A Characterization of PSL(3, <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>) for <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>=2<Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis></Superscript>

The order components of a finite group are introduced in [12]. In [9], it is proved that the group PSL(3,q), where q is an odd prime power, is uniquely determined by its order components. In this paper, we show that the group PSL(3, q), where q=2 ^m , is also uniquely determined by its order components. Received December 15, 2000, Revised August 15, 2001, Accepted November 13, 2001     

A characterization of Buekenhout-Metz unitals in PG(2, q 2), q even

The known examples of embedded unitals (i.e. Hermitian arcs) in PG(2, q ²) are B-unitals, i.e. they can be obtained from ovoids of PG(3, q) by a method due to Buekenhout. B-unitals arising from elliptic quadrics are called BM-unitals. Recently, BM-unitals have been classified and their collineation groups have been investigated. A new characterization is given in this paper. We also compute the linear collineation group fixing the B-unital arising from the Segre-Tits ovoid of PG(3, 2 ^r ), r3 odd. It turns out that this group is an Abelian group of order q ².Research supported by MURST.     

Transitive Arcs in Planes of Even Order

When one considers the hyperovals inPG(2,q),qeven,q>2, then the hyperoval inPG(2, 4) and the Lunelli-Sce hyperoval inPG(2, 16) are the only hyperovals stabilized by a transitive projective group [10]. In both cases, this group is an irreducible group fixing no triangle in the plane of the hyperoval, nor in a cubic extension of that plane. Using Hartley's classification of subgroups ofPGL₃(q),qeven [6], allk-arcs inPG(2,q) fixed by a transitive irreducible group, fixing no triangle inPG(2,q) or inPG(2,q³), are determined. This leads to new 18-, 36- and 72-arcs inPG(2,q),q=2^2h. The projective equivalences among the arcs are investigated and each section ends with a detailed study of the collineation groups of these arcs.     

Halving PSL(2,q)

We show that PSL(2,q), q 3(mod 4), contains a subset of half the cardinality of PSL(2,q), which is uniformly 2-homogeneous on the projective line.     

A structure theory for two-dimensional translation planes of order q 2 that admit collineation groups of order q 2

This paper is devoted to the study of translation planes of order q ² and kernel GF(q) that admit a collineation group of order q ² in the linear translation complement. We give a representation of this group by a suitable set of matrices depending on some functions over GF(q). Using this representation we obtain several results concerning the existence and the collineation group of the plane.     

PSL(2,q) as a collineation group of projective planes of small order

Let Π be a projective plane of order n admitting a collineation group G≅PSL(2, q) for some prime power q. It is well known for n=q that Π must be Desarguesian. We show that if n<q then only finitely many cases may occur for П, all of which are Desarguesian. We obtain some information in case n=q ² with q odd, notably that G acts irreducibly on П for q≠3, 5, 9. The material herein was presented to the University of Toronto in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The author is grateful to Professor Chat Y. Ho, presently at the University of Florida, for guidance in this research.     

A group theoretic characterization of Buekenhout-Metz unitals

It is shown that a unital U embedded in PG(2,q²) is a Buekenhout-Metz unital if and only if U admits a linear collineation group that is a semidirect product of a Sylow p-subgroup of order q³ by a subgroup of order q − 1. This is the full linear collineation group of U except for two equivalence classes of unitals: (i) the classical unitals, and (ii) the Buekenhout-Metz unitals which can be expressed as a union of a partial pencil of conics. The unitals in class (ii) only occur when q is odd, and any two of them are projectively equivalent. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Simple 3-designs and PSL(2, q) with q ≡ 1 (mod 4)

In this paper, we consider the action of (2, q) on the finite projective line for q ≡ 1 (mod 4) and construct several infinite families of simple 3-designs which admit PSL(2, q) as an automorphism group. Some of the designs are also minimal. We also indicate a general outline to obtain some other algebraic constructions of simple 3-designs.      

A characterization of Denniston's maximal arcs

Our main result is the following characterization of Denniston's maximal arcs: If a maximal arcK in PG(2,q),q even, is invariant under a linear collineation group of PG(2,q) which is cyclic and has orderq+1, thenK is a Denniston's maximal arc.This work was partially supported by a grant of M.P.I. (Research project Strutture geometriche combinatorie e loro applicazioni).     

Arc-regular cubic graphs of order four times an odd integer

A graph is arc-regular if its automorphism group acts sharply-transitively on the set of its ordered edges. This paper answers an open question about the existence of arc-regular 3-valent graphs of order 4m where m is an odd integer. Using the Gorenstein?CWalter theorem, it is shown that any such graph must be a normal cover of a base graph, where the base graph has an arc-regular group of automorphisms that is isomorphic to a subgroup of Aut(PSL(2,q)) containing PSL(2,q) for some odd prime-power?q. Also a construction is given for infinitely many such graphs??namely a family of Cayley graphs for the groups PSL(2,p ³) where p is an odd prime; the smallest of these has order?9828.     

Translation planes of large dimension admitting nonsolvable groups

In this article, the question is considered whether there exist finite translation planes with arbitrarily small kernels admitting nonsolvable collineation groups. For any integerN, it is shown that there exist translation planes of dimension >N and orderq ³ admittingGL(2,q) as a collineation group.     

