Net replacements in the Hughes-Kleinfeld semifield planes

The bilinear flocks of Cherowitzo are generalized to a large variety of bilinear flocks of the cone ${\mathcal{C}_q}$ . Using these ideas, net replacements of certain Hughes-Kleinfeld planes of order q ⁴ are obtained that construct every André plane in PG(3, q).     

Partial flocks of the quadratic cone

We prove that in PG(3,q), q>19, a partial flock of a quadratic cone with q-? planes, can be extended to a unique flock if .     

A characterization of the family of external lines to a quadratic cone of PG(3, q), q

In this paper we characterize the family of external lines to a quadratic cone of PG(3, q), q odd, by their intersection properties with points and planes of the space.     

On the classification of semifield flocks

A classical lemma of Weil is used to characterise quadratic polynomials f with coefficients GF(qⁿ), q odd, with the property that f(x) is a non-zero square for all x∈GF(q). This characterisation is used to prove the main theorem which states that there are no subplanes of order q contained in the set of internal points of a conic in PG(2,qⁿ) for q?4n²−8n+2. As a corollary to this theorem it then follows that the only semifield flocks of the quadratic cone of PG(3,qⁿ) for those q exceeding this bound are the linear flocks and the Kantor-Knuth semifield flocks.     

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.     

Partial Flocks of Non-Singular Quadrics in PG(2r + 1, q)

We generalise the definition and many properties of partial flocks of non-singular quadrics in PG(3, q) to partial flocks of non-singular quadrics in PG(2r + 1, q).     

k-Arcs,Hyperovals, Partial Flocks and Flocks

Some recent results on k-arcs and hyperovals of PG(2,q),on partial flocks and flocks of quadratic cones of PG(3,q),and on line spreads in PG(3,q) are surveyed. Also,there is an appendix on how to use Veronese varieties as toolsin proving theorems.     

Characterisations of Flock Quadrangles

We characterise the Hermitian and Kantor flock generalized quadrangles of order (q ²,q), q even, (associated with the linear and Fisher–Thas–Walker flocks of a quadratic cone, and the Desarguesian and Betten–Walker translation planes) in terms of a self-dual subquadrangle. Equivalently, we show that a herd which contains a translation oval must be associated with the linear or Fisher–Thas–Walker flock. This result is a consequence of the determination of all functions which satisfy a certain absolute trace equation whose form is remarkably similar to that of an equation arising in recent studies of ovoids in three-dimensional projective space of finite order q.     

A trivalent graph with 58 vertices and girth 9

The concept of a partial three-space is due to Laskar and Dunbar, and is a three-dimensional analogue of a partial geometry. Here we determine all partial three-spaces S for which the S-planes are planes of PG(n, q), for which the S-lines are all the lines contained in the S-planes, for which the S-points are all the points in the S-planes, and for which the incidence relation is that of PG(n, q). More generally, we determine all partial three-spaces S for which the S-lines are lines of PG(n,q), for which the S-points are all the points on these lines, and for which the incidence relation is that of PG(n, q).     

Complete Spans on Hermitian Varieties

Let L be a general linear complex in PG(3, q) for any prime power q. We show that when GF(q) is extended to GF(q ²), the extended lines of L cover a non-singular Hermitian surface H ? H(3, q ²) of PG(3, q ²). We prove that if Sis any symplectic spread PG(3, q), then the extended lines of this spread form a complete (q ² + 1)-span of H. Several other examples of complete spans of H for small values of q are also discussed. Finally, we discuss extensions to higher dimensions, showing in particular that a similar construction produces complete (q ³ + 1)-spans of the Hermitian variety H(5, q ²).     

Generalised dual arcs and Veronesean surfaces, with applications to cryptography

We start by defining generalised dual arcs, the motivation for defining them comes from cryptography, since they can serve as a tool to construct authentication codes and secret sharing schemes. We extend the characterisation of the tangent planes of the Veronesean surface in PG(5,q), q odd, described in [J.W.P. Hirschfeld, J.A. Thas, General Galois Geometries, Oxford Math. Monogr., Clarendon Press/Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1991], as a set of q²+q+1 planes in PG(5,q), such that every two intersect in a point and every three are skew. We show that a set of q²+q planes generating PG(5,q), q odd, and satisfying the above properties can be extended to a set of q²+q+1 planes still satisfying all conditions. This result is a natural generalisation of the fact that a q-arc in PG(2,q), q odd, can always be extended to a (q+1)-arc. This extension result is then used to study a regular generalised dual arc with parameters (9,5,2,0) in PG(9,q), q odd, where we obtain an algebraic characterisation of such an object as being the image of a cubic Veronesean.     

