Handcuffed designs

Handcuffed designs are a particular case of block designs on graphs. A handcuffed design with parametersv, k, λ consists of a system of orderedk-subsets of av-set, called handcuffed blocks. In a block {A ₁,A ₂,?, A _k } each element is assumed to be handcuffed to its neighbours and the block containsk ? 1 handcuffed pairs (A ₁,A ₂), (A ₂,A ₃), ? (A _k?1,A _k ). These pairs are considered unordered. The collection of handcuffed blocks constitute a hundcuffed design if the following are satisfied: (1) each element of thev-set appears amongst the blocks the same number of times (and at most once in a block) and (2) each pair of distinct elements of thev-set are handcuffed in exactly λ of the blocks. If the total number of blocks isb and each element appears inr blocks the following conditions are necessary for the handcuffed design to exist:

1. λv(v?1) = (k?1) b,
2. rv = kb.

We denote byH(v, k, λ) the class of all handcuffed designs with parametersv, k, λ and sayH (v, k, λ) exists if there is a design with parametersv, k, λ. In this paper we prove that the necessary conditions forH (v, k, λ) exist are also sufficient in the following cases: (a)λ = 1 or 2; (b)k = 3; (c)k is evenk = 2h, and (λ, 2h ? 1) = 1; (d)k is odd,k = 2h + 1, and (λ, 4h)=2 or (λ, 4h)=1.     

Another class of balanced graph designs: balanced circuit designs

A block considered as a set of elements together with its adjacency matrix A is called a C-block if A is the adjacency matrix of a circuit. A balanced circuit design with parameters v, b, r, k, λ (briefly, BCD(v, k, λ)) is an arrangement of v elements into bC-blocks such that each C-block contains k elements, each element occurs in exactly rC-blocks and any two distinct elements are linked in exactly λ C-blocks.We investigate conditions for the existence of BCD and show, in particular, that if the block-size k ? 6 and the trivial necessary conditions are satisfied, then the corresponding BCD exists.     

Neighbor designs

A neighbor design is an arrangement of r copies of each of v varieties into b circular blocks of size k > 1 such that neighboring objects in each block are distinct and every pair of distinct varieties appears as neighbors in the set of circular blocks exactly λ times. Necessary conditions for the existence of a neighbor design with these parameters v, k, λ, r, b are that $\text{r =}\text{λ(v ? 1)}\text{2}$, and $\text{b =}\text{λv(v ? 1)}\text{2k}$ be integers for k > 2 and v > 2; and for k = 2 or v = 2, it is also necessary that λ be even or k be even, respectively. In this paper we show that these necessary conditions are also sufficient by giving a method to construct a neighbor design for all values of the parameters satisfying the necessary conditions.     

Balanced Incomplete Block Designs with Block Size 9 and λ=2,4,8

The necessary conditions for the existence of a balanced incomplete block design on v points, with index λ and block size k, are that: $$\begin{gathered} {\text{ }}\lambda (v - 1) \equiv 0{\text{ mod (}}k - 1{\text{)}} \hfill \\ \lambda v(v - 1) \equiv 0{\text{ mod (}}k - 1{\text{)}} \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ In this paper we study k=9 with λ=2,4 or 8. For λ=8, we show these conditions on v are sufficient, and for λ=2, 4 respectively there are 8 and 3 possible exceptions the largest of which are v=1845 and 783. We also give some examples of group divisible designs derived from balanced ternary designs.     

Improved inequalities for balanced incomplete block designs

It is known that there are some lower bounds for the number of blocks in a balanced incomplete block design (BIBD). Especially, Fisher's inequality b?v is well-known for a BIBD with parameters v, b, r, k and λ. Fisher's inequality can be improved upon if one puts additional restrictions on a BIBD. Artificial restrictions are infinite in number so is the number of new bounds. The condition of non-symmetry on the design discussed here is a very simple restriction. The main purpose of this paper is to give improvements of inequalities for BIBDs with the only condition of non-symmetry. Improved inequalities appear to be the best for any non-symmetrical BIBD.     

On a composition of cyclic 2-designs

A CB(v,k,λ) means a cyclic 2-design of block size k coincidence number λ, and with v points. In this paper, a recursive construction of a CB(v,k,λ) from two or three cyclic 2-designs is given.     

