The nucleus of the Johnson graph $J(N,D)$

TL;DR

This paper characterizes the nucleus of the Johnson graph $J(N,D)$, providing explicit bases, combinatorial interpretations, and the action of adjacency matrices on these bases, enhancing understanding of its algebraic structure.

Contribution

It introduces explicit bases for the nucleus of the Johnson graph and describes their properties, including transition matrices and matrix actions, which were not previously detailed.

Findings

Explicit bases for the nucleus are constructed.

Transition matrices between bases are derived.

Actions of adjacency matrices on these bases are described.

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the nucleus of the Johnson graph $\Gamma = J(N,D)$ with $N > 2D$. Let $X$ denote the vertex set of $\Gamma$. Let $A \in \text{Mat}_X({\mathbb C})$ denote the adjacency matrix of $\Gamma$. Let $\{E_i\}_{i=0}^D$ denote the $Q$-polynomial ordering of the primitive idempotents of $A$. Fix $x \in X$, and consider the corresponding dual adjacency matrix $A^*$ and dual primitive idempotents $\{E^*_i\}_{i=0}^D$. The subalgebra $T$ of $\text{Mat}_X({\mathbb C})$ generated by $A$, $A^*$ is called the subconstituent algebra of $\Gamma$ with respect to $x$. Let $V={\mathbb C}^X$ denote the standard module of $\Gamma$. For $0 \leq i \leq D$ define \[ {\mathcal N}_i = (E^*_0 V + E^*_1 V + \cdots + E^*_i V) \cap (E_0 V + E_1 V + \cdots + E_{D-i} V). \] It is known that the sum ${\mathcal N} = \sum_{i=0}^D {\mathcal N}_i$ is direct, and $\mathcal N$ is a $T$-module. The $T$-module $\mathcal N$ is called the nucleus of $\Gamma$ with respect to $x$. For $0 \leq i \leq D$ we construct a basis for ${\mathcal N}_i$ and a basis for $E^*_i {\mathcal N}$. From this we obtain two bases of $\mathcal N$. We give a combinatorial interpretation of these two bases. We give the transition matrices between these two bases. We also give the action of $A$, $A^*$ on these bases.