Uniformly resolvable designs with index one, block sizes three and five and up to five parallel classes with blocks of size five

Each parallel class of a uniformly resolvable design (URD) contains blocks of only one block size k (denoted k-pc). The number of k-pcs is denoted r_k. The necessary conditions for URDs with v points, index one, blocks of size 3 and 5, and r₃,r₅>0, are . If r_k>1, then v≥k², and r₃=(v−1−4⋅r₅)/2. For r₅=1 these URDs are known as group divisible designs. We prove that these necessary conditions are sufficient for r₅=3 except possibly v=105, and for r₅=2,4,5 with possible exceptions (v=105,165,285,345) New labeled frames and labeled URDs, which give new URDs as ingredient designs for recursive constructions, are the key in the proofs.     

On uniformly resolvable designs with block sizes 3 and 4

A Uniformly Resolvable Design (URD) is a resolvable design in which each parallel class contains blocks of only one block size k, such a class is denoted k -pc and for a given k the number of k -pcs is denoted r _k . In this paper we consider the case of block sizes 3 and 4. The cases r ₃ = 1 and r ₄ = 1 correspond to Resolvable Group Divisible Designs (RGDD). We prove that if a 4-RGDD of type h ^u exists then all admissible {3, 4}-URDs with 12hu points exist. In particular, this gives existence for URD with v ≡ 0 (mod 48) points. We also investigate the case of URDs with a fixed number of k -pc. In particular, we show that URDs with r ₃ = 4 exist, and that those with r ₃ = 7, 10 exist, with 11 and 12 possible exceptions respectively, this covers all cases with 1 < r ₃ ≤ 10. Furthermore, we prove that URDs with r ₄ = 7 exist and that those with r ₄ = 9 exist, except when v = 12, 24 and possibly when v = 276. In addition, we prove that there exist 4-RGDDs of types 2 ¹⁴², 2 ³⁴⁶ and 6 ⁵⁴. Finally, we provide four {3,5}-URDs with 105 points.     

Uniformly resolvable designs with index one and block sizes three and four — with three or five parallel classes of block size four

Each parallel class of a uniformly resolvable design (URD) contains blocks of only one block size. A URD with v points and with block sizes three and four means that at least one parallel class has block size three and at least one has block size four. Danziger [P. Danziger, Uniform restricted resolvable designs with r=3, ARS Combin. 46 (1997) 161-176] proved that for all there exist URDs with index one, some parallel classes of block size three, and exactly three parallel classes with block size four, except when v=12 and except possibly when . We extend Danziger’s work by showing that there exists a URD with index one, some parallel classes with block size three, and exactly three parallel classes with block size four if, and only if, , v≠12. We also prove that there exists a URD with index one, some parallel classes of block size three, and exactly five parallel classes with block size four if, and only if, , v≠12. New labeled URDs, which give new URDs as ingredient designs for recursive constructions, are the key in the proofs. Some ingredient URDs are also constructed with difference families.     

Resolvable minimum coverings with quadruples

Let V be a finite set of v elements. A covering of the pairs of V by k-subsets is a family F of k-subsets of V, called blocks, such that each pair in V occurs in at least one member of F. For fixed v and k, the covering problem is to determine the number of blocks in any minimum covering. A minimum covering is resolvable if we can partition the blocks into classes (called resolution classes) such that every element is contained in precisely one block of each class. A resolvable minimum covering of the pairs of V by k-subsets is denoted by RC(v, k). In this article, we show that there exist RC(v, 4) for v ≡ 0 (mod 4) except for v = 12 and possibly for v ∈ {104, 108, 116, 132, 156, 164, 204, 212, 228, 276}. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 6: 431–450, 1998     

