On finite matroids with one more hyperplane than points

In this paper a complete classification of finite matroids with one more hyperplane than points is obtained.Dedicated to Professor Maria Scafati Tallini on the occasion of her 65th birthday     

On a class of finite linear spaces with few lines

A famous result of de Bruijn and Erdős (Indag. Math. 10 (1948) 421–423) states that a finite linear space has at least as many lines as points, with equality only if it is a projective plane or a near-pencil. This result led to the problem of characterizing finite linear spaces for which the difference between the number b of lines and the number v of points is assigned.

In this paper finite linear spaces with b−vm, m being the minimum number of lines on a point, are characterized.     

On the code generated by the incidence matrix of points and hyperplanes in <Emphasis Type="Italic">PG</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>,<Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>) and its dual

In this paper, we study the p-ary linear code C(PG(n,q)), q = p ^h , p prime, h ≥ 1, generated by the incidence matrix of points and hyperplanes of a Desarguesian projective space PG(n,q), and its dual code. We link the codewords of small weight of this code to blocking sets with respect to lines in PG(n,q) and we exclude all possible codewords arising from small linear blocking sets. We also look at the dual code of C(PG(n,q)) and we prove that finding the minimum weight of the dual code can be reduced to finding the minimum weight of the dual code of points and lines in PG(2,q). We present an improved upper bound on this minimum weight and we show that we can drop the divisibility condition on the weight of the codewords in Sachar’s lower bound (Geom Dedicata 8:407–415, 1979). G. Van de Voorde’s research was supported by the Institute for the Promotion of Innovation through Science and Technology in Flanders (IWT-Vlaanderen).     

Lower bounds for the number of hyperplanes separating two finite sets of points

We consider the NP-hard problem of polyhedral separability of two finite sets A and B of points in general position in ? ^d by the minimum number of hyperplanes in the sense of a boolean function from a given class Σ. Both deterministic and probabilistic lower bounds are obtained for this number for two different classes of functions Σ.     

On finite {s-2, s}-semiaffine linear spaces

In this paper finite {s-2, s}-semiaffine linear spaces of order n are studied. It is proved that if s= 6 or then there is only a finite number of such linear spaces. Received 28 May 1999; revised 28 December 1999.     

On the code generated by the incidence matrix of points and k-spaces in and its dual

In this paper, we study the p-ary linear code C_k(n,q), q=p^h, p prime, h1, generated by the incidence matrix of points and k-dimensional spaces in PG(n,q). For kn/2, we link codewords of C_k(n,q)C_k(n,q) of weight smaller than 2q^k to k-blocking sets. We first prove that such a k-blocking set is uniquely reducible to a minimal k-blocking set, and exclude all codewords arising from small linear k-blocking sets. For k<n/2, we present counterexamples to lemmas valid for kn/2. Next, we study the dual code of C_k(n,q) and present a lower bound on the weight of the codewords, hence extending the results of Sachar [H. Sachar, The F_p span of the incidence matrix of a finite projective plane, Geom. Dedicata 8 (1979) 407–415] to general dimension.     

Flat projective planes with 2-dimensional collineation group fixing at least two lines and more than two points

All flat projective planes whose collineation group contains a 2-dimensional subgroup fixing at least two lines and more than two points are classified. Furthermore, all isomorphism types of such planes are determined. This completes the classification of all flat projective planes admitting a 2-dimensional collineation group.     

SRAR loops with more than two commutators

Possession of a unique nonidentity commutator/associator is a property that dominates the theory of loops whose loop rings, while not associative, nevertheless satisfy an “interesting” identity. For instance, until now, all loops with loop rings satisfying the right Bol identity (such loops are called SRAR) have been known to have this property. In this paper, we present various constructions of other kinds of SRAR loops.     

On the sets of branch points of mappings more general than quasiregular

It is shown that if a point x ₀ ∊ ℝ ⁿ , n ≥ 3, is an essential isolated singularity of an open discrete Q-mapping f : D → [`(\mathbb R<sup>n</sup>)] \overline {\mathbb {R}^n} , B <sub>f</sub> is the set of branch points of f in D; and a point z <sub>0</sub> ∊ [`(\mathbb Rⁿ)] \overline {\mathbb {R}^n} is an asymptotic limit of f at the point x ₀; then, for any neighborhood U containing the point x ₀; the point z ₀ ∊ [`(f( B<sub>f</sub> ?U ))] \overline {f\left( {B_f \cap U} \right)} provided that the function Q has either a finite mean oscillation at the point x <sub>0</sub> or a logarithmic singularity whose order does not exceed n − 1: Moreover, for n ≥ 2; under the indicated conditions imposed on the function Q; every point of the set [`(\mathbb Rⁿ)] \overline {\mathbb {R}^n} \ f(D) is an asymptotic limit of f at the point x ₀. For n ≥ 3, the following relation is true: [`(\mathbbR<sup>n</sup> )] \f( D ) ì [`(f B_f )] \overline {\mathbb{R}^n } \backslash f\left( D \right) \subset \overline {f\,B_f } . In addition, if ￥ ? f( D ) \infty \notin f\left( D \right) , then the set f B _f is infinite and x₀ ? [`(B_f )] x_0 \in \overline {B_f } .     

