Classification of partitions of all triples on ten points into copies of Fano and affine planes

We continue our study of partitions of the full set of triples chosen from a v-set into copies of the Fano plane PG(2,2) (Fano partitions) or copies of the affine plane AG(2,3) (affine partitions) or into copies of both of these planes (mixed partitions). The smallest cases for which such partitions can occur are v=8 where Fano partitions exist, v=9 where affine partitions exist, and v=10 where both affine and mixed partitions exist. The Fano partitions for v=8 and the affine partitions for v=9 and 10 have been fully classified, into 11, two and 77 isomorphism classes, respectively. Here we classify (1) the sets of i pairwise disjoint affine planes for i=1,…,7, and (2) the mixed partitions for v=10 into their 22 isomorphism classes. We consider the ways in which these partitions relate to the large sets of AG(2,3).     

Lecture Hall Partitions

We prove a finite version of the well-known theorem that says that the number of partitions of an integer N into distinct parts is equal to the number of partitions of N into odd parts. Our version says that the number of lecture hall partitions of length n of N equals the number of partitions of N into small odd parts: 1,3,5, ldots, 2n-1 . We give two proofs: one via Bott's formula for the Poincaré series of the affine Coxeter group , and one direct proof.     

Partitions of finite vector spaces into subspaces

Let V_n(q) denote a vector space of dimension n over the field with q elements. A set of subspaces of V_n(q) is a partition of V_n(q) if every nonzero element of V_n(q) is contained in exactly one element of . Suppose there exists a partition of V_n(q) into x_i subspaces of dimension n_i, 1 ≤ i ≤ k. Then x₁, …, x_k satisfy the Diophantine equation . However, not every solution of the Diophantine equation corresponds to a partition of V_n(q). In this article, we show that there exists a partition of V_n(2) into x subspaces of dimension 3 and y subspaces of dimension 2 if and only if 7x + 3y = 2ⁿ ? 1 and y ≠ 1. In doing so, we introduce techniques useful in constructing further partitions. We also show that partitions of V_n(q) induce uniformly resolvable designs on qⁿ points. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 16: 329–341, 2008     

3-(v, 4, 1) covering designs with chromatic numbers 2 and 3

A t-(v, k, λ) covering design is a pair (X, B) where X is a v-set and B is a collection of k-sets in X, called blocks, such that every t element subset of X is contained in at least λ blocks of B. The covering number, C_λ(t, k, v), is the minimum number of blocks a t-(v, k, λ) covering design may have. The chromatic number of (X, B) is the smallest m for which there exists a map φ: X → Z_m such that ∣φ((β)∣ ≥2 for all β ∈ B, where φ(β) = {φ(x): x ∈ β}. The system (X, B) is equitably m-chromatic if there is a proper coloring φ with minimal m for which the numbers ∣φ^?1(c)∣ c ∈ Z_m differ from each other by at most 1. In this article we show that minimum, (i.e., ∣B∣ = C λ (t, k, v)) equitably 3-chromatic 3-(v, 4, 1) covering designs exist for v ≡ 0 (mod 6), v ≥ 18 for v ≥ 1, 13 (mod 36), v ≡ 13 and for all numbers v = n, n + 1, where n ≡ 4, 8, 10 (mod 12), n ≥ 16; and n = 6.5^a 13^b 17^c ?4, a + b + c > 0, and n = 14, 62. We also show that minimum, equitably 2-chromatic 3-(v, 4, 1) covering designs exist for v ≡ 0, 5, 9 (mod 12), v ≥ 0, v = 2.5^a 13^b 17^c + 1, a + b + c > 0, and v = 23. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Construction techniques for Galois coverings of the affine line

For constructing un ramified coverings of the affine line in characteristicp, a general theorem about good reductions modulop of coverings of characteristic zero curves is proved. This is applied to modular curves to realize SL(2, ℤ/nℤ)/±1, with GCD(n, 6) = 1, as Galois groups of unramified coverings of the affine line in characteristicp, for p = 2 or 3. It is applied to the Klein curve to realize PSL(2, 7) for p = 2 or 3, and to the Macbeath curve to realize PSL(2, 8) for p = 3. By looking at curves with big automorphism groups, the projective special unitary groups PSU(3, p^v) and the projective special linear groups PSL(2, p^v) are realized for allp, and the Suzuki groups Sz(2^2v+1) are realized for p = 2. Jacobian varieties are used to realize certain extensions of realizable groups with abelian kernels.     

