Resolvable balanced bipartite designs

A block B denotes a set of k = k₁ + k₂ elements which are divided into two subsets, B¹ and B², where ∣Bⁱ∣ = k_i, i = 1 or 2. Two elements are said to be linked in B if and only if they belong to different subsets of B. A balanced bipartite design, BBD(v, k₁, k₂, λ), is an arrangement of v elements into b blocks, each containing k elements such that each element occurs in exactly r blocks and any two distinct elements are linked in exactly λ blocks. A resolvable balanced bipartite design, RBBD(v, k₁, k₂, λ), is a BBD(v, k₁, k₂, λ), the b blocks of which can be divided into r sets which are called complete replications, such that each complete replication contains all the v elements of the design.Necessary conditions for the existence of RBBD(v, 1, k₂, λ) and RBBD(v, n, n, λ) are obtained and it is shown that some of the conditions are also sufficient. In particular, necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of RBBD(v, 1, k₂, λ), where k₂ is odd or equal to two, and of RBBD(v, n, n, λ), where n is even and 2n ? 1 is a prime power, are given.     

Resolvable perfect cyclic designs

Let k, λ, and υ be positive integers. A perfect cyclic design in the class PD(υ, k, λ) consists of a pair (Q, B) where Q is a set with |Q| = υ and B is a collection of cyclically ordered k-subsets of Q such that every ordered pair of elements of Q are t apart in exactly λ of the blocks for t = 1, 2, 3,…, k?1. To clarify matters the block [a₁, a₂, …, a_k] has cyclic order a₁ < a₂ < a₃ … < a_k < a₁ and a_i and a_i+1 are said to be t apart in the block where i + t is taken mod k. In this paper we are interested only in the cases where λ = 1 and υ ≡ 1 mod k. Such a design has $\text{υ(υ ? 1)}\text{k}$ blocks. If the blocks can be partitioned into υ sets containing $\text{(υ ? 1)}\text{k}$ pairwise disjoint blocks the design is said to be resolvable, and any such partitioning of the blocks is said to be a resolution. Any set of $\text{υ ? 1)}\text{k}$ pairwise disjoint blocks together with a singleton consisting of the only element not in one of the blocks is called a parallel class. Any resolution of a design yields υ parallel classes. We denote by RPD(υ, k, 1) the class of all resolvable perfect cyclic designs with parameters υ, k, and 1. Associated with any resolvable perfect cyclic design is an orthogonal array with k + 1 columns and υ rows with an interesting conjugacy property. Also a design in the class RPD(υ, k, 1) is constructed for all sufficiently large υ with υ ≡ 1 mod k.     

Simultaneous block diagonalization of two real symmetric matrices

The simultaneous diagonalization of two real symmetric (r.s.) matrices has long been of interest. This subject is generalized here to the following problem (this question was raised by Dr. Olga Taussky-Todd, my thesis advisor at the California Institute of Technology): What is the first simultaneous block diagonal structure of a nonsingular pair of r.s. matrices ? For example, given a nonsingular pair of r.s. matrices S and T, which simultaneous block diagonalizations X′SX = diag(A₁, , A_k), X′TX = diag(B₁,, B_k) with dim A_i = dim B_i and X nonsingular are possible for 1 ? k ? n; and how well defined is a simultaneous block diagonalization for which k, the number of blocks, is maximal? Here a pair of r.s. matrices S and T is called nonsingular if S is nonsingular.If the number of blocks k is maximal, then one can speak of the finest simultaneous block diagonalization of S and T, since then the sizes of the blocks A_i are uniquely determined (up to permutations) by any set of generators of the pencil P(S, T) = {aS + bT|a, tb ε R} via the real Jordan normal form of S^?1T. The proof uses the canonical pair form theorem for nonsingular pairs of r.s. matrices. The maximal number k and the block sizes dim A_i are also determined by the factorization over C of ? (λ, μ) = det(λS + μT) for λ, μ ε R.     

