4-Dimensional compact projective planes with a 5-dimensional nilradical

The article is a contribution to the classification of all 4-dimensional flexible compact projective planes. We assume that the collineation group is a 6-dimensional solvable Lie group which fixes some flag. If, moreover, the nilradical of the collineation group is 5-dimensional, then we get 4 families of new planes which are neither translation planes nor shift planes.Meinem Lehrer H. Salzmann zum 65. Geburtstag am 3.11.1995 in Dankbarkeit gewidmet     

The translation planes of order 81 that admit SL(2,5), generated by affine elations

The translation planes of order 81 admitting SL(2, 5), generated by affine elations, are completely determined. There are seven mutually non-isomorphic translation planes, of which five are new. Each of these planes may be derived producing another set of seven mutually non-isomorphic translation planes admitting SL(2, 5), where the 3-elements are Baer. Of this latter set, five planes are new.     

Elementary constructions of locally compact affine planes

In this paper we describe several elementary constructions of 4-, 8- and 16-dimensional locally compact affine planes. The new planes share many properties with the classical ones and are very easy to handle. Among the new planes we find translation planes, planes that are constructed by gluing together two halves of different translation planes, 4-dimensional shift planes, etc. We discuss various applications of our constructions, e.g. the construction of 8- and 16-dimensional affine planes with a point-transitive collineation group which are neither translation planes nor dual translation planes, the proof that a 2-dimensional affine plane that can be coordinatized by a linear ternary field with continuous ternary operation can be embedded in 4-, 8- and 16-dimensional planes, the construction of 4-dimensional non-classical planes that admit at the same time orthogonal and non-orthogonal polarities. We also consider which of our planes have tangent translation planes in all their points. In a final section we generalize the Knarr-Weigand criterion for topological ternary fields.This research was supported by a Feodor Lynen fellowship.     

Conic blocking sets in Desarguesian projective planes

Define a conic blocking set to be a set of lines in a Desarguesian projective plane such that all conics meet these lines. Conic blocking sets can be used in determining if a collection of planes in projective three-space forms a flock of a quadratic cone. We discuss trivial conic blocking sets and conic blocking sets in planes of small order. We provide a construction for conic blocking sets in planes of non-prime order, and we make additional comments about the structure of these conic blocking sets in certain planes of even order.     

More on Kleinewillinghöfer Types of Flat Laguerre Planes

Polster and Steinke [Result. Math., 46 (2004), 103–122] determined the possible Kleinewillingh?fer types of flat Laguerre planes. These types reflect transitivity properties of groups of certain central automorphisms. We exclude three more types from the list given there with respect to Laguerre homotheties. This yields a complete determination of all possible single types with respect to Laguerre homotheties that can occur in flat Laguerre planes. Building on results by M?urer and Hartmann to characterize ovoidal or miquelian Laguerre planes we further characterize certain flat Laguerre planes in terms of their Kleinewillingh?fer types. Received: January 16, 2007. Revised: July 26, 2007.     

A characterisation of spreads ovally-derived from Desarguesian spreads

We characterise all spreads that are obtainable from Desarguesian spreads by replacing a partial spread consisting of translation ovals; the corresponding ovally-derived planes are generalised André planes, of order 2 ^N , although not all generalised André planes are ovallyderived from Desarguesian planes. Our analysis allows us to obtain a complete classification of all nearfield planes that are ovally-derived from Desarguesian planes. It turns out that whether or not a nearfield plane is ovally-derived from a Desarguesian plane depends solely on the parametersq andr, where GF (q) is the kern, andr is the dimension of the plane. Our results also imply that a Hall plane of even orderq ² can be ovally-derived from a Desarguesian spread if and only ifq is a square.     

Polarities of Compact Eight-Dimensional Planes

The polarities of eight-dimensional compact planes with at least 17-dimensional group of automorphisms are determined. We show that, among these planes, the quaternion plane is the only one admitting more than two conjugacy classes of polarities.     

