Properties of Commutative Association Schemes derived by FGLM Techniques

Abstract

Association schemes are combinatorial objects that allow us solve problems in several branches of mathematics. They have been used in the study of permutation groups and graphs and also in the design of experiments, coding theory, partition designs etc. In this paper we show some techniques for computing properties of association schemes. The main framework arises from the fact that we can characterize completely the Bose-Mesner algebra in terms of a zero-dimensional ideal. A Gröbner basis of this ideal can be easily derived without the use of Buchberger algorithm in an efficient way. From this statement, some nice relations arise between the treatment of zero-dimensional ideals by reordering techniques (FGLM techniques) and some properties of the schemes such as P-polynomiality, and minimal generators of the algebra.