Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2019 / iii / Paper 339 / 2 / a / Solution

Let $J=11^T$ be the all-ones matrix. Every feasible block matrix in the first formulation has $t\ge 1$, because its principal $2\times 2$ submatrix on indices $0,i$ is $\left(\begin{array}{cc}t& 1\\ 1& 1\end{array}\right)$ and is a positive semidefinite matrix. In particular, $t>0$.

By the Schur complement,Set $U=tZ-J$. Then $U⪰0$, $U_{ii}=t-1$, and $U_{ij}=-1$ on every edge. Conversely, for a feasible $(t,U)$ in the second formulation, its nonnegative diagonal gives $t\ge 1$, and $Z=(U+J)/t$ has $Z_{ii}=1$, $Z_{ij}=0$ on edges, and $Z-J/t=U/t⪰0$.

Both transformations preserve the objective $t$. Hence the two semidefinite programs defining the complement theta number have the same feasible objective values and the same minimum.