On the Chromatic Number, Colorings, and Codes of the Johnson Graph

Abstract We consider the Johnson graph J(n, w), 0 ⩽ w ⩽ n. The graph has ( n w ) vertices representing the ( n w ) w-subsets of an n-set. Two vertices are connected by an edge if the intersection between their w-subsets is a (w − 1)-set. Let θ(n, w) be the chromatic number of this graph. It is well known that θ(n, w) ⩽ n. We give some constructions which yield θ(n, w)