Direct constructions of large sets of Kirkman triple systems

Research on the existence of large sets of Kirkman triple systems (LKTS) extends from the mid-eighteen hundreds to the present. In this paper we review known direct approaches of constructing LKTS and present new ideas of direct constructions. We finally prove the existence of an LKTS(v) where \(v \in \{69,141,165,213,285,309,333\}\). Combining recursive constructions yields several new infinite classes.     

On large sets of disjoint Kirkman triple systems

In this paper, we introduce LR(u) designs and use these designs together with large sets of Kirkman triple systems (LKTS) and transitive KTS (TKTS) of order v to construct an LKTS(uv). Our main result is that there exists an LKTS(v) for v∈{3nm(2·13k+1)t;n?1,k?1,t=0,1,m∈{1,5,11,17,25,35,43}}.     

Hanani triple systems

Hanani triple systems onv≡1 (mod 6) elements are Steiner triple systems having (v−1)/2 pairwise disjoint almost parallel classes (sets of pairwise disjoint triples that spanv−1 elements), and the remaining triples form a partial parallel class. Hanani triple systems are one natural analogue of the Kirkman triple systems onv≡3 (mod 6) elements, which form the solution of the celebrated Kirkman schoolgirl problem. We prove that a Hanani triple system exists for allv≡1 (mod 6) except forv ∈ {7, 13}.     

On the existence of nearly Kirkman triple systems with subsystems

It is proved in this paper that the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of an incomplete nearly Kirkman triple system INKTS(u, v) are u ≡ v ≡ 0 (mod 6), u ≥ 3v. As a consequence, we obtain a complete solution to the embedding problem for nearly Kirkman triple systems.      

A construction for large sets of disjoint Kirkman triple systems

A Steiner system S(t, k, v) is called i-resolvable, 0 < i < t, if its block set can be partitioned into S(i, k, v). In this paper, a 2-resolvable S(3, 4, v) is used to construct a large set of disjoint Kirkman triple systems of order 3v − 3 (briefly LKTS) and some new orders for LKTS are then obtained. Research supported by Tianyuan Mathematics Foundation of NSFC Grant 10526032 and Natural Science Foundation of Universities of Jiangsu Province Grant 05KJB110111.     

Large sets of Kirkman triple systems of prime power sizes

Research on the existence of large sets of Kirkman triple systems (LKTS) extends from the mid-eighteen hundreds to the present. Enlightened by known direct constructions of LKTSs, we bring forth new approaches and finally establish the existence of LKTSs of all admissible prime power sizes less than 400 only with two possible exceptions. In the process, we also employ known construction methods and draw support from efficient algorithms.     

不相交斯泰纳和柯克曼三元系大集两定理(一)

给定一个斯泰纳或柯克曼三元系,介绍其大集的生成方法;得到其大集存在条件的判据是一个位差各异的循环数;柯克曼三元系其大集判据是,不能分解的柯克曼三元系有大集,能分解的无大集.     

An improved product construction for large sets of Kirkman triple systems

It has been shown by Lei, in his recent paper, that there exists a large set of Kirkman triple systems of order uv (LKTS(uv)) if there exist an LKTS(v), a TKTS(v) and an LR(u), where a TKTS(v) is a transitive Kirkman triple system of order v, and an LR(u) is a new kind of design introduced by Lei. In this paper, we improve this product construction by removing the condition “there exists a TKTS(v)”. Our main idea is to use transitive resolvable idempotent symmetric quasigroups instead of TKTS. As an application, we can combine the known results on LKTS and LR-designs to obtain the existence of an LKTS(3ⁿm(2·13^n₁+1)(2·13^n_t+1)) for n1, m{1,5,11,17,25,35,43,67,91,123}{2^2r+125^s+1 : r0,s0}, t0 and n_i1 (i=1,…,t).     

