) = + (n − 8 ) < 67.5 + (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 ). (5.3)
125 n−5
Lemma 5.1. [15] Let G be a c-cyclic graph with n vertices. If n ≥ 2c + 1 and c ≥ 3, then AZ I (G ) ≥ AZ I (Wn;c ) with equality if and
only if G = Wn;c .

Corollary 5.1. If G is a c-cyclic graph with n ≥ 9 vertices and c ≥ 4, then AZI (G ) > AZI (Fn ).

Proof. Since n ≥ 9, from Lemmas 2.2 and 5.1, we have AZI (G ) ≥ AZI (Wn;4 ). Note that

AZI (Wn;4 ) − AZI (Fn )

n − 2 3
8432 n − 4 3


= (n − 7 ) − (n − 8 )
+ 80 − by(5.2 )and (5.3 )
n−3 125 n−5
1693n6 − 41007n5 + 410241n4 − 2164401n3 + 6336990n2 − 974470 0n + 61450 0 0
= >0
125(n − 3 )3 (n − 5 )3
as n ≥ 9. Thus, AZI (G ) > AZI (Fn ). 

In the remainder of this section, let G be a graph of T3n such that AZI (G ) is minimum. Since Fn ∈ T3n , if AZI (G ) > AZI (Fn ),
then we get a contradiction to the choice of G.

Lemma 5.2. If n ≥ 9, then G is not a unicyclic graph with girth g ≥ 5.

Proof. Assume, by way of contradiction, that G is a unicyclic graph with girth g ≥ 5. Since g ≥ 5 and Cg is a special cycle by
Lemma 4.1, we have  ≤ n − 6. Once again, Lemma 4.1 confirms the existence of a rooted tree Tu0 with |V (Tu0 )| = 3 such
that either d (u0 ) = 4, or d (u0 ) = 3. By Lemma 2.3, the two edges of Tu0 contribute at least 2(4, 1 ) to AZI (G ).
Case 1. g ≥ 6. Then, each of the g edges of Cg contributes at least (3, 3 ) to AZI (G ), and each of the other n − g − 2 edges
of G contributes at least (1, ) to AZI (G ). By Lemma 2.3 and (5.3), it follows that

AZI (G ) ≥ g(3, 3 ) + 2(4, 1 ) + (n − g − 2 )(1, )

≥ 6(3, 3 ) + 2(4, 1 ) + (n − 8 )(1, n − 4 )
> 73 + (n − 8 )(1, n − 4 ) > AZI (Fn ),
a contradiction.
Case 2. g = 5. If d (u ) ≥ 4 for some vertex u ∈ V (C5 ), then the five edges of C5 contribute at least 3(3, 3 ) + 2(4, 3 ) to
AZI (G ), and each of the other n − 7 edges of G contributes at least (1, ) to AZI (G ) by Lemma 2.3. Combining this with
Lemma 2.3,

AZI (G ) ≥ 3(3, 3 ) + 2(1, 4 ) + 2(4, 3 ) + (n − 7 )(1, )

≥ 3(3, 3 ) + 2(1, 4 ) + 2(4, 3 ) + (n − 7 )(1, n − 6 )
> 67.5 + (n − 8 )(1, n − 6 ) > AZI (Fn ),
a contradiction.
If d (u ) = 3 for each vertex u ∈ V (C5 ), then Lemma 4.1 implies the existence of a rooted tree Tu0 with V (Tu0 ) = {u0 , w1 , w2 }
such that d (u0 ) = 3 and d (w1 ) = 2 > 1 = d (w2 ). This implies that the five edges of C5 and two edges of Tu0 contribute at
least 5(3, 3 ) + 2 × 8 > 72.5 to AZI (G ). Since each of the other n − 7 edges of G contributes at least (1, ) to AZI (G ),

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K. Cheng, M. Liu and F. Belardo Applied Mathematics and Computation 402 (2021) 126139

from Lemma 2.3 and (5.3) it follows that

AZI (G ) ≥ 5(3, 3 ) + 2 × 8 + (n − 7 )(1, )
> 72.5 + (n − 7 )(1, n − 6 )
> 67.5 + (n − 8 )(1, n − 6 ) > AZI (Fn ),
a contradiction. 