Modular Hadamard matrices and related designs,III

This paper continues the investigations presented in two previous papers on the same subject by the author and A. T. Butson. Modular Hadamard matrices havingn odd andh ≡ ? 1 (modn) are studied for a few values of the parametersn andh. Also, some results are obtained for the two related combinatorial designs. These results include: a discussion on the known techniques for constructing pseudo (v, k, λ)-designs; the fact that the existence of one of the two related designs always implies the existence of the other; and some information about the column sums of the incidence matrix of each of the two ‘maximal’ cases of (m, v, k ₁,λ ₁,k ₂,λ ₂,f, λ ₃)-designs.     

Block designs with large holes and α -resolvable BIBDs

In a (v, k, λ: w) incomplete block design (IBD) (or PBD [v, {k, w^*}. λ]), the relation v ≥ (k ? 1)w + 1 must hold. In the case of equality, the IBD is referred to as a block design with a large hole, and the existence of such a configuration is equivalent to the existence of a λ-resolvable BIBD(v ? w, k ? 1, λ). The existence of such configurations is investigated for the case of k = 5. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for all v and λ ? 2 (mod 4), and for λ ≡ 2 mod 4 with 11 possible exceptions for v. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

All directed BIBDs with k = 3 exist

A directed BIBD with parameters ($\text{υ, b, r, k, λ}{}^1$) is a BIBD with parameters ($\text{υ, b, r, k, 2λ}{}^1$) in which each ordered pair of varieties occurs together in exactly $\text{λ}{}^1$ blocks. It is shown that $\text{λ}{}^1\text{υ(υ ? 1) ≡ 0}$ (mod 3) is a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a directed ($\text{υ, b, r, k, λ}{}^1$) BIBD with k = 3.     

A bound for wilson's theorem (I)

In 1975, Richard M. Wilson proved: Given any positive integers k ? 3 and λ, there exists a constant v⁰ = v⁰(k, λ) such that v ? B(k,λ) for every integer v ? v⁰ that satisfies λ(v ? 1) ≡ 0(mod k ? 1) and λv(v ? 1) ≡ 0[mod k(k ? 1)]. The proof given by Wilson does not provide an explicit value of v⁰. We try to find such a value v⁰(k, λ). In this article we consider the case λ = 1 and v ≡ 1[mod k(k ? 1)]. We show that: if k ? 3 and v = 1[mod k(k ? 1)] where v > k^kk5, then a B(v,k, 1) exists. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

P 4k−1-factorization of bipartite multigraphs

Let λK _m,n be a bipartite multigraph with two partite sets having m and n vertices, respectively. A P _v-factorization of λK _m,n is a set of edge-disjoint P _v -factors of λK _m,n which partition the set of edges of λK _m,n. When v is an even number, Ushio, Wang and the second author of the paper gave a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a P _v -factorization of λK _m,n. When v is an odd number, we proposed a conjecture. However, up to now we only know that the conjecture is true for v = 3. In this paper we will show that the conjecture is true when v = 4k ? 1. That is, we shall prove that a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a P _4k?1-factorization of λK _m,n is (1) (2k ? 1)m ? 2kn, (2) (2k ? 1)n ? 2km, (3) m + n ≡ 0 (mod 4k ? 1), (4) λ(4k ? 1)mn/[2(2k ? 1)(m + n)] is an integer.     

A Hard-Core Model on a Cayley Tree: An Example of a Loss Network

The paper is about a nearest-neighbor hard-core model, with fugacity λ>0, on a homogeneous Cayley tree of order k(with k+1 neighbors). This model arises as as a simple example of a loss network with a nearest-neighbor exclusion. We focus on Gibbs measures for the hard core model, in particular on ‘splitting’ Gibbs measures generating a Markov chain along each path on the tree. In this model, ?λ>0 and k≥1, there exists a unique translation-invariant splitting Gibbs measure μ^*. Define λ_c=1/(k?1)×(k/(k?1)) ^k . Then: (i) for λ≤λ_c, the Gibbs measure is unique (and coincides with the above measure μ^*), (ii) for λ>λ_c, in addition to μ^*, there exist two distinct translation-periodic measures, μ₊and μ_?, taken to each other by the unit space shift. Measures μ₊and μ_?are extreme ?λ>λ_c. We also construct a continuum of distinct, extreme, non-translational-invariant, splitting Gibbs measures. For $\lambda >1/(\sqrt k - 1) \times (\sqrt k /\sqrt k - 1))^k $ , measure μ^*is not extreme (this result can be improved). Finally, we consider a model with two fugacities, λ_eand λ_o, for even and odd sites. We discuss open problems and state several related conjectures.     

