Eigenvector centrality 2026-10-20
Eigenvector centrality assigns nonnegative vertex scores proportional to the sum of neighbouring scores: . It uses a nonnegative eigenvector of the adjacency matrix for its largest positive eigenvalue. State the normalization, such as Euclidean norm one. For a three-leaf star graph, hub and leaf scores have ratio .
Factor the characteristic polynomial as . The eigenvalues, with algebraic multiplicity, are therefore
The adjacency matrix describes a star graph with node 1 as the hub. For the positive leading eigenvalue , write the hub component as . The leaf equations , for , give equal leaf components . The hub equation is , which is consistent precisely because . Thus an eigenvector is .
Normalizing its Euclidean norm to one gives the eigenvector centrality
Numerically this is . It satisfies both and . If “normalized” instead means maximum component one, use ; if it means components summing to one, divide by . The hub-to-leaf ratio is invariant under these conventions. The negative leading-magnitude eigenvalue also has an eigenvector, but its mixed signs do not define nonnegative eigenvector centrality.