The spectral excess theorem for distance-regular graphs having distance-<Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis> graph with fewer distinct eigenvalues

Let \(\Gamma \) be a distance-regular graph with diameter d and Kneser graph \(K=\Gamma _d\), the distance-d graph of \(\Gamma \). We say that \(\Gamma \) is partially antipodal when K has fewer distinct eigenvalues than \(\Gamma \). In particular, this is the case of antipodal distance-regular graphs (K with only two distinct eigenvalues) and the so-called half-antipodal distance-regular graphs (K with only one negative eigenvalue). We provide a characterization of partially antipodal distance-regular graphs (among regular graphs with \(d+1\) distinct eigenvalues) in terms of the spectrum and the mean number of vertices at maximal distance d from every vertex. This can be seen as a more general version of the so-called spectral excess theorem, which allows us to characterize those distance-regular graphs which are half-antipodal, antipodal, bipartite, or with Kneser graph being strongly regular.     

Almost 2-Homogeneous Graphs and Completely Regular Quadrangles

Many known distance-regular graphs have extra combinatorial regularities: One of them is t-homogeneity. A bipartite or almost bipartite distance-regular graph is 2-homogeneous if the number γ _i  = |{x | ∂(u, x) = ∂(v, x) = 1 and ∂(w, x) = i − 1}| (i = 2, 3,..., d) depends only on i whenever ∂(u, v) = 2 and ∂(u, w) = ∂(v, w) = i. K. Nomura gave a complete classification of bipartite and almost bipartite 2-homogeneous distance-regular graphs. In this paper, we generalize Nomura’s results by classifying 2-homogeneous triangle-free distance-regular graphs. As an application, we show that if Γ is a distance-regular graph of diameter at least four such that all quadrangles are completely regular then Γ is isomorphic to a binary Hamming graph, the folded graph of a binary Hamming graph or the coset graph of the extended binary Golay code of valency 24. We also consider the case Γ is a parallelogram-free distance-regular graph. This research was partially supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No.17540039), Japan Society of the Promotion of Science.     

Amply regular graphs and block designs

We study the amply regular diameter d graphs Γ such that for some vertex a the set of vertices at distance d from a is the set of points of a 2-design whose set of blocks consists of the intersections of the neighborhoods of points with the set of vertices at distance d-1 from a. We prove that the subgraph induced by the set of points is a clique, a coclique, or a strongly regular diameter 2 graph. For diameter 3 graphs we establish that this construction is a 2-design for each vertex a if and only if the graph is distance-regular and for each vertex a the subgraph Γ₃(a) is a clique, a coclique, or a strongly regular graph. We obtain the list of admissible parameters for designs and diameter 3 graphs under the assumption that the subgraph induced by the set of points is a Seidel graph. We show that some of the parameters found cannot correspond to distance-regular graphs.     

The girth of a thin distance-regular graph

Let Γ be a distance-regular graph of diameterd≥3. For each vertexx of Γ, letT(x) denote the Terwilliger algebra for Γ with respect tox. An irreducibleT(x)-moduleW is said to bethin if dimE _i ^* (x)W≤1 for 0≤i≤d, whereE _i ^* (x) is theith dual idempotent for Γ with respect tox. The graph Γ isthin if for each vertexx of Γ, every irreducibleT(x)-module is thin. Aregular generalized quadrangle is a bipartite distance-regular graph with girth 8 and diameter 4. Our main results are as follows: Theorem. Let Γ=(X,R) be a distance-regular graph with diameter d≥3 and valency k≥3. Then the following are equivalent:

1. Γis a regular generalized quadrangle.
2. Γis thin and c ₃=1.

Corollary. Let Γ=(X,R) be a thin distance-regular graph with diameter d≥3 and valency k≥3. Then Γ has girth 3, 4, 6, or 8. Then girth of Γ is 8 exactly when Γ is a regular generalized quadrangle.     

Convex -closures versus convex norm-closures in dual Banach spaces

A subset Y of a dual Banach space X^* is said to have the property (P) if for every weak^*-compact subset H of Y. The purpose of this paper is to give a characterization of the property (P) for subsets of a dual Banach space X^*, and to study the behavior of the property (P) with respect to additions, unions, products, whether the closed linear hull has the property (P) when Y does, etc. We show that the property (P) is stable under all these operations in the class of weak^* -analytic subsets of X^*.     

