Positivity of Gibbs states on distance-regular graphs

We study criteria which ensure that Gibbs states (often also called generalized vacuum states) on distance-regular graphs are positive. Our main criterion assumes that the graph can be embedded into a growing family of distance-regular graphs. For the proof of the positivity we then use polynomial hypergroup theory and translate this positivity into the problem whether for $x\in[-1,1]$ the function $n\mapsto x^n$ has a positive integral representation w.r.t. the orthogonal polynomials associated with the graph. We apply our criteria to several examples. For Hamming graphs and the infinite distance-transitive graphs we obtain a complete description of the positive Gibbs states.