A note on triangle‐free quasi‐symmetric designs

Triangle‐free quasi‐symmetric 2‐ (v, k, λ) designs with intersection numbers x, y; 0<x<y<kand λ>1, are investigated. It is proved that λ?2y ? x ? 3. As a consequence it is seen that for fixed λ, there are finitely many triangle‐free quasi‐symmetric designs. It is also proved that: k?y(y ? x) + x. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 19:422‐426, 2011     

Constructions of （q,K, λ, t,Q） almost difference families

The concept of a （q, k, λ, t） almost dltterence tamlly （ADF） nas oeen introduced and studied by C. Ding and J. Yin as a useful generalization of the concept of an almost difference set. In this paper, we consider, more generally, （q, K,λ, t, Q）-ADFs, where K = {k1, k2,.…, kr} is a set of positive integers and Q = （q1,q2,... ,qr） is a given block-size distribution sequence. A necessary condition for the existence of a （q, K, λ, t, Q）-ADF is given, and several infinite classes of （q, K, A, t, Q）-ADFs are constructed.     

Modelling 3-configurations on Surfaces

A 3-configuration is a finite geometry satisfying axioms: (i) each line contains exactly 3 points; (ii) each point is on exactly r lines, where r is a fixed positive integer; and (iii) each pair of distinct points are on at most one common line. Such geometries correspond to K_3⁻ decompositions of their Menger graphs, and hence to bichromatic dual surface (or pseudosurface) imbeddings of these graphs where one color class consists of triangular regions modelling the lines of the geometry. Such imbeddings have been found for all 320 pairs (v, r), where v is the number of points in the geometry, satisfying 2r + 1 ≤ v ≤ 50 and vr ≡ 0 (mod 3). Here we discuss some of the more interesting among these.     

A new class for large sets of almost Hamilton cycle decompositions

A k-cycle system of order v with index λ, denoted by CS(v, k, λ), is a collection A of k-cycles (blocks) of K _v such that each edge in K _v appears in exactly λ blocks of A. A large set of CS(v, k, λ)s is a partition of the set of all k-cycles of K _v into CS(v, k, λ)_s, and is denoted by LCS(v, k, λ). A (v ?1)-cycle in K _v is called almost Hamilton. The completion of the existence problem for LCS(v, v?1, λ) depends only on one case: all v ≥ 4 for λ = 2. In this paper, it is shown that there exists an LCS(v, v ? 1, 2) for all v ≡ 2 (mod 4), v ≥ 6.     

Some Indecomposable t-Designs

The existence of large sets of 5-(14,6,3) designs is in doubt. There are five simple 5-(14,6,6) designs known in the literature. In this note, by the use of a computer program, we show that all of these designs are indecomposable and therefore they do not lead to large sets of 5-(14,6,3) designs. Moreover, they provide the first counterexamples for a conjecture on disjoint t-designs which states that if there exists a t-(v, k, λ) design (X, D) with minimum possible value of λ, then there must be a t-(v, k, λ) design (X, D′) such that D∩ D′ = Ø.     

The Kth largest eigenvalue of a tree

Let λ_k(T) be the kth eigenvalue of a tree, [x] the largest integer not greater than x. It is shown that a tree with n vertices has λ_k(T)⩽√[(n-2)/k] for 2⩽k⩽[n/2], and this upper bound is best possible for n≡1 mod k.     

Distribution of an analog of Sherman's statistics under rank-censored observations

Let U_n(1),..., U_n(n) be a variational series constructed from a sequence of n aggregate-independent random variables distributed uniformly on (0, 1). Let 0 = k₀, k₁,..., k_m, k_m+1= n+1 be an increasing sequence of nonnegative integers, λ= k_r+1?k_r, r=0,..., m, and $$\xi _n = \frac{1}{2}\sum\nolimits_{r = 0}^m {\left| {U_n (k_{r + 1} ) - U_n^\prime (k_r ) - \frac{{k_{r + 1} - k_r }}{{n + 1}}} \right|.}$$ Under certain restrictions on the numbers λ_r= k{r+1}?k_r, in this paper we have shown the asymptotic normality (with an appropriate norming) of the quantity ξ_n as n, m →∞ such that lim sup (m/√n) ar ∞.