A characterization of Q-polynomial distance-regular graphs

Abstract

We obtain the following characterization of $Q$-polynomial distance-regular graphs. Let $\G$ denote a distance-regular graph with diameter $d\ge 3$. Let $E$ denote a minimal idempotent of $\G$ which is not the trivial idempotent $E_0$. Let $\{θ_i^*\}_{i=0}^d$ denote the dual eigenvalue sequence for $E$. We show that $E$ is $Q$-polynomial if and only if (i) the entry-wise product $E \circ E$ is a linear combination of $E_0$, $E$, and at most one other minimal idempotent of $\G$; (ii) there exists a complex scalar $β$ such that $θ^*_{i-1}-βθ^*_i + θ^*_{i+1}$ is independent of $i$ for $1 \le i \le d-1$; (iii) $θ^*_i \ne θ^*_0$ for $1 \le i \le d$.

10 pages, 1 figure