Maximum uniformly resolvable designs with block sizes 2 and 4

A central question in design theory dating from Kirkman in 1850 has been the existence of resolvable block designs. In this paper we will concentrate on the case when the block size k=4. The necessary condition for a resolvable design to exist when k=4 is that v≡4mod12; this was proven sufficient in 1972 by Hanani, Ray-Chaudhuri and Wilson [H. Hanani, D.K. Ray-Chaudhuri, R.M. Wilson, On resolvable designs, Discrete Math. 3 (1972) 343-357]. A resolvable pairwise balanced design with each parallel class consisting of blocks which are all of the same size is called a uniformly resolvable design, a URD. The necessary condition for the existence of a URD with block sizes 2 and 4 is that v≡0mod4. Obviously in a URD with blocks of size 2 and 4 one wishes to have the maximum number of resolution classes of blocks of size 4; these designs are called maximum uniformly resolvable designs or MURDs. So the question of the existence of a MURD on v points has been solved for by the result of Hanani, Ray-Chaudhuri and Wilson cited above. In the case this problem has essentially been solved with a handful of exceptions (see [G. Ge, A.C.H. Ling, Asymptotic results on the existence of 4-RGDDs and uniform 5-GDDs, J. Combin. Des. 13 (2005) 222-237]). In this paper we consider the case when and prove that a exists for all u≥2 with the possible exception of u∈{2,7,9,10,11,13,14,17,19,22,31,34,38,43,46,47,82}.     

Resolvable Maximum Packings with Quadruples

Let V be a finite set of v elements. A packing of the pairs of V by k-subsets is a family F of k-subsets of V, called blocks, such that each pair in V occurs in at most one member of F. For fixed v and k, the packing problem is to determine the number of blocks in any maximum packing. A maximum packing is resolvable if we can partition the blocks into classes (called parallel classes) such that every element is contained in precisely one block of each class. A resolvable maximum packing of the pairs of V by k-subsets is denoted by RP(v,k). It is well known that an RP(v,4) is equivalent to a resolvable group divisible design (RGDD) with block 4 and group size h, where h=1,2 or 3. The existence of 4-RGDDs with group-type hⁿ for h=1 or 3 has been solved except for (h,n)=(3,4) (for which no such design exists) and possibly for (h,n){(3,88),(3,124)}. In this paper, we first complete the case for h=3 by direct constructions. Then, we start the investigation for the existence of 4-RGDDs of type 2ⁿ. We shall show that the necessary conditions for the existence of a 4-RGDD of type 2ⁿ, namely, n 4 and n 4 (mod 6) are also sufficient with 2 definite exceptions (n=4,10) and 18 possible exceptions with n=346 being the largest. As a consequence, we have proved that there exists an RP(v,4) for v 0 (mod 4) with 3 exceptions (v=8,12 or 20) and 18 possible exceptions.Gennian Ge Researcher supported in part by YNSFC Grant 10001026 C.W.H. Lam Researcher supported by the National Science and Research Council of Canada Alan C.H. Ling Researcher supported by an ARO grant 19-01-1-0406 and a DOE grant Researcher supported by NSFC Grant 19831050     

On the 3BD‐closed set B3({4,5,6})

Let B₃(K) = {v:? an S(3,K,v)}. For K = {4} or {4,6}, B₃(K) has been determined by Hanani, and for K = {4, 5} by a previous paper of the author. In this paper, we investigate the case of K = {4,5,6}. It is easy to see that if v ∈ B₃ ({4, 5, 6}), then v ≡ 0, 1, 2 (mod 4). It is known that B₃{4, 6}) = {v > 0: v ≡ 0 (mod 2)} ? B₃({4,5,6}) by Hanani and that B₃({4, 5}) = {v > 0: v ≡ 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10 (mod 12) and v ≠ 13} ? B₃({4, 5, 6}). We shall focus on the case of v ≡ 9 (mod 12). It is proved that B₃({4,5,6}) = {v > 0: v ≡ 0, 1, 2 (mod 4) and v ≠ 9, 13}. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Spectrum of resolvable directed quadruple systems

A t-(v, k, 1) directed design (or simply a t-(v, k, 1)DD) is a pair (S, ℐ), where S is a v-set and ℐ is a collection of k-tuples (called blocks) of S, such that every t-tuple of S belongs to a unique block. The t-(v, k, 1)DD is called resolvable if ℐ can be partitioned into some parallel classes, so that each parallel class is a partition of S. It is proved that a resolvable 3-(v, 4, 1)DD exists if and only if v = 0 (mod 4).     

