The Spectrum of Triangle-free Graphs

Denote by $q_n(G)$ the smallest eigenvalue of the signless Laplacian matrix of an $n$-vertex graph $G$. Brandt conjectured in 1997 that for regular triangle-free graphs $q_n(G) \leq \frac{4n}{25}$. We prove a stronger result: If $G$ is a triangle-free graph then $q_n(G) \leq \frac{15n}{94}< \frac{4n