Classification of strictly resistance nonnegative graphs

Source abstract

We say that a graph is resistance nonnegative or RN if it admits a positive edge-weight that yields nonnegative resistance curvature in the sense of Devriendt and Lambiotte. Analogously, a graph may be resistance positive or RP; we say a graph is strictly RN if it is RN but not RP. In this paper, we show that every $2$-connected strictly RN graph is bipartite with parts whose sizes differ by one, demonstrating that there are no $1$-tough strictly RN graphs. As a consequence, we prove that every $1$-tough RN graph is also RP. Lastly, we quantify the exact toughness values an RN graph can attain below $1$.