Preface

We are pleased to present this special issue of AKCE International Journal of Graphs and Combinatorics dedicated to the International Conference on Linear Algebra and its Applications, 2021 organized by Center for Advanced Research in Apllied Mathematics and Statistics at Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal during December 15–17, 2021.

Linear Algebra and Graph Theory are the subjects having applications in almost every branch of science including Biology, Economics, Engineering, Physics, which are consistent with the focus research activities of CARAMS, MAHE. ICLAA 2021 is the fourth in its sequel, which started with CMTGIM 2012 and the fifth is ICLAA 2023 scheduled in December 2023. The initial intention was to dedicate the common day between IWMS 2020 and ICLAA 2020 to honor C R Rao, a living legend among Indian Statisticians, who was celebrating the birth centenary in the year 2020. Unfortunately, the events could not be organized as per schedule in the normal format due to the prevailing situation. With the hope of having normal life in 2021, the events in the physical formats have been rescheduled to December 2021, and CARAMS organized ALAPS 2020 (International Conference on Applied Linear Algebra, Probability, and Statistics) in the online format (164 participants–25 invited, 40 contributory), in which many collaborators, disciples, and the followers of Rao participated. However, IWMS 2021 (192 participants–20 invited, 14 contributory) and ICLAA 2021 (242 participants–25 invited, 28 contributory) were organized successfully in the hybrid format and decided to publish a special issue in ‘AKCE International Journal of Graphs and Combinatorics’, and a book-volume ‘Applied Linear Algebra, Probability, and Statistics–A volume in honor of Rao and Lal’ (ALAPS) in the ISI series of Springer Nature.

From about thirty articles submitted, fifteen have been accepted for publication in the special issue. The special issue focuses on Graph Theory, Matrices & Graphs, and their applications.

We, the CARAMS, MAHE and the editorial team, thankfully acknowledge the support of leadership of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, particularly, Narayana Sabhahit, Pro Vice Chancellor–Technology & Science, MAHE (current position), for their continuous and incredible support in organizing ALAPS 2020, IWMS 2021, and ICLAA 2021. We acknowledge that ‘International Linear Algebra Society’ endorsed ICLAA 2021, and offered the fund support for Hans-Schneider ILAS lecture. We also thank the speaker, Stephen J Kirkland for his virtual presence and delivering the Hans-Schneider ILAS lecture.

The editors acknowledge the incredible contribution from all the authors, which made the special issue so rich. Also, the editors acknowledge the association and the support of

1. Shaun Fallat, University of Regina, Canada

2. Debajit Kalita, Tezpur University, India

3. Rajesh Kannan, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India

4. S K Neogy, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi Center, India

5. Sukanta Pati, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India

6. Balaji Ramamurthy, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India

7. Sivaramakrishnan Sivasubramanian, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India

8. Yimin Wei, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

at different stages of editorial work. The selfless efforts by the reviewers helped the editorial team and the authors to a great extent in enhancing the quality of work. The editors acknowledge the following reviewers, other than the editors and the anonymous reviewers chosen by AKCE International Journal of Graphs and Combinatorics, for spending their quality time in reading the articles and offering their comments.

1. Ali Azimi, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran

2. Mushtaq Ahamad Bhat, National Institute of Technology Srinagar, India

3. Ramamurthy Balaji, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India

4. Arathi Bhat, Manipal Institute of Technology, MAHE, Manipal, India

5. Parameshwara Bhat, Mangalore University, Konaje, India

6. Pradeep G Bhat, Manipal Institute of Technology, MAHE, Manipal, India

7. Raghavendra Bhat, Poornaprajna College, Udupi, India

8. Biswajit Deb, Sikkim Manipal University of Technology, Sikkim, India

9. Sudhakara G, Manipal Institute of Technology, MAHE, Manipal, India

10. Mohana K S, Mangalore University, Konaje, India

11. Debajit Kalita, Tezpur University, India

12. Masoud Karimi, Anhui University, PRC

13. Sudipta Mallik, Northern Arizona University, USA

14. Vinay Madhusudhanan, Manipal Institute of Technology, MAHE, Manipal

15. Debasish Mishra, Indian Statistical Institute Delhi, India

16. Swarup Panda, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India

17. Sukanta Pati, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India

18. Rajendra Pawale, University of Mumbai, India

19. Kuncham Syam Prasad, Manipal Institute of Technology, MAHE, Manipal, India

20. Anjan Raychaudhury, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, Sikkim, India

21. Rajendra R., Mangalore University, Konaje, India

22. Gopinath Sahoo, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, India

23. Sharad Sane, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Chennai, India

24. Kuldeep Sarma, Tezpur University, Assam, India

25. K.C. Sivakumar, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India

The following team of research scholars at MAHE

1. Umashankara Kelathaya

2. Raksha Poojary

3. Savitha Varkady

has offered continuous support to the editorial team, without which the completion of the special issue project wouldn’t have been so well done. We thankfully acknowledge their efforts. Finally, we register our sincere thanks to Taylor & Francis Co., and editorial staff of AKCE Int. J. Graphs and Comb. for their support.

Guest Editors
R B Bapat, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi
Manjunatha Prasad Karantha, MAHE, Manipal
Stephen J Kirkland, University of Manitoba, Canada
Simo Puntanen, Tampere University, Finland
S Arumugam, Editor-in-Chief, AKCE Int. J. Graphs and Combinatorics