Dual concepts of almost distance-regularity and the spectral excess theorem

Generally speaking, `almost distance-regular' graphs share some, but not necessarily all, of the regularity properties that characterize distance-regular graphs. In this paper we propose two new dual concepts of almost distance-regularity, thus giving a better understanding of the properties of distance-regular graphs. More precisely, we characterize $m$-partially distance-regular graphs and $j$-punctually eigenspace distance-regular graphs by using their spectra. Our results can also be seen as a generalization of the so-called spectral excess theorem for distance-regular graphs, and they lead to a dual version of it

On almost distance-regular graphs

Distance-regular graphs are a key concept in Algebraic Combinatorics and have given rise to several generalizations, such as association schemes. Motivated by spectral and other algebraic characterizations of distance-regular graphs, we study `almost distance-regular graphs'. We use this name informally for graphs that share some regularity properties that are related to distance in the graph. For example, a known characterization of a distance-regular graph is the invariance of the number of walks of given length between vertices at a given distance, while a graph is called walk-regular if the number of closed walks of given length rooted at any given vertex is a constant. One of the concepts studied here is a generalization of both distance-regularity and walk-regularity called $m$-walk-regularity. Another studied concept is that of $m$-partial distance-regularity or, informally, distance-regularity up to distance $m$. Using eigenvalues of graphs and the predistance polynomials, we discuss and relate these and other concepts of almost distance-regularity, such as their common generalization of $(\ell,m)$-walk-regularity. We introduce the concepts of punctual distance-regularity and punctual walk-regularity as a fundament upon which almost distance-regular graphs are built. We provide examples that are mostly taken from the Foster census, a collection of symmetric cubic graphs. Two problems are posed that are related to the question of when almost distance-regular becomes whole distance-regular. We also give several characterizations of punctually distance-regular graphs that are generalizations of the spectral excess theorem

Listening to Garhwali Popular Music in and out of Place

Listening to popular music is a central means by which people construct their place in the world, both literally and figuratively. For Garhwalis living inside and outside of the Himalayas, listening to vernacular popular music has been one way in which they imagine themselves to be part of a specific place and a larger cultural region. Displacement is a major theme of these songs, and practices of listening underline the mobile and trans-local aspects of life for many Garhwalis. In order to assess the impact of popular music consumption on notions of place, and vice versa, this article provides ethnographic vignettes of musical consumption in Garhwali villages and small towns, Garhwali pilgrimage sites, and migrant contexts outside of Garhwal. I suggest that much of the emotional salience and enduring popularity of Garhwali gīt derive from the emotional and physical displacement of married women and male migrants

On the critical points of the entropic principle

In a recent paper, hep-th/0509109, Gukov et al. introduced an entropy functional on the moduli space of Calabi-Yau compactifications. The maxima of this functional are then interpreted as "preferred" Calabi-Yau compactifications. In this note we show that for compact Calabi-Yaus, all regular critical points of this entropic principle are maxima.Comment: 11 page

Pseudo-distance-regularised graphs are distance-regular or distance-biregular

The concept of pseudo-distance-regularity around a vertex of a graph is a natural generalization, for non-regular graphs, of the standard distance-regularity around a vertex. In this note, we prove that a pseudo-distance-regular graph around each of its vertices is either distance-regular or distance-biregular. By using a combinatorial approach, the same conclusion was reached by Godsil and Shawe-Taylor for a distance-regular graph around each of its vertices. Thus, our proof, which is of an algebraic nature, can also be seen as an alternative demonstration of Godsil and Shawe-Taylor's theorem