Bounds on the number of Hadamard designs of even order

A new lower bound on the number of non‐isomorphic Hadamard symmetric designs of even order is proved. The new bound improves the bound on the number of Hadamard designs of order 2n given in [12] by a factor of 8n ? 1 for every odd n > 1, and for every even n such that 4n ? 1 > 7 is a prime. For orders 8, 10, and 12, the number of non‐isomorphic Hadamard designs is shown to be at least 22,478,260, 1.31 × 10¹⁵, and 10²⁷, respectively. For orders 2n = 14, 16, 18 and 20, a lower bound of (4n ? 1)! is proved. It is conjectured that (4n ? 1)! is a lower bound for all orders 2n ≥ 14. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 9: 363‐378, 2001     

Classification of designs with nontrivial automorphism groups

In this article, we introduce a new orderly backtrack algorithm with efficient isomorph rejection for classification of t‐designs. As an application, we classify all simple 2‐(13,3,2) designs with nontrivial automorphism groups. The total number of such designs amounts to 1,897,386. The decomposability of the designs is also considered. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 14: 479–489, 2006     

Exponentially Many Hadamard Designs

If there is a Hadamard design of order n, then there are at least 2^{8n−16−9log n} non-isomorphic Hadamard designs of order 2n. Mathematics Subject Classificaion 2000: 05B05     

Enumeration of generalized Hadamard matrices of order 16 and related designs

We investigate signings of symmetric GDD( , 16, )s over for . Beginning with , at each stage of this process a signing of a GDD( , 16, ) produces a GDD( , 16, ). The initial GDDs ( ) correspond to Hadamard matrices of order 16. For , the GDDs are semibiplanes of order 16, and for the GDDs are semiplanes of order 16 which can be extended to projective planes of order 16. In this article, we completely enumerate such signings which include all generalized Hadamard matrices of order 16. We discuss the generation techniques and properties of the designs obtained during the search. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 17: 119–135, 2009     

On left Hadamard transversals in non-solvable groups

Let G be a group of order 4n and t an involution of G. A 2n-subset R of G is called a left Hadamard transversal of G with respect to 〈t〉 if G=R〈t〉 and for some subsets S₁ and S₂ of G. Let H be a subgroup of G such that G=[G,G]H, t∈H, and t^G⊄H, where t^G is the conjugacy class of t and [G,G] is the commutator subgroup of G. In this article, we show that if R satisfies a condition , then R is a (2n,2,2n,n) relative difference set and one can construct a v×v integral matrix B such that BB^T=B^TB=(n/2)I, where v is a positive integer determined by H and t^G (see Theorem 2.6). Using this we show that there is no left Hadamard transversal R satisfying (*) in some simple groups.     

On affine designs and Hadamard designs with line spreads

Rahilly [On the line structure of designs, Discrete Math. 92 (1991) 291-303] described a construction that relates any Hadamard design H on 4^m-1 points with a line spread to an affine design having the same parameters as the classical design of points and hyperplanes in AG(m,4). Here it is proved that the affine design is the classical design of points and hyperplanes in AG(m,4) if, and only if, H is the classical design of points and hyperplanes in PG(2m-1,2) and the line spread is of a special type. Computational results about line spreads in PG(5,2) are given. One of the affine designs obtained has the same 2-rank as the design of points and planes in AG(3,4), and provides a counter-example to a conjecture of Hamada [On the p-rank of the incidence matrix of a balanced or partially balanced incomplete block design and its applications to error-correcting codes, Hiroshima Math. J. 3 (1973) 153-226].     

On automorphism groups of quasiprimitive 2-arc transitive graphs

We characterize the automorphism groups of quasiprimitive 2-arc-transitive graphs of twisted wreath product type. This is a partial solution for a problem of Praeger regarding quasiprimitive 2-arc transitive graphs. The solution stimulates several further research problems regarding automorphism groups of edge-transitive Cayley graphs and digraphs. This work forms part of an ARC grant project and is supported by a QEII Fellowship.     

The automorphism groups of Kummer surfaces associated with the product of two elliptic curves

We calculate the automorphism groups of several Kummer surfaces associated with the product of two elliptic curves. We give their generators explicitly.

     

Divisible designs and semi-regular relative difference sets from additive Hadamard cocycles

Additive Hadamard cocycles are a natural generalization of presemifields. In this paper, we study divisible designs and semi-regular relative difference sets obtained from additive Hadamard cocycles. We show that the designs obtained from additive Hadamard cocycles are flag transitive. We introduce a new product construction of Hadamard cocycles. We also study additive Hadamard cocycles whose divisible designs admit a polarity in which all points are absolute. Our main results include generalizations of a theorem of Albert and a theorem of Hiramine from presemifields to additive Hadamard cocycles. At the end, we generalize Maiorana-McFarland?s construction of bent functions to additive Hadamard cocycles.     

