On finite Moufang polygons

We show that a finite generalized polygon Γ is Moufang with respect to a groupG if and only if for every flag {x, y} of Γ, the subgroupG ₁(x, y) ofG fixing every element incident with one ofx, y acts transitively on the set of apartments containing the elementsu, x, y, w, whereu≠y (resp.w≠x) is an arbitrary element incident withx (resp.y). Research Associate at the National Fund of Scientific Research of Belgium. Research partially supported by NSF Grant DMS-8901904.     

On flag collineations of finite projective planes

s paper studies collineation groups of a finite projective plane containing flag collineations. Among other results, a characterization of a finite Desarguesian projective plane is given.Partially supported by grants from CNPq do Brasil and NSERC of Canada.     

On order in generalized polygons

Geometriae Dedicata -     

On homomorphisms between generalized polygons

We consider homomorphisms between abstract, topological, and smooth generalized polygons. It is shown that a continuous homomorphism is either injective or locally constant. A continuous homomorphism between smooth generalized polygons is always a smooth embedding. We apply this result to isoparametric submanifolds.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. H. R. Salzmann on the occasion of his 65th anniversary     

Regular partitions of (weak) finite generalized polygons

In this paper we define a regular m-partition of a distance regular graph as a partition of the vertex set into m classes, such that the number of vertices of a given class adjacent to a fixed vertex of another class (but possibly the same), is independent of the choice of that vertex in this class. Furthermore, we exhibit a technique to determine exact, discrete or bounding values for the intersection numbers of two such regular partitions of a DRG. As an application, we perform a structural investigation on the substructures of finite generalized polygons and, besides some new results, we give unifying, alternative and more elegant proofs of the results in Offer (J Combin Theory Ser A 97: 184–186, 2002) and Offer (Discrete Math 294: 147–160, 2005). The first author is a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Fund for Scientific Research—Flanders (Belgium) (F.W.O.).     

Finite distance-transitive generalized polygons

Using the classification of the finite simple groups, we classify all finite generalized polygons having an automorphism group acting distance-transitively on the set of points. This proves an old conjecture of J. Tits saying that every group with an irreducible rank 2 BN-pair arises from a group of Lie type.Research Associate of the National Fund for Scientific Research (Belgium).     

Antipodal covers of distance-transitive generalized polygons

In an earlier paper, the first two authors found all distance-regular antipodal covers of all known primitive distance-transitive graphs of diameter at least 3 with one possible exception. That remaining case is resolved here with the proof that a primitive and distance-transitive collinearity graph of a finite generalized 2d-gon with \(d\ge 3\) has no distance-regular antipodal cover of diameter 2d.     

Shape-regular polygons in finite planes

The notion of shape in the Gaussian plane was introduced by Lester [5] and extended by Artzy [1]. In this paper we generalize this notion in the affine planesAG(2,q) over the Galois fieldGF(q), q=p ^r andp an odd prime. We investigate the existence of shape-regular polygons and the correspondence between shape-regularity and affine-regularity.Dedicated to the memory of Giuseppe TalliniThe work was supported by the Hungarian National Foundation for Scientific Research, Grant No. F016302 and T017314.     

Sharp homogeneity in some generalized polygons

We show that, if a collineation group G of a generalized (2n + 1)-gon $\Gamma$ has the property that every symmetry of any apartment extends uniquely to a collineation in G, then $\Gamma$ is the unique projective plane with 3 points per line (the Fano plane) and G is its full collineation group. A similar result holds if one substitutes apartment with path of length 2k 2n + 2.Received: 19 June 2002     

The non-existence of certain regular generalized polygons

Senior Research Associate at the National Fund for Scientific Research (Belgium)     

On dualities between function spaces

By [6], the dualities between and , whereX andW are two sets and (i.e., the mappings satisfying for all and all index setsI), can be represented with the aid of functions . Here we show that they can be also represented with the aid of functions , whereR = (–, +). As an application, we show that every duality is completely determined by a suitable duality between 2 ^{X ×R} and 2 ^{W ×R} (i.e., a mapping 2 ^{X ×R} 2 ^{W ×R} satisfying for all {M _i} _iI 2 ^{X ×R} and all index setsI), applied to the epigraphs of the functions .