Partitioning the planes of AG2m(2) into 2-designs

A t-design S_λ(t, k, v) is an arrangement of v elements in blocks of k elements each such that every t element subset is contained in exactly λ blocks. A t-design S_λ(t, k, v) is called t′-resolvable if the blocks can be partitioned into families such that each family is the block system of a S_λ(t′, k, v). It is shown that the S₁(3, 4, 2^2m) design of planes on an even dimensional affine space over the field of two elements is 2-resolvable. Each S₁(2, 4, 2^2m) given by the resolution is itself 1-resolvable. As a corollary it is shown that every odd dimensional projective space over the field of two elements admits a 1-packing of 1-spreads, i.e. a partition of its lines into families of mutually disjoint lines whose union covers the space. This 1-packing may be generated from any one of its spreads by repeated application of a fixed collineation.     

Partition of Triples of Order 6k+5 into 6k+3 Optimal Packings and One Packing of Size 8k+4

A (2,3)-packing on X is a pair (X,), where is a set of 3-subsets (called blocks) of X, such that any pair of distinct points from X occurs together in at most one block. For a (6k+5)-set X, an optimal partition of triples (denoted by OPT(6k+5)) is a set of 6k+3 optimal (2,3)-packings and a (2,3)-packing of size 8k+4 on X. Etzion conjectured that there exists an OPT(6k+5) for any positive integer k. In this paper, we construct such a system for any k≥1. This complete solution is based on the known existence results of S(3,4,v)s by Hanani and that of special S(3,{4,6},6m)s by Mills. Partitionable candelabra systems also play an important role together with an OPT(11) and a holey OPT(11). Research supported by Natural Science Foundation of Universities of Jiangsu Province under Grant 05KJB110111     

Insertible vertices,neighborhood intersections,and hamiltonicity

Let G be a simple undirected graph of order n. For an independent set S ? V(G) of k vertices, we define the k neighborhood intersections S_i = {v ? V(G)\S|N(v) ∩ S| = i}, 1 ≦ i ≦ k, with s_i = |S_i|. Using the concept of insertible vertices and the concept of neighborhood intersections, we prove the following theorem.     

On three-designs of small order

For positive integers t?k?v and λ we define a t-design, denoted B_i[k,λ;v], to be a pair (X,B) where X is a set of points and B is a family, (B_i:i?I), of subsets of X, called blocks, which satisfy the following conditions: (i) |X|=v, the order of the design, (ii) |B_i|=k for each i?I, and (iii) every t-subset of X is contained in precisely λ blocks. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence of 3-designs with 3?k?v?32 and λ>0.Wilson has shown that there exists a constant N(t, k, v) such that designs B_t[k,λ;v] exist provided λ>N(t,k,v) and λ satisfies the trivial necessary conditions. We show that N(3,k,v)=0 for most of the cases under consideration and we give a numerical upper bound on N(3, k, v) for all 3?k?v?32. We give explicit constructions for all the designs needed.     

On Hong’s conjecture for power LCM matrices

A set S={x ₁,...,x _n } of n distinct positive integers is said to be gcd-closed if (x _i , x _j ) ∈ S for all 1 ⩽ i, j ⩽ n. Shaofang Hong conjectured in 2002 that for a given positive integer t there is a positive integer k(t) depending only on t, such that if n ⩽ k(t), then the power LCM matrix ([x _i , x _j ] ^t ) defined on any gcd-closed set S={x ₁,...,x _n } is nonsingular, but for n ⩾ k(t) + 1, there exists a gcd-closed set S={x ₁,...,x _n } such that the power LCM matrix ([x _i , x _j ] ^t ) on S is singular. In 1996, Hong proved k(1) = 7 and noted k(t) ⩾ 7 for all t ⩾ 2. This paper develops Hong’s method and provides a new idea to calculate the determinant of the LCM matrix on a gcd-closed set and proves that k(t) ⩾ 8 for all t ⩾ 2. We further prove that k(t) ⩾ 9 iff a special Diophantine equation, which we call the LCM equation, has no t-th power solution and conjecture that k(t) = 8 for all t ⩾ 2, namely, the LCM equation has t-th power solution for all t ⩾ 2.     