Resolvable Mendelsohn designs with block size 4

Summary Letv andK be positive integers. A (v, k, 1)-Mendelsohn design (briefly (v, k, 1)-MD) is a pair (X,B) whereX is av-set (ofpoints) andB is a collection of cyclically orderedk-subsets ofX (calledblocks) such that every ordered pair of points ofX are consecutive in exactly one block ofB. A necessary condition for the existence of a (v, k, 1)-MD isv(v–1) 0 (modk). If the blocks of a (v, k, 1)-MD can be partitioned into parallel classes each containingv/k blocks wherev ) (modk) or (v – 1)/k blocks wherev 1 (modk), then the design is calledresolvable and denoted briefly by (v, k, 1)-RMD. It is known that a (v, 3,1)-RMD exists if and only ifv 0 or 1 (mod 3) andv 6. In this paper, it is shown that the necessary condition for the existence of a (v, 4, 1)-RMD, namelyv 0 or 1 (mod 4), is also sufficient, except forv = 4 and possibly exceptingv = 12. These constructions are equivalent to a resolvable decomposition of the complete symmetric directed graphK _v ^* onv vertices into 4-circuits.Research supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada under Grant A-5320.     

Kirkman Packing Designs KPD ({3, 5*},v)

A Kirkman packing design KPD ({3, 5^*},v) is a resolvable packing with maximum possible number of parallel classes, each class containing one block of size 5 and all other blocks of size three. Such designs can be used to construct certain threshold schemes in cryptography. In this paper, direct and recursive constructions are discussed for such designs. The existence of a KPD ({3, 5^*},v) for is established with a few possible exceptions.     

Pitch tournament designs and other BIBDs—existence results for the case ν = 8n

A pitch tournament is a resolvable or near resolvable(ν,8,7) BIBD that satisfies certain criteria in addition to theusual condition that ν ≡ 0 or 1 (mod 8). Here we establish that for the case ν = 8n the necessary condition forpitch tournaments is sufficient for all n > 1615, with at most 187 smaller exceptions. This complements our earlier study of the ν = 8n + 1 case, where we established sufficiency for all n > 224, with at most 28 smaller exceptions. The four missing cases for (ν,8,7) BIBDs are provided, namely ν∈{48,56,96,448}, thereby establishing that the necessary existence conditions are sufficient without exception. Some constructions for resolvable designs are also provided, reducing the existence question for (ν,8,7) RBIBDs to 21 possible exceptions. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 9: 334–356, 2001     

Existence results for near resolvable designs

A near resolvable design, NRB(v, k), is a balanced incomplete block design whose block set can be partitioned into v classes such that each class contains every point of the design but one, and each point is missing from exactly one class. The necessary conditions for the existence of near resolvable designs are v ≡ 1 mod k and λ = k ? 1. These necessary conditions have been shown to be sufficient for k ? {2,3,4} and almost always sufficient for k ? {5,6}. We are able to show that there exists an integer n₀(k) so that NRB(v,k) exist for all v > n₀(k) and v ≡ 1 mod k. Using some new direct constructions we show that there are many k for which it is easy to compute an explicit bound on n₀(k). These direct constructions also allow us to build previously unknown NRB(v,5) and NRB(v,6). © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Q5‐factorization of λKn

Q_k is the simple graph whose vertices are the k‐tuples with entries in {0, 1} and edges are the pairs of k‐tuples that differ in exactly one position. In this paper, we proved that there exists a Q₅‐factorization of λK_n if and only if (a) n ≡ 0(mod 32) if λ ≡ 0(mod 5) and (b) n ≡ 96(mod 160) if λ ? 0(mod 5).     

Super‐simple resolvable balanced incomplete block designs with block size 4 and index 3

The necessary conditions for the existence of a super‐simple resolvable balanced incomplete block design on v points with k = 4 and λ = 3, are that v ≥ 8 and v ≡ 0 mod 4. These conditions are shown to be sufficient except for v = 12. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A few more Kirkman squares and doubly near resolvable BIBDs with block size 3