有向Kirkman填充设计的谱

§ 1　IntroductionLet X be a set of v points.A packing(directed packing) of X is a collection of subsets(ordered subsets) of X(called blocks) such that any pair(ordered pair) of distinct pointsfrom X occur together in atmostone block in the collection.A packing(directed packing)is called resolvable ifitsblock setadmitsa partition into parallel classes,each parallel classbeing a partition of the pointset X.A Kirkman triple system KTS(v) is a collection Tof3 -subsets of X(triples) suchthat …     

Constructions for large sets of <Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis>-intersecting Steiner triple systems

Recently, Franek et al. introduced large sets of v − 1 L-intersecting Steiner triple systems of order v (STS(v)) and gave four constructions for them (Des., Codes and Cryptogr., 26 (2002), 243–256). In this paper, we mainly focus on large sets of v − 1{0, 1}-intersecting STS(v) and large sets of v + 1{1}-intersecting STS(v). For this purpose, we introduce a concept of L-intersecting partitionable candelabra system (L-PCS) of order v with q(v) subsystems and establish a relationship between L-PCS and large set of q(v)L-intersecting STS(v). Some constructions for L-PCSs are also presented by 3-wise balanced designs. These facilitate the production of some new infinite classes of these large sets. Research supported by Tianyuan Mathematics Foundation of NSFC Grant 10526032 and Natural Science Foundation of Universities of Jiangsu Province Grant 05KJB110111.     

Large sets with holes

We study large sets of disjoint Steiner triple systems “with holes”. The purpose of these structures is to extend the use of large sets of disjoint Steiner triple systems in the construction of various other large set type structures to values of v for which no Steiner triple system of order v exists, i.e., v ≡ 0, 2, 4, or 5 (mod 6). We give constructions for all of these congruence classes. We describe several applications, including applications to large sets of disjoint group divisible designs and to large sets of disjoint separable ordered designs. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Doubling and Tripling Constructions for Defining Sets in Steiner Triple Systems

 A minimal defining set of a Steiner triple system on v points (STS(v)) is a partial Steiner triple system contained in only this STS(v), and such that any of its proper subsets is contained in at least two distinct STS(v)s. We consider the standard doubling and tripling constructions for STS(2v+1) and STS(3v) from STS(v) and show how minimal defining sets of an STS(v) gives rise to minimal defining sets in the larger systems. We use this to construct some new families of defining sets. For example, for Steiner triple systems on 3 ⁿ points, we construct minimal defining sets of volumes varying by as much as 7 ⁿ⁻² . Received: September 16, 2000 Final version received: September 13, 2001 RID="*" ID="*" Research supported by the Australian Research Council A49937047, A49802044     

Kirkman triple systems of order 21 with nontrivial automorphism group

There are 50,024 Kirkman triple systems of order 21 admitting an automorphism of order 2. There are 13,280 Kirkman triple systems of order 21 admitting an automorphism of order 3. Together with the 192 known systems and some simple exchange operations, this leads to a collection of 63,745 nonisomorphic Kirkman triple systems of order 21. This includes all KTS(21)s having a nontrivial automorphism group. None of these is doubly resolvable. Four are quadrilateral-free, providing the first examples of such a KTS(21).

     

Further results on large sets of Kirkman triple systems

An LR design is introduced by the second author in his recent paper and it plays a very important role in the construction of LKTS (a large set of disjoint Kirkman triple system). In this paper, we generalize it and introduce a new design RPICS. Some constructions for these two designs are also presented. With the relationship between them and LKTS, we obtain some new LKTSs.     

Some infinite families of large sets of Kirkman triple systems

A large set of Kirkman triple systems of order v, denoted by LKTS(v), is a collection {(X, B_i) : 1 ≤ i ≤ v ? 2}, where every (X,B_i) is a KTS(v) and all B_i form a partition of all triples on X. Many researchers have studied the existence of LKTS(v) for a long time. In [13], the author introduced a concept—large set of generalized Kirkman systems (LGKS), which plays an important role in the discussion of LKTS. In this article, we give a new construction for LGKS and obtain some new results of LKTS, that is, there exists an LKTS(6u + 3) for u = qⁿ, where n ≥ 1, q ≡ 7 (mod 12) and q is a prime power. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 16: 202–212, 2008     