Lemma 5.3. If n ≥ 9, then G is not a unicyclic graph with girth g = 4.

Proof. Assume, by way of contradiction, that G is a unicyclic graph with girth g = 4. By Lemma 4.1,  < n − 4.
We first suppose that C4 contains at least three 3-vertices. By Lemma 4.1, if d (u ) = 3 for u ∈ V (C4 ), then Tu contains at
least one non-pendant edge of G. Combining this with Lemmas 2.3 and 4.1,
AZI (G ) ≥ 4(3, 3 ) + 24 + (n − 7 )(1, )
> 4(3, 3 ) + 24 + (n − 7 )(1, n − 4 )

n − 4
> 69.5 + (n − 7 ) 3
> AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction.
We next suppose that C4 contains at least three vertices with degree at least four. By Lemmas 2.3 and 4.1,
AZI (G ) ≥ 2(4, 4 ) + 2(4, 3 ) + (n − 4 )(1, )
> 69.5 + (n − 8 )(1, )

n − 4 3
> 67.5 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction.
The last possibility is that C4 contains exactly two 3-vertices and two vertices with degree at least four. In this case, since
Tu contains at least one non-pendant edge of G in the case of d (u ) = 3, Lemmas 2.3 and 4.1 imply that
AZI (G ) ≥ 4(4, 3 ) + 16 + (n − 6 )(1, )

n − 4 3
> 73 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction. 

Lemma 5.4. If n ≥ 14, then G is not a unicyclic graph with girth g = 3.

Proof. Assume, by way of contradiction, that G is a unicyclic graph with girth g = 3. By Lemma 4.1,  < n − 4 and there
exists u0 ∈ C3 such that |V (Tu0 )| = 3. Thus, either d (u0 ) = 4 or d (u0 ) = 3. We suppose that V (C3 ) = {u0 , v0 , w0 }, where
d (v0 ) ≥ d (w0 ) ≥ 3 by Lemma 4.1. Suppose that |V (Tv0 )| = q1 and |V (Tw0 )| = q2 .
Case 1. d (u0 ) = 4. Then, except for {v0 , w0 }, u0 is adjacent with exactly two pendant vertices.
If q1 ≥ 6, then G = G∗ (v0 ) by Proposition 5.1 and (5.1), as d (u0 ) = 4. This implies that d (v0 ) = d (w0 ) = 3, v0 is adjacent
to a 2-vertex and w0 contains three non-pendant neighbors, as q2 = |V (Tw0 )| ≥ 3 by Lemma 4.1. By the definition of AZI,
(5.3) and Lemma 2.3,
AZI (G ) ≥ 2(4, 3 ) + (3, 3 ) + 24 + 2(4, 1 ) + (n − 8 )(, 1 ) (5.4)

n − 4 3
> 67.5 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction.
Thus, q1 ≤ 5 and hence q2 ≥ 6, as n = q1 + q2 + 3 ≥ 14. By Proposition 5.1 and (5.1), G = G∗ (w0 ), and thus w0 is adjacent
to a 2-vertex and d (w0 ) = 3.
In this case, either d (v0 ) ≥ 4 or d (v0 ) = 3 with three non-pendant neighbors. From (5.4), we may suppose that d (v0 ) ≥ 4,
and thus Lemma 2.3 implies that
AZI (G ) ≥ 2(4, 3 ) + (4, 4 ) + 16 + 2(4, 1 ) + (n − 7 )(, 1 )

n − 4 3
> 68 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction.
Case 2. d (u0 ) = 3. Then, exactly for {v0 , w0 }, u0 is adjacent to one 2-vertex, which is adjacent to a pendant vertex, as
|V (Tu0 )| = 3.
Subcase 2.1. d (w0 ) ≥ 4. If G contains at least five non-pendant vertices, then d (v0 ) ≥ d (w0 ) ≥ 4 implies that
AZI (G ) ≥ 2(4, 3 ) + (4, 4 ) + 24 + (n − 6 )(, 1 )

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K. Cheng, M. Liu and F. Belardo Applied Mathematics and Computation 402 (2021) 126139