The weak* similarity property on dual operator algebras

This paper is devoted to dual operator algebras, that isw ^*-closed algebras of bounded operators on Hilbert space. We investigate unital dual operator algebrasA with the following weak^* similarity property: for every Hilbert spaceH, anyw ^*-continuous unital homomorphism fromA intoB(H) is completely bounded and thus similar to a contractive one. We develop a notion of dual similarity degree for these algebras, in analogy with some recent work of Pisier on the similarity problem on operator algebras.     

On almost distance-regular graphs

Distance-regular graphs are a key concept in Algebraic Combinatorics and have given rise to several generalizations, such as association schemes. Motivated by spectral and other algebraic characterizations of distance-regular graphs, we study ‘almost distance-regular graphs’. We use this name informally for graphs that share some regularity properties that are related to distance in the graph. For example, a known characterization of a distance-regular graph is the invariance of the number of walks of given length between vertices at a given distance, while a graph is called walk-regular if the number of closed walks of given length rooted at any given vertex is a constant. One of the concepts studied here is a generalization of both distance-regularity and walk-regularity called m-walk-regularity. Another studied concept is that of m-partial distance-regularity or, informally, distance-regularity up to distance m. Using eigenvalues of graphs and the predistance polynomials, we discuss and relate these and other concepts of almost distance-regularity, such as their common generalization of (?,m)-walk-regularity. We introduce the concepts of punctual distance-regularity and punctual walk-regularity as a fundament upon which almost distance-regular graphs are built. We provide examples that are mostly taken from the Foster census, a collection of symmetric cubic graphs. Two problems are posed that are related to the question of when almost distance-regular becomes whole distance-regular. We also give several characterizations of punctually distance-regular graphs that are generalizations of the spectral excess theorem.     

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.     

On the connectedness of the complement of a ball in distance-regular graphs

An important property of strongly regular graphs is that the second subconstituent of any primitive strongly regular graph is always connected. Brouwer asked to what extent this statement can be generalized to distance-regular graphs. In this paper, we show that if γ is any vertex of a distance-regular graph Γ and t is the index where the standard sequence corresponding to the second largest eigenvalue of Γ changes sign, then the subgraph induced by the vertices at distance at least t from γ, is connected.     

Parallelogram-free distance-regular graphs having completely regular strongly regular subgraphs

Let Γ=(X,R) be a distance-regular graph of diameter d. A parallelogram of length i is a 4-tuple xyzw consisting of vertices of Γ such that ?(x,y)=?(z,w)=1, ?(x,z)=i, and ?(x,w)=?(y,w)=?(y,z)=i?1. A subset Y of X is said to be a completely regular code if the numbers

$\pi_{i,j}=|\Gamma_{j}(x)\cap Y|\quad (i,j\in \{0,1,\ldots,d\})$

depend only on i=?(x,Y) and j. A subset Y of X is said to be strongly closed if

$\{x\mid \partial(u,x)\leq \partial(u,v),\partial(v,x)=1\}\subset Y,\mbox{ whenever }u,v\in Y.$

Hamming graphs and dual polar graphs have strongly closed completely regular codes. In this paper, we study parallelogram-free distance-regular graphs having strongly closed completely regular codes. Let Γ be a parallelogram-free distance-regular graph of diameter d≥4 such that every strongly closed subgraph of diameter two is completely regular. We show that Γ has a strongly closed subgraph of diameter d?1 isomorphic to a Hamming graph or a dual polar graph. Moreover if the covering radius of the strongly closed subgraph of diameter two is d?2, Γ itself is isomorphic to a Hamming graph or a dual polar graph. We also give an algebraic characterization of the case when the covering radius is d?2.

     

Geometric aspects of 2-walk-regular graphs

A t-walk-regular graph is a graph for which the number of walks of given length between two vertices depends only on the distance between these two vertices, as long as this distance is at most t. Such graphs generalize distance-regular graphs and t-arc-transitive graphs. In this paper, we will focus on 1- and in particular 2-walk-regular graphs, and study analogues of certain results that are important for distance-regular graphs. We will generalize Delsarte?s clique bound to 1-walk-regular graphs, Godsil?s multiplicity bound and Terwilliger?s analysis of the local structure to 2-walk-regular graphs. We will show that 2-walk-regular graphs have a much richer combinatorial structure than 1-walk-regular graphs, for example by proving that there are finitely many non-geometric 2-walk-regular graphs with given smallest eigenvalue and given diameter (a geometric graph is the point graph of a special partial linear space); a result that is analogous to a result on distance-regular graphs. Such a result does not hold for 1-walk-regular graphs, as our construction methods will show.     