On the minimum size of complete arcs and minimal saturating sets in projective planes

The minimum size of a complete arc in the planes PG(2, 31) and PG(2, 32) and of a 1-saturating set in PG(2, 17) and PG(2, 19) is determined. Also, the minimal 1-saturating sets in PG(2, 9) and PG(2, 11) are classified. In addition, the minimal 1-saturating sets of the smallest size in PG(2, q) are classified for 16 ≤ q ≤ 23. These results have been found using a computer-based exhaustive search that exploits projective equivalence properties.     

Partial Flocks of Quadratic Cones with a Point Vertex in Pg(n,q), n Odd

We generalise the definition and many properties of flocks ofquadratic cones in PG(3,q) to partial flocks of quadratic coneswith vertex a point in PG(p,q), for n 3 odd.     

Hyperbolic Fibrations and q-Clans

We show there is a bijection between regular hyperbolic fibrations with constant back half and normalized q-clans. Thus there is also a bijection with flocks of a quadratic cone, once a conic of the flock has been specified. This yields a plethora of two-dimensional translation planes of even and odd order which arise from spreads admitting a regular elliptic cover.     

On the Twisted Cubic of PG(3, q)

In this paper we classify the lines of PG(3, q) whose points belong to imaginary chords of the twisted cubic of PG(3, q). Relying on this classification result, we obtain a complete classification of semiclassical spreads of the generalized hexagon H(q).     

Characterizations of Hermitian varieties by intersection numbers

In this paper, we give characterizations of the classical generalized quadrangles H(3, q ²) and H(4, q ²), embedded in PG(3, q ²) and PG(4, q ²), respectively. The intersection numbers with lines and planes characterize H(3, q ²), and H(4, q ²) is characterized by its intersection numbers with planes and solids. This result is then extended to characterize all Hermitian varieties in dimension at least 4 by their intersection numbers with planes and solids.      

Infinite flocks of a quadratic cone

In this article, we construct some infinite analogues of the Fisher flocks. We also consider maximal partial flocks which may be constructed in several ways. In particular, we show that any derivation of a flock inPG(3,K), forK a full field, produces either a flock or a maximal partial flock. We provide constructions which produce maximal partial flocks or maximal partial spreads.In memoriam, Giuseppe TalliniThis article was written while the authors were visiting the Ricco Institute during June of 1994 and was partially supported by Glasgow-Caledonian University. Also, the authors are indebted to Christian Boltanski,D — S, in the writing of this article.The authors also are indebted to the referee for helpful suggestions with regard to this article.     

Conical flocks,partial flocks,derivation, and generalized quadrangles

L. Bader, G. Lunardon and J. A. Thas have shown that a flock ₀ of a quadratic cone in PG(3, q), q odd, determines a set ={⁰,₁,...,_q} of q+1 flocks. Each _j , 1jq, is said to be derived from ₀. We show that, by derivation, the flocks with q=3 ^e arising from the Ganley planes yield an inequivalent flock for q27. Further, we prove that the Fisher flocks (q odd, q5) are the unique nonlinear flocks for which (q–1)/2 planes of the flock contain a common line. This result is used to show that each of the flocks derived from a Fisher flock is again a Fisher flock. Finally, we prove that any set of q–1 pairwise disjoint nonsingular conics of a cone can be extended to a flock. All these results have implications for the theory of translation planes.     

Maximal partial spreads in PG (3, q)

We transfer the whole geometry of PG(3, q) over a non-singular quadric Q_4,q of PG(4, q) mapping suitably PG(3, q) over Q_4,q. More precisely the points of PG(3, q) are the lines of Q_4,q; the lines of PG(3, q) are the tangent cones of Q_4,q and the reguli of the hyperbolic quadrics hyperplane section of Q_4,q. A plane of PG(3, q) is the set of lines of Q_4,q meeting a fixed line of Q_4,q. We remark that this representation is valid also for a projective space over any field K and we apply the above representation to construct maximal partial spreads in PG(3, q). For q even we get new cardinalities for For q odd the cardinalities are partially known.     

A nearfield-free definition of regular Hughes planes and some embeddings of PG(3,q) in Hughes planes of order q 4

We give a nearfield-free definition of some finite and infinite incidence systems by means of half-points and half-lines and show that they are projective planes. We determine a planar ternary ring for these planes and use it to determine the full collineation group and to demonstrate some embeddings of these planes among themselves. We show that these planes include all finite regular Hughes planes and many infinite ones. We also show that PG(3, q) embeds in Hu(q ⁴) (and show infinite versions of this embedding). Dan Hughes 80th Birthday.