Embedding of a pseudo-residual design into a Möbius plane

Let $\text{U}$ be a class of subsets of a finite set X. Elements of $\text{U}$ are called blocks. Let v, t and λ₁, 0 ? i ? t, be nonnegative integers, and K be a subset of nonnegative integers such that every member of K is at most v. A pair (X, U) is called a (λ₀, λ₁,…, λ_t; K, υ)t-design if (1) |X| = υ, (2) every i-subset of X is contained in exactly λ_t blocks, 0 ? i ? t, and (3) for every block A in $\text{U}$, |A| ?K. It is well-known that if K consists of a singleton k, then λ₀,…, λ_{t ? 1} can be determined from υ, t, k and λ_t. Hence, we shall denote a (λ₀,…, λ_t; {k}, υ)t-design by S_λ(t, k, υ), where λ = λ_t. A Möbius plane M is an S₁(3, q + 1, q² + 1), where q is a positive integer. Let A be a fixed block in M. If A is deleted from M together with the points contained in A, then we obtain a residual design M′ with parameters λ₀ = q³ + q ? 1, λ₁ = q² + q, λ₂ = q + 1, λ₃ = 1, K = {q + 1, q, q ? 1}, and υ = q² ? 1. We define a design to be a pseudo-block-residual design of order q (abbreviated by PBRD(q)) if it has these parameters. We consider the reconstruction problem of a Möbius plane from a given PBRD(q). Let B and B′ be two blocks in a residual design M′. If B and B′ are tangent to each other at a point x, and there exists a block C of size q + 1 such that C is tangent to B at x and is secant to B′, then we say B is r-tangent to B′ at x. A PBRD(q) is said to satisfy the r-tangency condition if for every block B of size q, and any two points x and y not in B, there exists at most one block which is r-tangent to B and contains x and y. We show that any PBRD(q)D can be uniquely embedded into a Möbius plane if and only if D satisfies the r-tangency condition.     

Resolutions of PG(5, 2) with point‐cyclic automorphism group

A t‐(υ, k, λ) design is a set of υ points together with a collection of its k‐subsets called blocks so that all subsets of t points are contained in exactly λ blocks. The d‐dimensional projective geometry over GF(q), PG(d, q), is a 2‐(q^d + q^d−1 + … + q + 1, q + 1, 1) design when we take its points as the points of the design and its lines as the blocks of the design. A 2‐(υ, k, 1) design is said to be resolvable if the blocks can be partitioned as ℛ = {R₁, R₂, …, R_s}, where s = (υ − 1)/(k−1) and each R_i consists of υ/k disjoint blocks. If a resolvable design has an automorphism σ which acts as a cycle of length υ on the points and ℛ^σ = ℛ, then the design is said to be point‐cyclically resolvable. The design associated with PG(5, 2) is known to be resolvable and in this paper, it is shown to be point‐cyclically resolvable by enumerating all inequivalent resolutions which are invariant under a cyclic automorphism group G = 〈σ〉 where σ is a cycle of length 63. These resolutions are the only resolutions which admit a point‐transitive automorphism group. Furthermore, some necessary conditions for the point‐cyclic resolvability of 2‐(υ, k, 1) designs are also given. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 8: 2–14, 2000     

On separating systems whose elements are sets of at most k elements

A system A₁,…,A_m of subsets of X?{1,…,n} is called a separating system if for any two distinct elements of X there is a set A_i (1?i?m) that contains exactly one of the two elements. We investigate separating systems where each set A_i has at most k elements and we are looking for minimal separating systems, that means separating systems with the least number of subsets. We call this least number m(n,k). Katona has proved good bounds on m(n,k) but his proof is very complicated. We give a shorter and easier proof. In doing so we slightly improve the upper bound of Katona.     

On three-designs of small order

For positive integers t?k?v and λ we define a t-design, denoted B_i[k,λ;v], to be a pair (X,B) where X is a set of points and B is a family, (B_i:i?I), of subsets of X, called blocks, which satisfy the following conditions: (i) |X|=v, the order of the design, (ii) |B_i|=k for each i?I, and (iii) every t-subset of X is contained in precisely λ blocks. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence of 3-designs with 3?k?v?32 and λ>0.Wilson has shown that there exists a constant N(t, k, v) such that designs B_t[k,λ;v] exist provided λ>N(t,k,v) and λ satisfies the trivial necessary conditions. We show that N(3,k,v)=0 for most of the cases under consideration and we give a numerical upper bound on N(3, k, v) for all 3?k?v?32. We give explicit constructions for all the designs needed.     

