A characterization of Q-polynomial association schemes

We prove a necessary and sufficient condition for a symmetric association scheme to be a Q-polynomial scheme.     

Imprimitive cometric association schemes: Constructions and analysis

Dualizing the “extended bipartite double” construction for distance-regular graphs, we construct a new family of cometric (or Q-polynomial) association schemes with four associate classes based on linked systems of symmetric designs. The analysis of these new schemes naturally leads to structural questions concerning imprimitive cometric association schemes, some of which we answer with others being left as open problems. In particular, we prove that any Q-antipodal association scheme is dismantlable: the configuration induced on any subset of the equivalence classes in the Q-antipodal imprimitivity system is again a cometric association scheme. Further examples are explored. Dedicated to the memory of Dom de Caen, 1956—2002.     

An analogue oft-Designs in the association schemes of alternating bilinear forms

The notion of designs in an association scheme is defined algebraically by Delsarte [4]. It is known that his definition of designs has a geometric interpretation for known (P andQ)-polynomial association schemes except three examples. In this paper we give a geometric interpretation of designs in an association scheme of alternating bilinear forms, which is one of the three.     

Designs in Product Association Schemes

A number of important families of association schemes—such as the Hamming and Johnson schemes—enjoy the property that, in each member of the family, Delsarte t-designs can be characterised combinatorially as designs in a certain partially ordered set attached to the scheme. In this paper, we extend this characterisation to designs in a product association scheme each of whose components admits a characterisation of the above type. As a consequence of our main result, we immediately obtain linear programming bounds for a wide variety of combinatorial objects as well as bounds on the size and degree of such designs analogous to Delsarte's bounds for t-designs in Q-polynomial association schemes.     

Dispersion analysis of triangle-based spectral element methods for elastic wave propagation

We study the numerical dispersion/dissipation of Triangle-based Spectral Element Methods (TSEM) of order N????1 when coupled with the Leap-Frog (LF) finite difference scheme to simulate the elastic wave propagation over a structured triangulation of the 2D physical domain. The analysis relies on the discrete eigenvalue problem resulting from the approximation of the dispersion relation. First, we present semi-discrete dispersion graphs by varying the approximation polynomial degree and the number of discrete points per wavelength. The fully-discrete ones are then obtained by varying also the time step. Numerical results for the TSEM, resp. TSEM-LF, are compared with those of the classical Quadrangle-based Spectral Element Method (QSEM), resp. QSEM-LF.     

Code and order in polygonal billiards

Two polygons P, Q are code equivalent if there are billiard orbits u, v which hit the same sequence of sides and such that the projections of the orbits are dense in the boundaries ∂P, ∂Q. Our main results show when code equivalent polygons have the same angles, resp. are similar, resp. affinely similar.     

The Subconstituent Algebra of an Association Scheme (Part III)

This is the continuation of an article from the previous issue. In this part, we focus on the thin P- and Q-polynomial association schemes. We provide some combinatorial characterizations of these objects and exhibit the known examples with diameter at least 6. For each example, we give the irreducible modules for the subconstituent algebra. We close with some conjectures and open problems.     

Characterization of the association schemes of Hermitian forms over GF(22)

It is shown that an association schemeY=(X, {R _i }_0⩽i⩽d ), in which the parameters coincide with those of the scheme Her(d, 2) of Hermitian forms ind-dimensional space over GF(2²), is isomorphic to Her(d, 2). A principal role in the proof is played by a theorem by P. Terwilliger on the number of 4-vertex configurations of a given type in (P andQ)-polynomial association schemes. Some partial results are obtained in the case of an arbitrary finite field.     

The Erdös-Ko-Rado theorem for twisted Grassmann graphs

We present a “modern” approach to the Erdös-Ko-Rado theorem for Q-polynomial distance-regular graphs and apply it to the twisted Grassmann graphs discovered in 2005 by Van Dam and Koolen.     

On codewords in the dual code of classical generalised quadrangles and classical polar spaces

In [J.L. Kim, K. Mellinger, L. Storme, Small weight codewords in LDPC codes defined by (dual) classical generalised quadrangles, Des. Codes Cryptogr. 42 (1) (2007) 73-92], the codewords of small weight in the dual code of the code of points and lines of Q(4,q) are characterised. Inspired by this result, using geometrical arguments, we characterise the codewords of small weight in the dual code of the code of points and generators of Q⁺(5,q) and H(5,q²), and we present lower bounds on the weight of the codewords in the dual of the code of points and k-spaces of the classical polar spaces. Furthermore, we investigate the codewords with the largest weights in these codes, where for q even and k sufficiently small, we determine the maximum weight and characterise the codewords of maximum weight. Moreover, we show that there exists an interval such that for every even number w in this interval, there is a codeword in the dual code of Q⁺(5,q), q even, with weight w and we show that there is an empty interval in the weight distribution of the dual of the code of Q(4,q), q even. To prove this, we show that a blocking set of Q(4,q), q even, of size q²+1+r, where 0<r<(q+4)/6, contains an ovoid of Q(4,q), improving on [J. Eisfeld, L. Storme, T. Sz?nyi, P. Sziklai, Covers and blocking sets of classical generalised quadrangles, Discrete Math. 238 (2001) 35-51, Theorem 9].     

A-identities for the {2 \times 2} matrix algebra

Let K be an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. We prove that the minimum degree for A-identities of \({M_{2}(K)}\) is 6. We also construct an explicit A-polynomial of degree 6 and prove it is an A-identity.     