Constructions for large sets of <Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis>-intersecting Steiner triple systems

Recently, Franek et al. introduced large sets of v − 1 L-intersecting Steiner triple systems of order v (STS(v)) and gave four constructions for them (Des., Codes and Cryptogr., 26 (2002), 243–256). In this paper, we mainly focus on large sets of v − 1{0, 1}-intersecting STS(v) and large sets of v + 1{1}-intersecting STS(v). For this purpose, we introduce a concept of L-intersecting partitionable candelabra system (L-PCS) of order v with q(v) subsystems and establish a relationship between L-PCS and large set of q(v)L-intersecting STS(v). Some constructions for L-PCSs are also presented by 3-wise balanced designs. These facilitate the production of some new infinite classes of these large sets. Research supported by Tianyuan Mathematics Foundation of NSFC Grant 10526032 and Natural Science Foundation of Universities of Jiangsu Province Grant 05KJB110111.     

Some combinatorial constructions for optimal perfect deletion-correcting codes

There are two kinds of perfect t-deletion-correcting codes of length k over an alphabet of size v, those where the coordinates may be equal and those where all coordinates must be different. We call these two kinds of codes T*(k − t, k, v)-codes and T(k − t, k, v)-codes respectively. The cardinality of a T(k − t, k, v)-code is determined by its parameters, while T*(k − t, k, v)-codes do not necessarily have a fixed size. Let N(k − t, k, v) denote the maximum number of codewords in any T*(k − t, k, v)-code. A T*(k − t, k, v)-code with N(k − t, k, v) codewords is said to be optimal. In this paper, some combinatorial constructions for optimal T*(2, k, v)-codes are developed. Using these constructions, we are able to determine the values of N(2, 4, v) for all positive integers v. The values of N(2, 5, v) are also determined for almost all positive integers v, except for v = 13, 15, 19, 27 and 34.      

The partition dimension of circulant graphs

Let Π = {S₁, S₂, . . . , S_k} be an ordered partition of the vertex set V (G) of a graph G. The partition representation of a vertex v ∈ V (G) with respect to Π is the k-tuple r(v|Π) = (d(v, S₁), d(v, S₂), . . . , d(v, S_k)), where d(v, S) is the distance between v and a set S. If for every pair of distinct vertices u, v ∈ V (G), we have r(u|Π) ≠ r(v|Π), then Π is a resolving partition and the minimum cardinality of a resolving partition of V (G) is called the partition dimension of G. We study the partition dimension of circulant graphs, which are Cayley graphs of cyclic groups. Grigorious et al. [On the partition dimension of circulant graphs] proved that pd(C_n(1, 2, . . . , t)) ≥ t + 1 for n ≥ 3. We disprove this statement by showing that if t ≥ 4 is even, then there exists an infinite set of values of n, such that . We also present exact values of the partition dimension of circulant graphs with 3 generators.     

A new approach to Euler splines

Starting from the exponential Euler polynomials discussed by Euler in “Institutions Calculi Differentialis,” Vol. II, 1755, the author introduced in “Linear operators and approximation,” Vol. 20, 1972, the so-called exponential Euler splines. Here we describe a new approach to these splines. Let t be a constant such that t=|t|e^iα, −π<α<π,t≠0,t≠1.. Let S₁(x:t) be the cardinal linear spline such that S₁(v:t) = t^v for all v ε Z. Starting from S₁(x:t) it is shown that we obtain all higher degree exponential Euler splines recursively by the averaging operation . Here S_n(x:t) is a cardinal spline of degree n if n is odd, while is a cardinal spline if n is even. It is shown that they have the properties S_n(v:t) = t^v for v ε Z.     

Factorization Representations in the Boundary Crossing Problems for Random Walks on a Markov Chain

Let τ be some stopping time for a random walk S _n defined on transitions of a finite Markov chain and let τ(t) be the first passage time across the level t which occurs after τ. We prove a theorem that establishes a connection between the dual Laplace-Stieltjes transforms of the joint distributions of (τ, S _τ) and (τ(t), S _τ(t)). This result applies to the study of the number of crossings of a strip by sample paths of a random walk.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 Lotov V. I. and Orlova N. G.The authors were partially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant 05-01-00810) and the Grant Council of the President of the Russian Federation (Grant NSh-2139.2003.1).__________Translated from Sibirskii Matematicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 46, No. 4, pp. 833–840, July–August, 2005.     