On the distribution of the summands of unequal partitions in residue classes

Summary It is proved that the summands of almost all unequal partitions of nare well-distributed modulo dfor d=o(n^1/2).     

On the distribution of the summands of partitions in residue classes

Summary It is proved that the summands of almost all partitions of nare well-distributed modulo dfor dup to d= n^1/2-ε.     

On the Maximal Multiplicity of Parts in a Random Integer Partition

We study the asymptotic behavior of the maximal multiplicity μ_n = μ_n(λ) of the parts in a partition λ of the positive integer n, assuming that λ is chosen uniformly at random from the set of all such partitions. We prove that πμ_n/(6n)^1/2 converges weakly to max _jX_j/j as n→∞, where X₁, X₂, … are independent and exponentially distributed random variables with common mean equal to 1.2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary—05A17; Secondary—11P82, 60C05, 60F05     

MacMahon's partition identity and the coin exchange problem

One of MacMahon's partition theorems says that the number of partitions of n into parts divisible by 2 or 3 equals the number of partitions of n into parts with multiplicity larger than 1. Recently, Holroyd has obtained a generalization. In this short note, we provide a bijective proof of his theorem.     

Some designs which admit strong tactical decompositions

Whenever there exist affine planes of orders n ? 1 and n, a construction is given for a 2 ? ((n + 1)(n ? 1)², n(n ? 1), n) design admitting a strong tactical decomposition. These designs are neither symmetric nor strongly resolvable but can be embedded in symmetric 2 ? (n³ ? n + 1, n², n) designs.     

On vector space partitions and uniformly resolvable designs

Let V _n (q) denote a vector space of dimension n over the field with q elements. A set of subspaces of V _n (q) is a partition of V _n (q) if every nonzero vector in V _n (q) is contained in exactly one subspace in . A uniformly resolvable design is a pairwise balanced design whose blocks can be resolved in such a way that all blocks in a given parallel class have the same size. A partition of V _n (q) containing a _i subspaces of dimension n _i for 1 ≤ i ≤ k induces a uniformly resolvable design on q ⁿ points with a _i parallel classes with block size , 1 ≤ i ≤ k, and also corresponds to a factorization of the complete graph into -factors, 1 ≤ i ≤ k. We present some sufficient and some necessary conditions for the existence of certain vector space partitions. For the partitions that are shown to exist, we give the corresponding uniformly resolvable designs. We also show that there exist uniformly resolvable designs on q ⁿ points where corresponding partitions of V _n (q) do not exist. A. D. Blinco—Part of this research was done while the author was visiting Illinois State University.     

Jagged Partitions

By jagged partitions we refer to an ordered collection of non-negative integers (n₁, n₂,..., n_m) with n_m≥ p for some positive integer p, further subject to some weakly decreasing conditions that prevent them for being genuine partitions. The case analyzed in greater detail here corresponds to p = 1 and the following conditions n_i≥ n_i+1−1 and n_i≥ n_i+2. A number of properties for the corresponding partition function are derived, including rather remarkable congruence relations. An interesting application of jagged partitions concerns the derivation of generating functions for enumerating partitions with special restrictions, a point that is illustrated with various examples. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary—05A15, 05A17, 05A19     

On the Combinatorics of Lecture Hall Partitions

A lecture hall partition of length n is an integer sequence satisfying Bousquet-Mélou and Eriksson showed that the number of lecture hall partitions of length n of a positive integer N whose alternating sum is k equals the number of partitions of N into k odd parts less than 2n. We prove the fact by a natural combinatorial bijection. This bijection, though defined differently, is essentially the same as one of the bijections found by Bousquet-Mélou and Eriksson.     

