Resistance distance in wheels and fans

Abstract

The wheel graph is the join of a single vertex and a cycle, while the fan graph is the join of a single vertex and a path. The resistance distance between any two vertices of a wheel and a fan is obtained. The resistances are related to Fibonacci numbers and generalized Fibonacci numbers. The derivation is based on evaluating determinants of submatrices of the Laplacian matrix. A combinatorial argument is also illustrated. A connection with the problem of squaring a rectangle is described. © Indian National Science Academy.