On improved estimators of the generalized variance

Treated in this paper is the problem of estimating with squared error loss the generalized variance | Σ | from a Wishart random matrix S: p × p W_p(n, Σ) and an independent normal random matrix X: p × k N(ξ, Σ I_k) with ξ(p × k) unknown. Denote the columns of X by X₍₁₎ ,…, X_(k) and set ψ⁽⁰⁾(S, X) = {(n − p + 2)!/(n + 2)!} | S |, ψ⁽ⁱ⁾(X, X) = min[ψ⁽ⁱ⁻¹⁾(S, X), {(n − p + i + 2)!/(n + i + 2)!} | S + X₍₁₎ X′₍₁₎ + + X_(i) X′_(i) |] and Ψ⁽ⁱ⁾(S, X) = min[ψ⁽⁰⁾(S, X), {(n − p + i + 2)!/(n + i + 2)!}| S + X₍₁₎ X′₍₁₎ + + X_(i) X′_(i) |], i = 1,…,k. Our result is that the minimax, best affine equivariant estimator ψ⁽⁰⁾(S, X) is dominated by each of Ψ⁽ⁱ⁾(S, X), i = 1,…,k and for every i, ψ⁽ⁱ⁾(S, X) is better than ψ⁽ⁱ⁻¹⁾(S, X). In particular, ψ^(k)(S, X) = min[{(n − p + 2)!/(n + 2)!} | S |, {(n − p + 2)!/(n + 2)!} | S + X₍₁₎X′₍₁₎|,…,| {(n − p + k + 2)!/(n + k + 2)!} | S + X₍₁₎X′₍₁₎ + + X_(k)X′_(k)|] dominates all other ψ's. It is obtained by considering a multivariate extension of Stein's result (Ann. Inst. Statist. Math. 16, 155–160 (1964)) on the estimation of the normal variance.     

The geodetic numbers of graphs and digraphs

For every two vertices u and v in a graph G,a u-v geodesic is a shortest path between u and v.Let I(u,v)denote the set of all vertices lying on a u-v geodesic.For a vertex subset S,let I(S) denote the union of all I(u,v)for u,v∈S.The geodetic number g(G)of a graph G is the minimum cardinality of a set S with I(S)=V(G).For a digraph D,there is analogous terminology for the geodetic number g(D).The geodetic spectrum of a graph G,denoted by S(G),is the set of geodetic numbers of all orientations of graph G.The lower geodetic number is g~-(G)=minS(G)and the upper geodetic number is g~ (G)=maxS(G).The main purpose of this paper is to study the relations among g(G),g~-(G)and g~ (G)for connected graphs G.In addition,a sufficient and necessary condition for the equality of g(G)and g(G×K_2)is presented,which improves a result of Chartrand,Harary and Zhang.     

On thek dimensional Piatetski-Shapiro prime number theorem

Thek-dimensional Piatetski-Shapiro prime number problem fork⩾3 is studied. Let π(x ₁ c ₁,⋯,c _k ) denote the number of primesp withp⩽x, , where 1<c ₁<⋯<c _k are fixed constants. It is proved that π(x;c ₁,⋯,c _k ) has an asymptotic formula ifc ₁ ⁻¹ +⋯+c _k ⁻¹ >k−k/(4k ²+2). Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 19801021) and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No.Q98A02110).     

Mutually Independent Hamiltonian Connectivity of (n, k)-Star Graphs

A graph G is hamiltonian connected if there exists a hamiltonian path joining any two distinct nodes of G. Two hamiltonian paths and of G from u to v are independent if u = u ₁ = v ₁, v = u _v(G) = v _v(G) , and u _i ≠ v _i for every 1 < i < v(G). A set of hamiltonian paths, {P ₁, P ₂, . . . , P _k }, of G from u to v are mutually independent if any two different hamiltonian paths are independent from u to v. A graph is k mutually independent hamiltonian connected if for any two distinct nodes u and v, there are k mutually independent hamiltonian paths from u to v. The mutually independent hamiltonian connectivity of a graph G, IHP(G), is the maximum integer k such that G is k mutually independent hamiltonian connected. Let n and k be any two distinct positive integers with n–k ≥ 2. We use S _n,k to denote the (n, k)-star graph. In this paper, we prove that IHP(S _n,k ) = n–2 except for S _4,2 such that IHP(S _4,2) = 1.      