Fig. 5.1. The graphs B1 , B2 , B3 and H0 .

n − 4 3
> 72.5 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction.
Otherwise, G contains exactly four non-pendant vertices. By Proposition 5.1 and (5.1), we have max{q1 , q2 } ≤ 5, as
d (v0 ) ≥ d (w0 ) ≥ 4. This implies that n = 3 + q1 + q2 ≤ 13, a contradiction.
Subcase 2.2. d (w0 ) = 3 and d (v0 ) ≥ 4. Then, V (Tw0 ) \ {w0 } contains at least one non-pendant vertex, as |V (Tw0 )| ≥ 3 by
Lemma 4.1. If either q2 = 3 or V (Tw0 ) \ {w0 } contains at least two non-pendant vertices, then from d (v0 ) ≥ 4 it follows that
AZI (G ) ≥ 2(4, 3 ) + (3, 3 ) + 32 + (n − 7 )(, 1 )

n − 4 3
> 72 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction.
Thus, V (Tw0 ) \ {w0 } contains exactly one non-pendant vertex, say x0 , and d (x0 ) = q2 − 1 ≥ 3. By Lemma 2.3 and d (v0 ) ≥
4,
AZI (G ) ≥ 2(4, 3 ) + 2(3, 3 ) + 16 + (n − 6 )(, 1 )

n − 4 3
> 68 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ), a contradiction.
n−5
Subcase 2.3. d (w0 ) = d (v0 ) = 3. If G contains at least seven non-pendant vertices, then
AZI (G ) ≥ 3(3, 3 ) + 40 + (n − 8 )(, 1 )

n − 4 3
> 74 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ), a contradiction.
n−5
Thus, G contains exactly six non-pendant vertices, as C3 is a special triangle. Suppose that x0 is a neighbor of v0 and y0 is
a neighbor of w0 , where {x0 , y0 } ∩ V (C3 ) = ∅. Then, d (x0 ) = q1 − 1 and d (y0 ) = q2 − 1. Since n = 3 + q1 + q2 ≥ 14, we have
max{q1 , q2 } ≥ 5. Thus,
AZI (G ) ≥ 3(3, 3 ) + 24 + (4, 3 ) + (n − 7 )(, 1 )

n − 4 3
> 72.5 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction.
This completes the proof. 

Lemma 5.5. If G is a bicyclic graph, then G contains at least one special cycle.

Proof. Assume, to the contrary, that G contains no special cycle. Then, every cycle of G contains a 2-vertex. Denote by G1
the unicyclic graph with n − 1 vertices obtained from G by deleting one 2-vertex from one cycle of G. Then, the unique cycle
of G1 also contains a 2-vertex u and thus G1 − u is a tree, contrary with Definition 1.1. 

Hereafter, let B1 , B2 , and B3 be the three bicyclic graphs and H0 be the tricyclic graph as shown in Figure 5.1.
 
Lemma 5.6. If n ≥ 9, then G is not a bicyclic graph with R(G ) ∈ B1 , B2 .

Proof. Assume, to the contrary, that G is a bicyclic graph with R(G ) = B j for j ∈ {1, 2}. Suppose that G contains q non-
pendant vertices and Ct is the special cycle of G by Lemma 5.5.
We first suppose that j = 2. Then,  < n − 4 and t ≥ 3. By Lemma 2.3 and (5.3),
AZI (G ) ≥ 3(3, 3 ) + 32 + (n − 6 )(, 1 )

n − 4 3
> 68 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction. Thus, j = 1 and so q ≥ 5.