Distance and fractional isomorphism in Steiner triple systems

In [8], Quattrochi and Rinaldi introduced the idea ofn ⁻¹-isomorphism between Steiner systems. In this paper we study this concept in the context of Steiner triple systems. The main result is that for any positive integerN, there existsv ₀(N) such that for all admissiblev≥v ₀(N) and for each STS(v) (sayS), there exists an STS(v) (sayS′) such that for somen>N, S is strictlyn ⁻¹-isomorphic toS′. We also prove that for all admissiblev≥13, there exist two STS(v)s which are strictly 2⁻¹-isomorphic. Define the distance between two Steiner triple systemsS andS′ of the same order to be the minimum volume of a tradeT which transformsS into a system isomorphic toS′. We determine the distance between any two Steiner triple systems of order 15 and, further, give a complete classification of strictly 2⁻¹-isomorphic and 3⁻¹-isomorphic pairs of STS(15)s.     

Minimal large sets for cooperative games

We analyze the concept of large set for a coalitional game v introduced by Martínez-de-Albéniz and Rafels (Int. J. Game Theory 33(1):107–114, 2004). We give some examples and identify some of these sets. The existence of such sets for any game is proved, and several properties of largeness are provided. We focus on the minimality of such sets and prove its existence using Zorn’s lemma. Institutional support from research grants (Generalitat de Catalunya) 2005SGR00984 and (Spanish Government and FEDER) SEJ2005-02443/ECON is gratefully acknowledged, and the support of the Barcelona Economics Program of CREA.     

More large sets of resolvable MTS and DTS with even orders

In this paper, we first introduce a special structure that allows us to construct a large set of resolvable Mendelsohn triple systems of orders 2q ＋ 2, or LRMTS（2q ＋ 2）, where q = 6t ＋ 5 is a prime power. Using a computer, we find examples of such structure for t C T = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24}. Furthermore, by a method we introduced in [13], large set of resolvable directed triple systems with the same orders are obtained too. Finally, by the tripling construction and product construction for LRMTS and LRDTS introduced in [2, 20, 21], and by the new results for LR-design in [8], we obtain the existence for LRMTS（v）and LRDTS（v）, where v = 12（t ＋ 1） mi≥0（2.7mi＋1）mi≥0（2.13ni＋1）and t∈T,which provides more infinite family for LRMTS and LRDTS of even orders.     

Further results on overlarge sets of Kirkman triple systems

In this paper, we introduce a new concept -- overlarge sets of generalized Kirkman systems （OLGKS）, research the relation between it and OLKTS, and obtain some new results for OLKTS. The main conclusion is： If there exist both an OLKF（6^k） and a 3-OLGKS（6^k-1,4） for all k ∈{6,7,...,40}／{8,17,21,22,25,26}, then there exists an OLKTS（v） for any v ≡ 3 （mod 6）, v ≠ 21. As well, we obtain the following result： There exists an OLKTS（6u ＋ 3） for u = 2^2n-1 - 1, 7^n, 31^n, 127^n, 4^r25^s, where n ≥ 1,r＋s≥ 1.     

Large sets of pure directed triple systems with index λ

A directed triple system of order v with index λ, briefly by DTS（v,λ）, is a pair （X, B） where X is a v-set and B is a collection of transitive triples （blocks） on X such that every ordered pair of X belongs to λ blocks of B. A simple DTS（v, λ） is a DTS（v, λ） without repeated blocks. A simple DTS（v, ）,） is called pure and denoted by PDTS（v, λ） if （x, y, z） ∈ B implies （z, y, x）, （z, x, y）, （y, x, z）, （y, z, x）, （x, z, y） B. A large set of disjoint PDTS（v, λ）, denoted by LPDTS（v, λ）, is a collection of 3（v - 2）/λ disjoint pure directed triple systems on X. In this paper, some results about the existence for LPDTS（v, λ） are presented. Especially, we determine the spectrum of LPDTS（v, 2）.