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A generalized quadrangle is a partial linear space where - Given any line and point not on . There is a unique point on such that and are collinear. 
- There are noncollinear points and nonconcurrent lines.
- (Godsil 5.4.1) Let be a partial linear space that contains noncollinear points and nonconcurrent lines. Then is a generalized quadrangle if and only if its incidence graph has diameter and girth . 
 
- Given any line 
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(Godsil 5.5.1) Let be the incidence structure where the points and lines are the totally isotropic points and totally isotropic lines of . Then is a generalized quadrangle 
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A generalized polygon is a finite bipartite graph with diameter and girth . We also refer to this as a generalized -gon. 
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A vertex in a generalized polygon is thick if . Otherwise, they are thin. A generalized polygon is thick if all its vertices are thick. 
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Let be a generalized -gon. - 
(Godsil 5.6.1) If , then there is a unique path of length from to . 
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(Godsil 5.6.2) . 
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(Godsil 5.6.3) Every vertex in has degree at least two. 
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(Godsil 5.6.4) Any two vertices lie in a cycle of length . 
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(Godsil 5.6.5) Let be a cycle of length , any two vertices at the same distance in from a thick vertex in have the same degree. 
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(Godsil 5.6.6) The minimum distance between any pair of thick vertices is a divisor of . If is odd, then all thick vertices have the same degree. If is even, then the thick vertices have at most two degrees. Any vertices at distance from a thick vertex is itself thick 
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(Godsil 5.6.7) If is not thick, it is either a cycle, a -fold subdivision of a multiple edge, or the -fold subdivision of a thick generalized polygon. 
 
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(Godsil 5.6.8) Feit-Higman Theorem If a generalized -gon is thick, then . 
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(Godsil 5.6.9) If a generalized polygon is regular it is distance regular. 
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If the degrees of the vertices of a thick generalized polygon are , we say that it has order . 
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(Godsil 5.6.10) Let be a thick generalized -gon of order . WLOG suppose - If , then 
- If , then for some . and 
- If , then for some and 
 
- If