Totally bipartite tridiagonal pairs

Abstract

There is a concept in linear algebra called a tridiagonal pair. The concept was motivated by the theory of $Q$-polynomial distance-regular graphs. We give a tutorial introduction to tridiagonal pairs, working with a special case as a concrete example. The special case is called totally bipartite, or totally bipartite (TB). Starting from first principles, we give an elementary but comprehensive account of TB tridiagonal pairs. The following topics are discussed: (i) the notion of a TB tridiagonal system; (ii) the eigenvalue array; (iii) the standard basis and matrix representations; (iv) the intersection numbers; (v) the Askey--Wilson relations; (vi) a recurrence involving the eigenvalue array; (vii) the classification of TB tridiagonal systems; (viii) self-dual TB tridiagonal pairs and systems; (ix) the $\mathbb{Z}_3$-symmetric Askey--Wilson relations; (x) some automorphisms and antiautomorphisms associated with a TB tridiagonal pair; and (xi) an action of the modular group ${\rm PSL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$ associated with a TB tridiagonal pair.