Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2023 / ii / Paper 2 / 17H / d / Solution

Take the infinite familyEach complete graph is connected and has graph diameter one. If $A_n$ is its adjacency matrix, thenand direct multiplication gives the adjacency-matrix quadratic relation for a complete graphConsequentlyso $I,A_n,A_n^2$, which are precisely the powers through $d(G_n)+1=2$, are linearly dependent for every $n\ge 2$.