Incidence graphs and subdesigns of semisymmetric designs

A semisymmetric design is a connected incidence structure satisfying; two points (blocks) are on 0 or λ blocks (points). Every block (point) is incident with k points (blocks). Properties of the incidence graph of these structures are investigated, leading to bounds on its diameter (d?k if λ = 2, d?[2k/(λ + 1)]+ 1 if λ > 2), and the number of points of these structures (υ?2^k-1 if λ = 2, υ?k2^{[2k/(λ + 1)]} if λ > 2). Bounds are also found for semisymmetric designs containing a subdesign. We give characterizations of semisymmetric designs with λ = 2 (semibiplanes) which contain a subdesign and achieve the bounds. This leads to a construction for a semibiplane with parameters υ = 2^r-1 (q²?1), k = q+q₁+?+q_r, where q_r is aprime power, q_i = q²_i+1 and q=q²₁.     

Partitioning the planes of AG2m(2) into 2-designs

A t-design S_λ(t, k, v) is an arrangement of v elements in blocks of k elements each such that every t element subset is contained in exactly λ blocks. A t-design S_λ(t, k, v) is called t′-resolvable if the blocks can be partitioned into families such that each family is the block system of a S_λ(t′, k, v). It is shown that the S₁(3, 4, 2^2m) design of planes on an even dimensional affine space over the field of two elements is 2-resolvable. Each S₁(2, 4, 2^2m) given by the resolution is itself 1-resolvable. As a corollary it is shown that every odd dimensional projective space over the field of two elements admits a 1-packing of 1-spreads, i.e. a partition of its lines into families of mutually disjoint lines whose union covers the space. This 1-packing may be generated from any one of its spreads by repeated application of a fixed collineation.     

A (3, 3)-homogeneous quantum logic with 18 atoms. I

A quantum logic is called (m, n)-homogeneous if any its atom is contained exactly in m maximal (with respect to inclusion) orthogonal sets of atoms (we call them blocks), and every block contains exactly n elements. We enumerate atoms by natural numbers. For each block {i, j, k} we use the abbreviation i-j-k. Every such logic has the following 7 initial blocks B ₁, ..., B ₇: 1-2-4-5, 1-6-7, 2-8-9, 2-10-11, 3-12-13, and 3-14-15. For an 18-atom logic the arrangements the rest atoms 16, 17, and 18 is important. We consider the case when they form a loop of order in one of layers composed of initial blocks, for example, l ₄: 3-14-15, 15-16-17, 17-18-13, and 13-12-3. We prove that there exist (up to isomorphism) only 5 such logics, and describe pure states and automorphism groups for them.     

Handcuffed designs

Handcuffed designs are a particular case of block designs on graphs. A handcuffed design with parametersv, k, λ consists of a system of orderedk-subsets of av-set, called handcuffed blocks. In a block {A ₁,A ₂,?, A _k } each element is assumed to be handcuffed to its neighbours and the block containsk ? 1 handcuffed pairs (A ₁,A ₂), (A ₂,A ₃), ? (A _k?1,A _k ). These pairs are considered unordered. The collection of handcuffed blocks constitute a hundcuffed design if the following are satisfied: (1) each element of thev-set appears amongst the blocks the same number of times (and at most once in a block) and (2) each pair of distinct elements of thev-set are handcuffed in exactly λ of the blocks. If the total number of blocks isb and each element appears inr blocks the following conditions are necessary for the handcuffed design to exist:

1. λv(v?1) = (k?1) b,
2. rv = kb.

