Lambda number of the power graph of a finite group

Abstract: The power graph $\Gamma_G$ of a finite group $G$ is the graph with the vertex set $G$, where two distinct elements are adjacent if one is a power of the other. An $L(2, 1)$-labeling of a graph $\Gamma$ is an assignment of labels from nonnegative integers to all vertices of $\Gamma$ such that vertices at distance two get different labels and adjacent vertices get labels that are at least $2$ apart. The lambda number of $\Gamma$, denoted by $\lambda(\Gamma)$, is the minimum span over all $L(2, 1)$-labelings of $\Gamma$. In this paper, we obtain bounds for $\lambda(\Gamma_G)$, and give necessary and sufficient conditions when the bounds are attained. As applications, we compute the exact value of $\lambda(\Gamma_G)$ if $G$ is a dihedral group, a generalized quaternion group, a $\mathcal{P}$-group or a cyclic group of order $pq^n$, where $p$ and $q$ are distinct primes and $n$ is a positive integer.