Arithmetic Properties of Summands of Partitions II

Let d∈ℕ, d ≥ 2. We prove that a positive proportion of partitions of an integer n satisfies the following : for all 1≤ a < b≤ d, the number of the parts congruent to a (mod d) is greater than the number of the parts congruent to b (mod d). We also show that for almost all partitions the rate of the number of square free parts is . 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary—11P82     

Flag transitive planes of orderq n with a long cyclel ∞ as a collineation

Baker and Ebert [1] presented a method for constructing all flag transitive affine planes of orderq ² havingGF(q) in their kernels for any odd prime powerq. Kantor [6; 7; 8] constructed many classes of nondesarguesian flag transitive affine planes of even order, each admitting a collineation, transitively permuting the points at infinity. In this paper, two classes of non-desarguesian flag transitive affine planes of odd order are constructed. One is a class of planes of orderq ⁿ , whereq is an odd prime power andn 3 such thatq ⁿ 1 (mod 4), havingGF(q) in their kernels. The other is a class of planes of orderq ⁿ , whereq is an odd prime power andn 2 such thatq ⁿ 1 (mod 4), havingGF(q) in their kernels. Since each plane of the former class is of odd dimension over its kernel, it is not isomorphic to any plane constructed by Baker and Ebert [1]. The former class contains a flag transitive affine plane of order 27 constructed by Kuppuswamy Rao and Narayana Rao [9]. Any plane of the latter class of orderq ⁿ such thatn 1 (mod 2), is not isomorphic to any plane constructed by Baker ad Ebert [1].The author is grateful to the referee for many helpful comments.     

Parity Results for Certain Partition Functions

Blecksmith, Brillhart and Gerst proved four congruences modulo 2 involving partition generating functions of the following sort.

On the structure of extremal graphs of high girth

Let n ≥ 3 be a positive integer, and let G be a simple graph of order v containing no cycles of length smaller than n + 1 and having the greatest possible number of edges (an extremal graph). Does G contain an n + 1-cycle? In this paper we establish some properties of extremal graphs and present several results where this question is answered affirmatively. For example, this is always the case for (i) v ≥ 8 and n = 5, or (ii) when v is large compared to n: v ≥ , where a = n - 3 - , n ≥ 12. On the other hand we prove that the answer to the question is negative for v = 2n + 2 ≥ 26. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 26: 147–153, 1997     

Large solutions of coupled sublinear/superlinear elliptic equations

We show that large positive solutions exist for the semilinear elliptic equation Δu = p(x)u ^α + q(x)v ^β on bounded domains in R ⁿ , n ≥ 3, for the superlinear case 0 < α ≤ β, β > 1, but not the sublinear case 0 < α ≤ β ≤ 1. We also show that entire large positive solutions exist for both the superlinear and sublinear cases provided the nonnegative continuous functions p and q satisfy certain decay conditions at infinity. Existence and nonexistence of entire bounded solutions are established as well.     

Analysis of some new partition statistics

We study several statistics for integer partitions: for a random partition of an integer n we consider the average size of the smallest gap (missing part size), the multiplicity of the largest part, and the largest repeated part size. Furthermore, we estimate the number of gap-free partitions of n. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification Primary—05A17; Secondary—11P82 Dedicated to Helmut Prodinger on the occasion of his 50th birthday P.J. Grabner is supported by the START-project Y96-MAT of the Austrian Science Fund. This material is based upon work supported by the National Research Foundation under grant number 2053740.     

Erdős–Ko–Rado theorems for permutations and set partitions

Let Sym([n]) denote the collection of all permutations of [n]={1,…,n}. Suppose is a family of permutations such that any two of its elements (when written in its cycle decomposition) have at least t cycles in common. We prove that for sufficiently large n, with equality if and only if is the stabilizer of t fixed points. Similarly, let denote the collection of all set partitions of [n] and suppose is a family of set partitions such that any two of its elements have at least t blocks in common. It is proved that, for sufficiently large n, with equality if and only if consists of all set partitions with t fixed singletons, where B_n is the nth Bell number.