On bipartite distance-regular graphs with a strongly closed subgraph of diameter three

Let Γ denote a distance-regular graph with a strongly closed regular subgraph Y. Hosoya and Suzuki [R. Hosoya, H. Suzuki, Tight distance-regular graphs with respect to subsets, European J. Combin. 28 (2007) 61-74] showed an inequality for the second largest and least eigenvalues of Γ in the case Y is of diameter 2. In this paper, we study the case when Γ is bipartite and Y is of diameter 3, and obtain an inequality for the second largest eigenvalue of Γ. Moreover, we characterize the distance-regular graphs with a completely regular strongly closed subgraph H(3,2).     

Largest dual ellipsoids inscribed in dual cones

Suppose x? and s? lie in the interiors of a cone K and its dual K ^*, respectively. We seek dual ellipsoidal norms such that the product of the radii of the largest inscribed balls centered at x? and s? and inscribed in K and K ^*, respectively, is maximized. Here the balls are defined using the two dual norms. When the cones are symmetric, that is self-dual and homogeneous, the solution arises directly from the Nesterov–Todd primal–dual scaling. This shows a desirable geometric property of this scaling in symmetric cone programming, namely that it induces primal/dual norms that maximize the product of the distances to the boundaries of the cones.     

A Family of Antipodal Distance-Regular Graphs Related to the Classical Preparata Codes

A new family of distance-regular graphs is constructed. They are antipodal 2^2t–1-fold covers of the complete graph on 2^2t vertices. The automorphism groups are determined, and the extended Preparata codes are reconstructed using walks on these graphs.There are connections to other interesting structures: the graphs are equivalent to certain generalized Hadamard matrices; and their underlying 3-class association scheme is formally dual to the scheme of a system of linked symmetric designs obtained from Kerdock sets of skew matrices in characteristic two.     

On self duality of pathwidth in polyhedral graph embeddings

Let G be a 3‐connected planar graph and G^* be its dual. We show that the pathwidth of G^* is at most 6 times the pathwidth of G. We prove this result by relating the pathwidth of a graph with the cut‐width of its medial graph and we extend it to bounded genus embeddings. We also show that there exist 3‐connected planar graphs such that the pathwidth of such a graph is at least 1.5 times the pathwidth of its dual. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 55: 42–54, 2007     

Feasibility conditions for the existence of walk-regular graphs

A graph X is walk-regular if the vertex-deleted subgraphs of X all have the same characteristic polynomial. Examples of such graphs are vertex-transitive graphs and distance-regular graphs. We show that the usual feasibility conditions for the existence of a distance-regular graph with a given intersection array can be extended so that they apply to walk-regular graphs. Despite the greater generality, our proofs are more elementary than those usually given for distance-regular graphs. An application to the computation of vertex-transitive graphs is described.     

Antipodal covers of distance-transitive generalized polygons

In an earlier paper, the first two authors found all distance-regular antipodal covers of all known primitive distance-transitive graphs of diameter at least 3 with one possible exception. That remaining case is resolved here with the proof that a primitive and distance-transitive collinearity graph of a finite generalized 2d-gon with \(d\ge 3\) has no distance-regular antipodal cover of diameter 2d.     

On the Metric Dimension of Imprimitive Distance-Regular Graphs

A resolving set for a graph \({\Gamma}\) is a collection of vertices S, chosen so that for each vertex v, the list of distances from v to the members of S uniquely specifies v. The metric dimension of \({\Gamma}\) is the smallest size of a resolving set for \({\Gamma}\). Much attention has been paid to the metric dimension of distance-regular graphs. Work of Babai from the early 1980s yields general bounds on the metric dimension of primitive distance-regular graphs in terms of their parameters. We show how the metric dimension of an imprimitive distance-regular graph can be related to that of its halved and folded graphs. We also consider infinite families (including Taylor graphs and the incidence graphs of certain symmetric designs) where more precise results are possible.     

The diameter of bipartite distance-regular graphs

It is shown that any bipartite distance-regular graph with finite valency k and at least one cycle is finite, with diameter d and girth g satisfying $\text{d≤}\text{(k?1)(g?2)}\text{2+1}$. In particular, the number of bipartite distance-regular graphs with fixed valency and girth is finite.     

Two distance-regular graphs

We construct two families of distance-regular graphs, namely the subgraph of the dual polar graph of type B ₃(q) induced on the vertices far from a fixed point, and the subgraph of the dual polar graph of type D ₄(q) induced on the vertices far from a fixed edge. The latter is the extended bipartite double of the former.