Affine Generalized Quadrangles – An Axiomatization

The complement of a geometric hyperplane of a generalized quadrangle is called an affine generalized quadrangle. Since a geometric hyperplane of a generalized quadrangle is either an ovoid or the perp of a point or a subquadrangle, there are three quite different classes of affine generalized quadrangles. The article proposes seven axioms (AQ1)–(AQ7) characterizing affine generalized quadrangles as point-line geometries. Certain subsets of the seven Axioms together with certain conditions distinguish what kind of hyperplane complement is realized. By just (AQ1)–(AQ6), finite affine generalized quadrangles are characterized completely.