On the spectrum of the normalized graph Laplacian

The spectrum of the normalized graph Laplacian yields a very comprehensive set of invariants of a graph. In order to understand the information contained in those invariants better, we systematically investigate the behavior of this spectrum under local and global operations like motif doubling, graph joining or splitting. The eigenvalue 1 plays a particular role, and we therefore emphasize those constructions that change its multiplicity in a controlled manner, like the iterated duplication of nodes.