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K. Cheng, M. Liu and F. Belardo Applied Mathematics and Computation 402 (2021) 126139

If either q ≥ 7 or t ≥ 4, then Lemma 5.5 implies that  ≤ n − 4 and

AZI (G ) ≥ (3, 3 ) + 2(4, 3 ) + 32 + (n − 6 )(, 1 )

n − 4 3
> 73 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction. Thus, 5 ≤ q ≤ 6 and t = 3.
Denote by {u0 , v0 , w0 } the three vertices of the special triangle such that u0 is the common vertex of two cycle and
d (v0 ) ≥ d (w0 ) ≥ 3. Then,  ≤ n − 3.
Case 1.  ≤ n − 4. If d (v0 ) ≥ 4, then
AZI (G ) ≥ 2(4, 3 ) + (4, 4 ) + 24 + (n − 5 )(, 1 )

n − 4 3
> 73.5 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction.
If d (v0 ) = 3, then d (w0 ) = 3 and thus
AZI (G ) ≥ 2(4, 3 ) + 2(3, 1 ) + (3, 3 ) + 24 + (n − 7 )(, 1 )

n − 4 3
> 70.5 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction.
Case 2.  = n − 3. This implies there are exactly n − 7 pendant vertices adjacent to u0 , as G contains a special triangle.
Combining this with n ≥ 9, we have
AZI (G ) − AZI (Fn )

n − 4 3
> 2(n − 3, 3 ) + 2(3, 1 ) + (3, 3 ) + 24 + (n − 7 )(n − 3, 1 ) − 67.5 − (n − 8 )
n−5

n − 4 3
> 2(n − 3, 3 ) + (n − 7 )(n − 3, 1 ) − 25.5 − (n − 8 )
n−5
f (n )
= > 0,
2 ( n − 5 )3 ( n − 2 )3 ( n − 4 )3
where f (n ) = 59n9 − 2271n8 + 38523n7 − 377801n6 + 2359860n5 − 9733082n4 + 26499486n3 − 45914412n2 + 459310 0 0n −
20210288. 

Lemma 5.7. If n ≥ 9, then G is not a bicyclic graph with R(G ) = B3 .

Proof. Assume, to the contrary, that G is a bicyclic graph  with R(G ) = B3 . Without loss of generality, we suppose that
s1 ≥ s2 ≥ s3 (see Figure 5.1). Since G ∈ T3n , we have min |V (Tu0 )|, |V (Tv0 )| ≥ 3, where u0 and v0 are the two 3-vertices of
B3 (see Figure 5.1). Thus, d (u0 ) ≥ d (v0 ) ≥ 4 and  ≤ n − 4. By Lemma 5.5, let Ct be a special cycle of G.
If s3 ≥ 1, then t ≥ 4 and
AZI (G ) ≥ 4(4, 3 ) + 16 + (n − 5 )(, 1 )

n − 4 3
> 74 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction. Thus, s3 = 0 and so u0 v0 ∈ E (G ).
We first suppose that G contains at least five non-pendant vertices. Then,
AZI (G ) ≥ 2(4, 3 ) + (4, 4 ) + 24 + (n − 5 )(, 1 )

n − 4 3
> 73.5 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction.
We next suppose that G contains exactly four non-pendant vertices, and thus R(G ) = K4 − e. If d (u0 ) ≥ 5, then
AZI (G ) ≥2(4, 3 ) + (5, 4 ) + 16 + (n − 4 )(, 1 )

n − 4 3
>70.5 + (n − 8 ) > AZI (Fn ),
n−5
a contradiction.
Thus, d (u0 ) = 4 and so d (v0 ) = 4. This implies that u0 and v0 are adjacent to precisely a pendant vertex, respectively. Let
x0 be the pendant neighbor of u0 . Then, G − {u0 , x0 } is a tree, contrary with G ∈ T3n . 

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K. Cheng, M. Liu and F. Belardo Applied Mathematics and Computation 402 (2021) 126139

An (s≥ , t ≥ ) edge uv is an edge with d (u ) ≥ s and d (v ) ≥ t. By Lemma 2.3(iii),

if min{s, t } ≥ 3, then (s≥ , t ≥ ) ≥ (s, t ).