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-point exponent set of primitive digraphs with girth 2

Let D = （V, E） be a primitive digraph. The vertex exponent of D at a vertex v∈ V, denoted by expD（v）, is the least integer p such that there is a v →u walk of length p for each u ∈ V. Following Brualdi and Liu, we order the vertices of D so that exPD（V1） ≤ exPD（V2） …≤ exPD（Vn）. Then exPD（Vk） is called the k- point exponent of D and is denoted by exPD （k）, 1≤ k ≤ n. In this paper we define e（n, k） ：= max{expD （k） ｜ D ∈ PD（n, 2）} and E（n, k） ：= {exPD（k）｜ D ∈ PD（n, 2）}, where PD（n, 2） is the set of all primitive digraphs of order n with girth 2. We completely determine e（n, k） and E（n, k） for all n, k with n ≥ 3 and 1 ≤ k ≤ n.     

On the Spectrum of Steiner (v,k,t) Trades (II)

 A (v,k,t) trade T=T ₁−T ₂ of volume m consists of two disjoint collections T ₁ and T ₂ each containing m blocks (k-subsets) such that each t-subset is contained in the same number of blocks in T ₁ and T ₂. If each t-subset occurs at most once in T ₁, then T is called a Steiner (k,t) trade. In this paper, we continue our investigation of the spectrum S(k,2); that is, the set of allowable volumes of Steiner (k,t) trades when t=2. By using the concept of linked trades, we show that 2k+1∈S(k,2) precisely when k∈{3, 4, 7}. Received: February 28, 1997     

Further results on overlarge sets of Kirkman triple systems

In this paper, we introduce a new concept -- overlarge sets of generalized Kirkman systems （OLGKS）, research the relation between it and OLKTS, and obtain some new results for OLKTS. The main conclusion is： If there exist both an OLKF（6^k） and a 3-OLGKS（6^k-1,4） for all k ∈{6,7,...,40}／{8,17,21,22,25,26}, then there exists an OLKTS（v） for any v ≡ 3 （mod 6）, v ≠ 21. As well, we obtain the following result： There exists an OLKTS（6u ＋ 3） for u = 2^2n-1 - 1, 7^n, 31^n, 127^n, 4^r25^s, where n ≥ 1,r＋s≥ 1.     

The Existence of BIB Designs

Abstract Given any positive integers k≥ 3 and λ, let c(k, λ) denote the smallest integer such that v∈B(k, λ) for every integer v≥c(k, λ) that satisfies the congruences λv(v− 1) ≡ 0(mod k(k− 1)) and λ(v− 1) ≡ 0(mod k− 1). In this article we make an improvement on the bound of c(k, λ) provided by Chang in [4] and prove that . In particular, . Supported by NSFC Grant No. 19701002 and Huo Yingdong Foundation     

The Convexity Number of a Graph

 For two vertices u and v of a connected graph G, the set I[u,v] consists of all those vertices lying on a u−v shortest path in G, while for a set S of vertices of G, the set I[S] is the union of all sets I[u,v] for u,v∈S. A set S is convex if I[S]=S. The convexity number con(G) of G is the maximum cardinality of a proper convex set of G. The clique number ω(G) is the maximum cardinality of a clique in G. If G is a connected graph of order n that is not complete, then n≥3 and 2≤ω(G)≤con(G)≤n−1. It is shown that for every triple l,k,n of integers with n≥3 and 2≤l≤k≤n−1, there exists a noncomplete connected graph G of order n with ω(G)=l and con(G)=k. Other results on convex numbers are also presented. Received: August 19, 1998 Final version received: May 17, 2000     

Covering arrays of strength 3 and 4 from holey difference matrices

A covering array CA(N; t, k, v) is an N × k array with entries from a set X of v symbols such that every N × t sub-array contains all t-tuples over X at least once, where t is the strength of the array. The minimum size N for which a CA(N; t, k, v) exists is called the covering array number and denoted by CAN(t, k, v). Covering arrays are used in experiments to screen for interactions among t-subsets of k components. One of the main problems on covering arrays is to construct a CA(N; t, k, v) for given parameters (t, k, v) so that N is as small as possible. In this paper, we present some constructions of covering arrays of strengths 3 and 4 via holey difference matrices with prescribed properties. As a consequence, some of known bounds on covering array number are improved. In particular, it is proved that (1) CAN(3, 5, 2v) ≤ 2v ²(4v + 1) for any odd positive integer v with gcd(v, 9) ≠ 3; (2) CAN(3, 6, 6p) ≤ 216p ³ + 42p ² for any prime p > 5; and (3) CAN(4, 6, 2p) ≤ 16p ⁴ + 5p ³ for any prime p ≡ 1 (mod 4) greater than 5.