On the divergence of polynomial interpolation

Consider a triangular interpolation scheme on a continuous piecewise C¹ curve of the complex plane, and let Γ be the closure of this triangular scheme. Given a meromorphic function f with no singularities on Γ, we are interested in the region of convergence of the sequence of interpolating polynomials to the function f. In particular, we focus on the case in which Γ is not fully contained in the interior of the region of convergence defined by the standard logarithmic potential. Let us call Γ_out the subset of Γ outside of the convergence region.In the paper we show that the sequence of interpolating polynomials, {P_n}_n, is divergent on all the points of Γ_out, except on a set of zero Lebesgue measure. Moreover, the structure of the set of divergence is also discussed: the subset of values z for which there exists a partial sequence of {P_n(z)}_n that converges to f(z) has zero Hausdorff dimension (so it also has zero Lebesgue measure), while the subset of values for which all the partials are divergent has full Lebesgue measure.The classical Runge example is also considered. In this case we show that, for all z in the part of the interval (−5,5) outside the region of convergence, the sequence {P_n(z)}_n is divergent.     

The functional equation P(f)=Q(g) in a p-adic field

Let K be a complete ultrametric algebraically closed field of characteristic π. Let P,Q be in K[x] with P′Q′ not identically 0. Consider two different functions f,g analytic or meromorphic inside a disk |x−a|<r (resp. in all K), satisfying P(f)=Q(g). By applying the Nevanlinna's values distribution Theory in characteristic π, we give sufficient conditions on the zeros of P′,Q′ to assure that both f,g are “bounded” in the disk (resp. are constant). If π≠2 and deg(P)=4, we examine the particular case when Q=λP (λ∈K) and we derive several sets of conditions characterizing the existence of two distinct functions f,g meromorphic in K such that P(f)=λP(g).     

On the Drazin inverses involving power commutativity

We explore the Drazin inverses of bounded linear operators with power commutativity (PQ=QmP) in a Hilbert space. Conditions on Drazin invertibility are formulated and shown to depend on spectral properties of the operators involved. Moreover, we prove that P±Q is Drazin invertible if P and Q are dual power commutative (PQ=QmP and QP=PnQ) and show that the explicit representations of the Drazin inverse D(P±Q) depend on the positive integers m,n?2.     

A theorem about antiprisms

Let P be a polytope in Rⁿ containing the origin in its interior, and let P¹ be the algebraic dual polytope of P. Let Q ? Rⁿ×[0,1] be the (n+1)-dimensional polytope that is the convex hull of P×{1} and P¹×{0}. For each face F of P, let Q(F) denote the convex hull of F×{1} and F¹×{0}, where F¹ is the dual face of P¹. Then Q is an antiprism if the set of facets of Q is precisely the collection {Q (F)} for all faces F of P. If Q is an antiprism, the correspondence between primal and dual faces of P and P¹ is manifested in the facets of Q. In this paper, necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of antiprisms are stated and proved.     

The Tutte–Potts connection in the presence of an external magnetic field

The classical relationship between the Tutte polynomial of graph theory and the Potts model of statistical mechanics has resulted in valuable interactions between the disciplines. Unfortunately, it does not include the external magnetic fields that appear in most Potts model applications. Here we define the V-polynomial, which lifts the classical relationship between the Tutte polynomial and the zero field Potts model to encompass external magnetic fields. The V-polynomial generalizes Noble and Welshʼs W-polynomial, which extends the Tutte polynomial by incorporating vertex weights and adapting contraction to accommodate them. We prove that the variable field Potts model partition function (with its many specializations) is an evaluation of the V-polynomial, and hence a polynomial with deletion–contraction reduction and Fortuin–Kasteleyn type representation. This unifies an important segment of Potts model theory and brings previously successful combinatorial machinery, including complexity results, to bear on a wider range of statistical mechanics models.     

New families of Q-polynomial association schemes

In this paper, we construct the first known infinite family of primitive Q-polynomial schemes which are not generated by distance-regular graphs. To construct these examples, we introduce the notion of a relative hemisystem of a generalized quadrangle with respect to a subquadrangle.     

Classification of subsets with minimal width and dual width in Grassmann, bilinear forms and dual polar graphs

Brouwer, Godsil, Koolen and Martin [Width and dual width of subsets in polynomial association schemes, J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 102 (2003) 255-271] introduced the width w and the dual width w^* of a subset in a distance-regular graph and in a cometric association scheme, respectively, and then derived lower bounds on these new parameters. For instance, subsets with the property w+w^*=d in a cometric distance-regular graph with diameter d attain these bounds. In this paper, we classify subsets with this property in Grassmann graphs, bilinear forms graphs and dual polar graphs. We use this information to establish the Erd?s-Ko-Rado theorem in full generality for the first two families of graphs.     

Cellularity in polyhedra

A compact subset X of a polyhedron P is cellular in P if there is a pseudoisotropy of P shrinking precisely X to a point. A proper surjection between polyhedra f:P→Q is cellular if each point inverse of f is cellular in P. It is shown that if f:P→Q is a cellular map and either P or Q is a generalized n-manifold, n≠4, then f is approximable by homeomorphisms. Also, if P or Q is an n-manifold with boundary, n≠4, 5, then a cellular map f:P→Q is approximable by homeomorphisms. A cellularity criterion for a special class of cell-like sets in polyhedra is established.     

Bipartite Q-polynomial distance-regular graphs and uniform posets

Let Γ denote a bipartite distance-regular graph with vertex set X and diameter D≥3. Fix x∈X and let L (resp., R) denote the corresponding lowering (resp., raising) matrix. We show that each Q-polynomial structure for Γ yields a certain linear dependency among RL ², LRL, L ² R, L. Define a partial order ≤ on X as follows. For y,z∈X let y≤z whenever ?(x,y)+?(y,z)=?(x,z), where ? denotes path-length distance. We determine whether the above linear dependency gives this poset a uniform or strongly uniform structure. We show that except for one special case a uniform structure is attained, and except for three special cases a strongly uniform structure is attained.