On distance-regular graphs with height two (Q1906253)

Let \(\Gamma\) be a graph, \(d\) the diameter of \(\Gamma\), and for every vertex \(\alpha\) in \(\Gamma\), let \(\Gamma_i(\alpha)= \{\beta\mid \partial(\alpha, \beta)= i\}\) for \(i= 0,\dots, d\). A connected graph \(\Gamma\) is called distance-regular if \(|\Gamma_i(\alpha)\cap \Gamma_j(\beta)|\) depends only on the distance between \(\alpha\) and \(\beta\). In this case we write \(p^l_{ij}= |\Gamma_i(\alpha)\cap \Gamma_j(\beta)|\), where \(\partial(\alpha, \beta)= l\). Let \(h= \max\{i\mid p^d_{di}\neq 0\}\) be the height of \(\Gamma\). Theorem. Let \(\Gamma\) be a distance-regular graph with diameter \(d\) at least 3, and height \(h= 2\). Suppose that, for every \(\alpha\in \Gamma\) and \(\beta\in \Gamma_d(\alpha)\), the intersection \(\Gamma_d(\alpha)\cap \Gamma_2(\beta)\) is a clique. Then \(d= 3\) and \(\Gamma\) is isomorphic to \(J(8,3)\). Corollary. Let \(\Gamma\) be a distance-regular graph with diameter \(d\) at least 3, and \(\Delta\) a strongly regular graph such that \(\Delta_2(\beta)\) is a disjoint union of cliques for every \(\beta\in \Delta\). If \(\Gamma_d(\alpha)\) is isomorphic to \(\Delta\) for every \(\alpha\in \Gamma\), then \(d= 3\) and \(\Gamma\) is isomorphic to \(J(8, 3)\).