Hamming graph

Hamming graphs are a special class of graphs named after Richard Hamming and used in several branches of mathematics and computer science. Let S be a set of q elements and d a positive integer. The Hamming graph H(d,q) has vertex set S^d, the set of ordered d-tuples of elements of S, or sequences of length d from S. Two vertices are adjacent if they differ in precisely one coordinate; that is, if their Hamming distance is one. The Hamming graph H(d,q) is, equivalently, the Cartesian product of d complete graphs K_q.

In some cases, Hamming graphs may be considered more generally as the Cartesian products of complete graphs that may be of varying sizes. Unlike the Hamming graphs H(d,q), the graphs in this more general class are not necessarily distance-regular, but they continue to be regular and vertex-transitive.

Special Cases

• H(2,3), which is the generalized quadrangle G Q (2,1)
• H(1,q), which is the complete graph K_q
• H(2,q), which is the lattice graph L_q,q and also the rook's graph
• H(d,1), which is the singleton graph K₁
• H(d,2), which is the hypercube graph Q_d

Applications

The Hamming graphs are interesting in connection with error-correcting codes and association schemes, to name two areas. They have also been considered as a communications network topology in distributed computing.

Computational complexity

It is possible to test whether a graph is a Hamming graph, and in the case that it is find a labeling of it with tuples that realizes it as a Hamming graph, in linear time.

External links

• Weisstein, Eric W., "Hamming Graph", MathWorld.

• .
• .
• . See in particular note (e) on p. 300.
• .
• .
• .
• . On p. 224, the authors write that "a careful study of completely regular codes in Hamming graphs is central to the study of association schemes".