Distance-regular graphs with a relatively small eigenvalue multiplicity (Q1953371)

Summary: \textit{C. D. Godsil} [Combinatorica 8, No. 4, 333--343 (1988; Zbl 0657.05047)] showed that if \(\Gamma\) is a distance-regular graph with diameter \(D \geq 3\) and valency \(k \geq 3\), and \(\theta\) is an eigenvalue of \(\Gamma\) with multiplicity \(m \geq 2\), then \(k \leq\frac{(m+2)(m-1)}{2}\). In this paper we will give a refined statement of this result. We show that if \(\Gamma\) is a distance-regular graph with diameter \(D \geq 3\), valency \(k \geq 2\) and an eigenvalue \(\theta\) with multiplicity \(m\geq 2\), such that \(k\) is close to \(\frac{(m+2)(m-1)}{2}\), then \(\theta\) must be a tail. We also characterize the distance-regular graphs with diameter \(D \geq 3\), valency \(k \geq 3\) and an eigenvalue \(\theta\) with multiplicity \(m \geq 2\) satisfying \(k= \frac{(m+2)(m-1)}{2}\).