A Kirkman square with index λ, latinicity μ, block size k, and v points, KS_k(v;μ,λ), is a t×t array (t=λ(v-1)/μ(k-1)) defined on a v-set V such that (1) every point of V is contained in precisely μ cells of each row and column, (2) each cell of the array is either empty or contains a k-subset of V, and (3) the collection of blocks obtained from the non-empty cells of the array is a (v,k,λ)-BIBD. In a series of papers, Lamken established the existence of the following designs: KS₃(v;1,2) with at most six possible exceptions [E.R. Lamken, The existence of doubly resolvable (v,3,2)-BIBDs, J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 72 (1995) 50-76], KS₃(v;2,4) with two possible exceptions [E.R. Lamken, The existence of KS₃(v;2,4)s, Discrete Math. 186 (1998) 195-216], and doubly near resolvable (v,3,2)-BIBDs with at most eight possible exceptions [E.R. Lamken, The existence of doubly near resolvable (v,3,2)-BIBDs, J. Combin. Designs 2 (1994) 427-440]. In this paper, we construct designs for all of the open cases and complete the spectrum for these three types of designs. In addition, Colbourn, Lamken, Ling, and Mills established the spectrum of KS₃(v;1,1) in 2002 with 23 possible exceptions. We construct designs for 11 of the 23 open cases.     

Group‐divisible designs with block size k having k + 1 groups,for k = 4, 5

We investigate the spectrum for k‐GDDs having k + 1 groups, where k = 4 or 5. We take advantage of new constructions introduced by R. S. Rees (Two new direct product‐type constructions for resolvable group‐divisible designs, J Combin Designs, 1 (1993), 15–26) to construct many new designs. For example, we show that a resolvable 4‐GDD of type g⁵ exists if and only if g ≡ 0 mod 12 and that a resolvable 5‐GDD of type g⁶ exists if and only if g ≡ 0 mod 20. We also show that a 4‐GDD of type g⁴m¹ exists (with m > 0) if and only if g ≡ m ≡ 0 mod 3 and 0 < m ≤ 3g/2, except possibly when (g,m) = (9,3) or (18,6), and that a 5‐GDD of type g⁵m¹ exists (with m > 0) if and only if g ≡ m ≡ 0 mod 4 and 0 < m ≤ 4g/3, with 32 possible exceptions. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 8: 363–386, 2000     

Resolvable BIBDs with block size 8 and index 7

The necessary conditions for the existence of a resolvable BIBD RB(k,λ; v) are λ(v ? 1) = 0(mod k ? 1) and v = 0(mod k). In this article, it is proved that these conditions are also sufficient for k = 8 and λ = 7, with at most 36 possible exceptions. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Resolvable packings of Kv with K2 × Kc's

The study of resolvable packings of K_v with K_r × K_c's is motivated by the use of DNA library screening. We call such a packing a (v, K_r × K_c, 1)‐RP. As usual, a (v, K_r × K_c, 1)‐RP with the largest possible number of parallel classes (or, equivalently, the largest possible number of blocks) is called optimal. The resolvability implies v ≡ 0 (mod rc). Let ρ be the number of parallel classes of a (v, K_r × K_c, 1)‐RP. Then we have ρ ≤ ?(v‐1)/(r + c ? 2)?. In this article, we present a number of constructive methods to obtain optimal (v, K₂ × K_c, 1)‐RPs meeting the aforementioned bound and establish some existence results. In particular, we show that an optimal (v, K₂ × K₃, 1)‐RP meeting the bound exists if and only if v ≡ 0 (mod 6). © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 17: 177–189, 2009     

Ordered tournaments and ordered triplewhist tournaments with the three person property

It is well known that an ordered tournament OWh(v) exists if and only if v ≡ 1 (mod 4), v ≥ 5. An ordered triplewhist tournament on v players is said to have the three person property if no two games in the tournament have three common players. We briefly denote such a design as a 3POTWh(v). In this article, we show that a 3POTWh(v) exists whenever v>17 and v ≡ 1 (mod 4) with few possible exceptions. We also show that an ordered whist tournament on v players with the three person property, denoted 3POWh(v), exists if and only if v ≡ 1 (mod 4), v ≥ 9. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 17: 39–52, 2009     

Almost resolvable Pk-decompositions of complete graphs

An almost P_k-factor of G is a P_k-factor of G - { v } for some vertex v. An almost resolvable P_k-decomposition of λK_n is a partition of the edges of λK_n into almost P_k-factors. We prove that necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of an almost resolvable P_k-decomposition of λK_n are n ≡ 1 (mod k) and λnk/2 ≡ 0 (mod k ?1).