On families of quadratic surfaces having fixed intersections with two hyperplanes

We investigate families of quadrics all of which have the same intersection with two given hyperplanes. The cases when the two hyperplanes are parallel and when they are nonparallel are discussed. We show that these families can be described with only one parameter and describe how the quadrics are transformed as the parameter changes. This research was motivated by an application in mixed integer conic optimization. In that application, we aimed to characterize the convex hull of the union of the intersections of an ellipsoid with two half-spaces arising from the imposition of a linear disjunction.     

当$4q^{5}-5q^{4}-2q+1\leq d \leq 4q^{5}-5q^{4}-q$时$[g_{q}(6,d),6,d]_{q}$码的不存在性

证明了对于q≥17,当4q~5-5q~4-2q+1≤d≤4q~5-5q~4-q时,不存在达到Griesmer界的[n,k,d]_q码.此结果推广了Cheon等人在2005年和2008年的非存在性定理.     

On partitioning two matroids into common independent subsets

Let M₁ and M₂ be two matroids on the same ground set S. We conjecture that if there do not exist disjoint subsets A₁,A₂,…,A_k+1 of S, such that _isp_M1(A_i)≠Ø, and similarly for M₂, then S is partitioned into k sets, each independent in both M₁ and M₂. This is a possible generalization of König's edge-coloring theorem. We prove the conjecture for the case k=2 and for a regular case, in which both matroids have the same rank d, and S consists of k·d elements. Finally, we prove another special case related to a conjecture of Rota.     

On the difficulty of extending the coco value to games with more than two players

Kalai and Kalai (2013) presented five axioms for solutions of 2-person semi-cooperative games: games in which the basic data specifies individual strategies and payoffs, but in which the players can sign binding contracts and make utility transfers. The axioms pin down a unique solution, the coco value. I show that if one adds a mild dummy player axiom to the list, then the axioms become inconsistent when there are more than two players.     

On an integral with two branch points

The paper considers a class of real integrals performed by using a convenient integral in the complex plane. A complex integral containing a multi-valued function with two branch points is transformed into another integral containing a pole and a unique branch point. As a by-product we obtain a new class of integrals which can be calculated in a very simple way.     

On the probability that finite spaces with random distances are metric spaces

For a set of 3 or 4 points we compute the exact probability that, after assigning the distances between these points uniformly at random from the set 1,…,n , the space obtained is metric. The corresponding results for random real distances follow easily. We also prove estimates for the general case of a finite set of points with uniformly random real distances.     

On invertible substitutions with two fixed points

Let ? be a primitive substitution on a two-letter alphabet {a,b} having two fixed points ξ_a and ξ_b. We show that the substitution ? is invertible if and only if one has ξ_a=abξ and ξ_b=baξ. To cite this article: Z.-X. Wen et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 334 (2002) 727–731.     

On linear codes whose weights and length have a common divisor

In this paper we prove that a set of points (in a projective space over a finite field of q elements), which is incident with 0 mod r points of every hyperplane, has at least (r−1)q+(p−1)r points, where 1<r<q=ph, p prime. An immediate corollary of this theorem is that a linear code whose weights and length have a common divisor r<q and whose dual minimum distance is at least 3, has length at least (r−1)q+(p−1)r. The theorem, which is sharp in some cases, is a strong generalisation of an earlier result on the non-existence of maximal arcs in projective planes; the proof involves polynomials over finite fields, and is a streamlined and more transparent version of the earlier one.     

On a lower and upper bound for the curvature of ellipses with more than two foci

Let a set of points in the Euclidean plane be given. We are going to investigate the levels of the function measuring the sum of distances from the elements of the pointset which are called foci. Levels with only one focus are circles. In case of two different points as foci they are ellipses in the usual sense. If the set of the foci consists of more than two points then we have the so-called polyellipses. In this paper we investigate them from the viewpoint of differential geometry. We give a lower and upper bound for the curvature involving explicit constants. They depend on the number of the foci, the rate of the level and the global minimum of the function measuring the sum of the distances. The minimizer will be characterized by a theorem due to E. Weiszfeld together with a new proof. Explicit examples will also be given. As an application we present a new proof for a theorem due to P. Erd?s and I. Vincze. The result states that the approximation of a regular triangle by circumscribed polyellipses has an absolute error in the sense that there is no way to exceed it even if the number of the foci are arbitrary large.