Proof of Theorem 1:3... From Corollary 5.1 and Lemmas 5.2–5.7, we can conclude that G is a tricyclic graph. Suppose that G
contains p pendant vertices. Denote by G1 the resultant graph obtained from G by deleting all these pendant vertices. Then,
each edge of G1 is a non-pendant edge of G.
Case 1. p ≤ n − 7. By (5.3) and Lemmas 2.3 and 2.5,

AZI (G ) − AZI (Fn ) ≥ 8(n + 2 ) − p 8 − (, 1 ) − 67.5 − (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 )

≥ 8(n + 2 ) − (n − 7 ) 8 − (, 1 ) − 67.5 − (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 )
≥ 72 + (n − 7 )(n − 1, 1 ) − 67.5 − (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 )
11n6 − 243n5 + 2199n4 − 10269n3 + 25620n2 − 31806n + 15442
= > 0,
2 ( n − 2 )3 ( n − 5 )3
as n ≥ 14.
Case 2. p = n − 6. This implies that G1 contains six vertices and eight edges, and thus G contains exactly eight non-
pendant edges.
If G contains one (4≥ , 3≥ ) edge, then

AZI (G ) − AZI (Fn ) ≥ (4, 3 ) + 56 + (n − 6 )(, 1 ) − 67.5 − (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 )

> 2 + (n − 6 )(n − 1, 1 ) − (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 ) (5.5)
4n − 87n + 780n − 3623n + 90 0 0n − 11103n + 5346
6 5 4 3 2
= > 0,
( n − 2 )3 ( n − 5 )3
a contradiction.
If G contains two (3≥ , 3≥ ) edges, then (5.5) implies that

AZI (G ) − AZI (Fn ) ≥ 2(3, 3 ) + 48 + (n − 6 )(, 1 ) − 67.5 − (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 )

> 3 + (n − 6 )(n − 1, 1 ) − (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 ) > 0,
a contradiction.
Thus, G and, therefore, G1 contain at most one (3≥ , 3≥ ) edge and no (4≥ , 3≥ ) edge. Since G1 is a tricyclic graph with six
vertices and eight edges, we have G1 = K2,4 (see the table of connected graphs with six vertices [4]). Combining this with
G ∈ T3n , we have G = Fn by Definition 1.1.
Case 3. n − 5 ≤ p ≤ n − 4. If G contains at least five (3≥ , 3≥ ) edges, then

AZI (G ) − AZI (Fn ) ≥ 5(3, 3 ) + 8 + (n − 4 )(, 1 ) − 67.5 − (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 )

≥ 5(3, 3 ) + 8 + (n − 4 )(n − 1, 1 ) − 67.5 − (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 )
93n6 − 1761n5 + 14157n4 − 60527n3 + 139650n2 − 157092n + 67144
=
64(n − 2 )3 (n − 5 )3
> 0,
as G contains at least six non-pendant edges. Thus, G contains at most four (3≥ , 3≥ ) edges and so p = n − 5. This implies
that G1 is a tricyclic graph with five vertices and thus G contains exactly seven non-pendant edges.
Recall that G contains exactly seven non-pendant edges. Thus, if G contains at least one (4≥ , 4≥ ) edges, then

AZI (G ) − AZI (Fn ) ≥ (4, 4 ) + 48 + (n − 5 )(, 1 ) − 67.5 − (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 )

≥ (4, 4 ) + 48 + (n − 5 )(n − 1, 1 ) − 67.5 − (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 )
133n6 − 2793n5 + 24513n4 − 112495n3 + 276720n2 − 336162n + 158434
=
54(n − 2 )3 (n − 5 )3
> 0,
and so G contains no (4≥ , 4≥ ) edge.
Now, since G contains at most four (3≥ , 3≥ ) edges and no (4≥ , 4≥ ) edge, we can conclude that G1 = H0 (see Figure 5.1)
by the table of connected graphs with five vertices [4]. In this case, G contains two (4≥ , 3≥ ) edges and one (3≥ , 3≥ ) edge,
we have

AZI (G ) − AZI (Fn ) ≥ 2(4, 3 ) + (3, 3 ) + 32 + (n − 5 )(, 1 ) − 67.5 − (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 )

> 3 + (n − 5 )(n − 1, 1 ) − (n − 8 )(n − 4, 1 )
> 0,
by (5.5). 

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K. Cheng, M. Liu and F. Belardo Applied Mathematics and Computation 402 (2021) 126139

Acknowledgment.

The first author is supported by National Undergraduate Training Programs for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (No.
X202010564019). The authors would like to thank the referees for their valuable comments which lead to an improvement
of the original manuscript.

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