The correlations of finite Desarguesian planes, Part I: Generalities

The polarities of Desarguesian planes have long been known. This author has undertaken to classify the correlations of finite Desarguesian planes in general. In [6] we have presented all the correlations with identity companion automorphism which are not polarities, of these planes. In this sequence of papers, we classify the correlations of planes of order $ p^{2^{i}(2n+1)}, n \neq 0 $, with companion automorphism ( $p^{2^{i}t}$ ), p an odd prime, $ t \neq 0 $. This represents a complete classification of the correlations of planes of odd nonsquare order (i = 0). Some of the correlations of planes of odd square order ($ t \neq 0 $ ) are also covered by the present analysis.When the companion automorphism is not trivial, the problem, naturally, becomes more involved, and a great deal begins to hinge upon the order of the plane being odd or even, and also a square or a nonsquare.The correlations of planes of order $ 2^{2^{i}(2n+1)}, n \neq 0 $, with companion automorphism $ 2^{2^{i}t}, t \neq 0 $, and especially those of planes of order $ p^{2^{i}(2n+1)}, i \neq 0 $, with companion automorphism $ p^{2^{j}(2r+1)}, j > i $ require a substantially different treatment, and will be the object of separate efforts.     

Semi-classical projective planes over half-ordered fields

This paper concerns a generalization of Moulton planes constructed by J. Jakóbowski. We consider those planes over ordered fields and solve the isomorphism and collineation problem posed inGeom. Dedicata 42 (1992), 243–253.Dedicated to Prof. H. Salzmann on the occasion of his 65th birthday     

Two-dimensional flag-transitive planes revisited

This paper shows that the odd order two-dimensional flag-transitive planes constructed by Kantor-Suetake constitute the same family of planes as those constructed by Baker-Ebert. Moreover, for orders satisfying a modest number theoretical assumption this family consists of all possible such planes of that order. In particular, it is shown that the number of isomorphism classes of (non-Desarguesian) two-dimensional flag-transitive affine planes of order q ² is precisely (q–1)/2 when q is an odd prime and precisely (q–1)/2e when q=p ^e is an odd prime power with exponent e that is a power of 2. An enumeration is given in other cases that uses the Möbius inversion formula.This work was partially supported by NSA grant MDA 904-95-H-1013.This work was partially supported by NSA grant MDA 904-94-H-2033.     

Shear planes

A shear plane is a 2n-dimensional stable plane admitting a quasi-perspective collineation group which is a vector group of the same dimension 2n and fixes no point. We show that all of these planes can be derived from a special kind of partial spreads by a construction analogous to the construction of (punctured) dual translation planes from compact spreads. Finally we give a criterion (and examples) for shear planes which are not isomorphic to an open subplane of a topological projective plane.     

Spreads,ovoids andS 5

We consider translation planes of orderq ² (whereq andq ² - 1 are coprime to 30) such thatS ₅ acts on the line at infinity. It turns out that the Klein correspondence is in particular useful for the investigation of these planes. Representations of the planes, automorphisms and examples of low order are studied in detail. In view of a problem of Ostrom (Math. Z. 156 (1977), 59–71), series of translation planes are constructed with the following property: the translation complement is nonsolvable and has an order coprime to the characteristic of the plane.     

Polar unitals in compact eight-dimensional planes

We determine centralizers and unitals for the polarities of eight-dimensional compact planes with at least 17-dimensional group of automorphisms, and discuss transitivity properties.Received: 7 August 2003     

Maximal Baer groups in translation planes and compatibility with homology groups

The translation planes with spreads in PG(3, q) that admit at least two Baer groups of order q–1 are classified.     

A classification of Minkowski planes over half-ordered fields

This paper concerns a construction of Minkowski planes over half-ordered fields [5] and [20]. Solving various functional equations the Klein-Kroll types of these Minkowski planes are determined with respect toG- andq-translations and (p, q)-homotheties. Examples for some of the resulting types are given.     

Some inequalities on areas of bisection planes of dihedral angles of a simplex

In this paper we prove some inequalities on areas of bisection planes of dihedral angles of a simplex in E ⁿ.     

Laguerre planes of even order and translation ovals

Translation Laguerre planes of even order are represented in high dimensional projective space over GF(2) by a collection of subspaces that satisfies a very simple condition.This research was supported for the respective authors by a grant from the University of Canterbury and by a Feodor Lynen Fellowship.     

Some inherited maximal arcs in derived dual translation planes

In 1974 J. A. Thas constructed a class of maximal arcs in certain translation planes of orderq ². In this paper a new class of maximal arcs is constructed in certain derived dual translation planes that are inherited from the duals of the Thas maximal arcs. It is noted that some (but not all) of the maximal arcs are isomorphic to a class constructed by the author.The author gratefully acknowledges the support of an Australian Postgraduate Research Award.