The classification of spreads in PG(3, q) admitting linear groups of order q(q+1), I. odd order

A classification is given of all spreads in PG(3, q), q = p^r, p odd, whose associated translation planes admit linear collineation groups of order q(q +1) such that a Sylow p-subgroup fixes a line and acts non-trivially on it.The authors are indebted to T. Penttila for pointing out the special examples of conical flock translation planes of order q² that admit groups of order q(q+1), when q = 23 or 47.     

Large sets of 3-designs from psl(2, q), with block sizes 4 and 5

We determine the distribution of 3?(q + 1,k,λ) designs, with k ? {4,5}, among the orbits of k-element subsets under the action of PSL(2,q), for q ? 3 (mod 4), on the projective line. As a consequence, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a uniformly-PSL(2,q) large set of 3?(q + 1,k,λ) designs, with k ? {4,5} and q ≡ 3 (mod 4). © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Writing Elements of PSL(2, q) as Commutators

We prove that for q ≥ 13, an element A of SL(2, q) is the commutator of a generating pair if and only if A ≠ ?I and the trace of A is not 2. Consequently, when q is odd and q ≥ 13, every nontrivial element of PSL(2, q) is the commutator of a generating pair, and when q is even, an element of PSL(2, q) is the commutator of a generating pair if and only if its trace is not 0. The proof of these results also leads to an improved lower bound on the number of T-systems of generating pairs of PSL(2, q).     

On translation planes of orderq 3 that admit a collineation group of orderq 3

Let II be a translation plane of orderq ³, with kernel GF(q) forq a prime power, that admits a collineation groupG of orderq ³ in the linear translation complement. Moreover, assume thatG fixes a point at infinity, acts transitively on the remaining points at infinity andG/E is an abelian group of orderq ², whereE is the elation group ofG.In this article, we determined all such translation planes. They are (i) elusive planes of type I or II or (ii) desirable planes.Furthermore, we completely determined the translation planes of orderp ³, forp a prime, admitting a collineation groupG of orderp ³ in the translation complement such thatG fixes a point at infinity and acts transitively on the remaining points at infinity. They are (i) semifield planes of orderp ³ or (ii) the Sherk plane of order 27.     

2-(<Emphasis Type="Italic">v,k</Emphasis>,1) Designs and PSL (3,<Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>) where <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis> is ODD

Let G be a block-primitive automorphism group of a 2-(v,k,1) design. If G is isomorphic to PSL (3,q) where q is odd, then G is also point-primitive. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10171089).     

A new characterization for some linear groups

Let G be a group and π _e (G) be the set of element orders of G. Let k ? p_e(G){k\in\pi_e(G)} and m _k be the number of elements of order k in G. Let nse(G) = {m_k|k ? p_e(G)}{{\rm nse}(G) = \{m_k|k\in\pi_e(G)\}} . In Shen et al. (Monatsh Math, 2009), the authors proved that A₄ @ PSL(2, 3), A₅ @ PSL(2, 4) @ PSL(2,5){A_4\cong {\rm PSL}(2, 3), A_5\cong \rm{PSL}(2, 4)\cong \rm{PSL}(2,5)} and A₆ @ PSL(2,9){A_6\cong \rm{PSL}(2,9)} are uniquely determined by nse(G). In this paper, we prove that if G is a group such that nse(G) = nse(PSL(2, q)), where q ? {7,8,11,13}{q\in\{7,8,11,13\}} , then G @ PSL(2,q){G\cong {PSL}(2,q)} .     

Transitive Partial Parallelisms of Deficiency One

A new construction of parallelisms, determined by Johnson, is valid for both the finite and infinite cases and gives a variety of partial parallelisms of deficiency one that admit a transitive group. Since there are extensions to parallelisms, one obtains parallelisms admitting a collineation group fixing one spread and transitive on the remaining spreads. The construction permits a counting of the isomorphism classes of the parallelisms. In this article, we enumerate the isomorphism classes of the parallelisms and show that there are at least 1  +  [(q −  3) / 2 r ] mutually non-isomorphic parallelisms in PG(3,q  =  p^r), for p odd. Furthermore, we provide a group-theoretic characterization of the constructed parallelisms.     

On Macbeath-Singerman symmetries of Belyi surfaces with PSL(2,p) as a group of automorphisms

The famous theorem of Belyi states that the compact Riemann surface X can be defined over the number field if and only if X can be uniformized by a finite index subgroup Γ of a Fuchsian triangle group Λ. As a result such surfaces are now called Belyi surfaces. The groups PSL(2,q),q=p ⁿ are known to act as the groups of automorphisms on such surfaces. Certain aspects of such actions have been extensively studied in the literature. In this paper, we deal with symmetries. Singerman showed, using acertain result of Macbeath, that such surfaces admit a symmetry which we shall call in this paper the Macbeath-Singerman symmetry. A classical theorem by Harnack states that the set of fixed points of a symmetry of a Riemann surface X of genus g consists of k disjoint Jordan curves called ovals for some k ranging between 0 and g+1. In this paper we show that given an odd prime p, a Macbetah-Singerman symmetry of Belyi surface with PSL(2,p) as a group of automorphisms has at most     

Unitals in Finite Desarguesian Planes

We show that a suitable 2-dimensional linear system of Hermitian curves of PG(2,q ²) defines a model for the Desarguesian plane PG(2,q). Using this model we give the following group-theoretic characterization of the classical unitals. A unital in PG(2,q ²) is classical if and only if it is fixed by a linear collineation group of order 6(q + 1)² that fixes no point or line in PG(2,q ²).