On Bipartite $Q$-Polynomial Distance-Regular Graphs with Diameter 9, 10, or 11

Abstract

Let $\Gamma$ denote a bipartite distance-regular graph with diameter $D$. In [Caughman (2004)], Caughman showed that if $D \ge 12$, then $\Gamma$ is $Q$-polynomial if and only if one of the following (i)-(iv) holds: (i) $\Gamma$ is the ordinary $2D$-cycle, (ii) $\Gamma$ is the Hamming cube $H(D,2)$, (iii) $\Gamma$ is the antipodal quotient of the Hamming cube $H(2D,2)$, (iv) the intersection numbers of $\Gamma$ satisfy $c_i = (q^i - 1)/(q-1)$, $b_i = (q^D-q^i)/(q-1)$ $(0 \le i \le D)$, where $q$ is an integer at least $2$. In this paper we show that the above result is true also for bipartite distance-regular graphs with $D \in \{9,10,11\}$.