Some Hadamard designs with parameters (71,35,17)

Up to isomorphisms there are precisely eight symmetric designs with parameters (71, 35, 17) admitting a faithful action of a Frobenius group of order 21 in such a way that an element of order 3 fixes precisely 11 points. Five of these designs have 84 and three have 420 as the order of the full automorphism group G. If |G| = 420, then the structure of G is unique and we have G = (Frob₂₁ × Z5):Z4. In this case Z(G) = 〈1〉, G′ has order 35, and G induces an automorphism group of order 6 of Z7. If |G| = 84, then Z(G) is of order 2, and in precisely one case a Sylow 2‐subgroup is elementary abelian. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 10: 144–149, 2002; DOI 10.1002/jcd.996     

Doubly transitive automorphism groups of block designs

If G is a doubly transitive group of automorphisms of a block design with λ = 1, then for any block Δ of the design and any point α in Δ, the set Δ?{α} is a block of imprimitivity for G_α. What are sufficient conditions for a doubly transitive but not doubly primitive permutation group G to be a group of automorphisms of a non-trivial block design with λ = 1 ? Can the design or the group G be identified if there is a nonidentity automorphism in G fixing every point of some block of the design? Both of these questions are investigated and some answers are given.     

Some new designs with prescribed automorphism groups

We establish the existence of simple designs with parameters 2‐(55, 10, 4), 3‐(20, 5, 4), 3‐(21, 7, 30), 4‐(15, 5, 2), 4‐(16, 8, 45), 5‐(16, 7, 10), and 5‐(17, 8, 40), which have previously been unknown. For the corresponding t, v, and k, we study the set of all λ for which simple t‐ designs exist.     

On the asymptotic existence of cocyclic Hadamard matrices

Let q be an odd natural number. We prove there is a cocyclic Hadamard matrix of order ²10+tq whenever . We also show that if the binary expansion of q contains N ones, then there is a cocyclic Hadamard matrix of order ²4N−2q.     

On Hadamard matrices of order 2(p+1) with an automorphism of odd prime order p

In this paper, we investigate Hadamard matrices of order 2(p + 1) with an automorphism of odd prime order p. In particular, the classification of such Hadamard matrices for the cases p = 19 and 23 is given. Self‐dual codes related to such Hadamard matrices are also investigated. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 11: 367–380, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/jcd.10052     

Hadamard 2-(63,31,15) designs invariant under the dihedral group of order 10

All Hadamard 2-(63,31,15) designs invariant under the dihedral group of order 10 are constructed and classified up to isomorphism together with related Hadamard matrices of order 64. Affine 2-(64,16,5) designs can be obtained from Hadamard 2-(63,31,15) designs having line spreads by Rahilly’s construction [A. Rahilly, On the line structure of designs, Discrete Math. 92 (1991) 291-303]. The parameter set 2-(64,16,5) is one of two known sets when there exists several nonisomorphic designs with the same parameters and p-rank as the design obtained from the points and subspaces of a given dimension in affine geometry AG(n,p^m) (p a prime). It is established that an affine 2-(64,16,5) design of 2-rank 16 that is associated with a Hadamard 2-(63,31,15) design invariant under the dihedral group of order 10 is either isomorphic to the classical design of the points and hyperplanes in AG(3,4), or is one of the two exceptional designs found by Harada, Lam and Tonchev [M. Harada, C. Lam, V.D. Tonchev, Symmetric (4, 4)-nets and generalized Hadamard matrices over groups of order 4, Designs Codes Cryptogr. 34 (2005) 71-87].     

The automorphism group of a split metacyclic 2-group and some groups of crossed homomorphisms

In this paper we find the structure for the automorphism group of a split metacyclic 2-group G. It can be seen as a continuation of the paper (Curran in Arch. Math. 89 (2007), 10–23) and it makes it complete. We propose a different approach to the problem than in the paper (Curran in Arch. Math. 89 (2007), 10–23). Our intention is to show that apart from some cases of 2-groups AutG has a structure similar to that of a direct product of two groups with no common direct factor [which was considered in Bidwell, Curran, and McCaughan (Arch. Math. 86 (2006), 481–489)].      

Power Hadamard matrices

We introduce power Hadamard matrices, in order to study the structure of (group) generalized Hadamard matrices, Butson (generalized) Hadamard matrices and other related orthogonal matrices, with which they share certain common characteristics. The new objects turn out to be as interesting, and perhaps as useful, as the objects that motivated them.We develop a basic theory of power Hadamard matrices, explore these relationships, and offer some new insights into old results. For example, we show that all 4×4 Butson Hadamard matrices are equivalent to circulant ones, and how to move between equivalence classes.We provide, among other new things, an infinite family of circulant Butson Hadamard matrices that extends a known class to include one of each positive integer order.Dedication: In 1974 Jennifer Seberry (Wallis) introduced what was then a totally new structure, orthogonal designs, in order to study the existence and construction of Hadamard matrices. They have proved their worth for this purpose, and have also become an object of interest for their own sake and in applications (e.g., [H.J.V. Tarok, A.R. Calderbank, Space-time block codes from orthogonal designs, IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 45 (1999) 1456-1467. [26]]). Since then many other generalizations of Hadamard matrices have been introduced, including some discussed herein. In the same spirit we introduce a new object showing this kind of promise.Seberry's contributions to this field are not limited to her own work, of which orthogonal designs are but one example—she has mentored many young mathematicians who have expanded her legacy by making their own marks in this field. It is fitting, therefore, that our contribution to this volume is a collaboration between one who has worked in this field for over a decade and an undergraduate student who had just completed his third year of study at the time of the work.