We denote byH(v, k, λ) the class of all handcuffed designs with parametersv, k, λ and sayH (v, k, λ) exists if there is a design with parametersv, k, λ. In this paper we prove that the necessary conditions forH (v, k, λ) exist are also sufficient in the following cases: (a)λ = 1 or 2; (b)k = 3; (c)k is evenk = 2h, and (λ, 2h ? 1) = 1; (d)k is odd,k = 2h + 1, and (λ, 4h)=2 or (λ, 4h)=1.     

Permanental pairs of doubly stochastic matrices. II

The n ×n doubly stochastic matrices A, B form a permanental pair if the permanent of every convex linear combination λA+(1?λ)B(0?λ?1) is independent of λ A, B are called mates. In this article we show that the direct sum of any number, k, of matrices J_i (of varying individual dimension) cannot have a mate. Here J_i is the n_i×n_i matrix with every entry equal to $\text{1}\text{n}{}_{\mathrm{i}}$;∑n_i=n.     

Collinear subsets of lattice point sequences—An analog of Szemerédi's theorem

Szemerédi's theorem states that given any positive number B and natural number k, there is a number n(k, B) such that if n ? n(k, B) and 0 < a₁ < … < a_n is a sequence of integers with a_n ? Bn, then some k of the a_i form an arithmetic progression. We prove that given any B and k, there is a number m(k, B) such that if m ? m(k, B) and u₀, u₁, …, u_m is a sequence of plane lattice points with ∑_i=1^m…u_i ? u_i?1… ? Bm, then some k of the u_i are collinear. Our result, while similar to Szemerédi's theorem, does not appear to imply it, nor does Szemerédi's theorem appear to imply our result.     

Disjoint skolem sequences and related disjoint structures

A Skolem sequence of order n is a sequence S = (s₁, s₂…, s²ⁿ) of 2n integers satisfying the following conditions: (1) for every k ∈ {1, 2,… n} there exist exactly two elements s_i,S_j such that S_i = S_j = k; (2) If s_i = s_j = k,i < j then j ? i = k. In this article we show the existence of disjoint Skolem, disjoint hooked Skolem, and disjoint near-Skolem sequences. Then we apply these concepts to the existence problems of disjoint cyclic Steiner and Mendelsohn triple systems and the existence of disjoint 1-covering designs. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Simultaneous quasidiagonalization of complex matrices

Let

be the complex algebra generated by a pair of n × n Hermitian matrices A, B. A recent result of Watters states that A, B are simultaneously unitarily quasidiagonalizable [i.e., A and B are simultaneously unitarily similar to direct sums C₁⊕…⊕C_t,D₁⊕…⊕D_t for some t, where C_i, D_i are k_i × k_i and k_i?2(1?i?t)] if and only if [p(A, B), A]² and [p(A, B), B]² belong to the center of

for all polynomials p(x, y) in the noncommuting variables x, y. In this paper, we obtain a finite set of conditions which works. In particular we show that if A, B are positive semidefinite, then A, B are simultaneously quasidiagonalizable if (and only if) [A, B]², [A², B]² and [A, B²]² commute with A, B.     

Arithmetic in generalized Artin-Schreier extensions of k(x)

If k is a perfect field of characteristic p ≠ 0 and k(x) is the rational function field over k, it is possible to construct cyclic extensions K_n over k(x) such that [K : k(x)] = pⁿ using the concept of Witt vectors. This is accomplished in the following way; if [β₁, β₂,…, β_n] is a Witt vector over k(x) = K₀, then the Witt equation $\text{y}{}^{\mathrm{p}}\text{?}\text{y}\text{= β}$ generates a tower of extensions through $\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{= K}{}_{\mathrm{i?1}}\text{(}\text{y}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{)}$ where $\text{y}\text{= [}\text{y}{}_1\text{,}\text{y}{}_2\text{,…,}\text{y}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{]}$. In this paper, it is shown that there exists an alternate method of generating this tower which lends itself better for further constructions in K_n. This alternate generation has the form K_i = K_i?1(y_i); y_i^p ? y_i = B_i, where, as a divisor in K_i?1, B_i has the form . In this form q is prime to Πp_j^λ_j and each λ_j is positive and prime to p. As an application of this, the alternate generation is used to construct a lower-triangular form of the Hasse-Witt matrix of such a field K_n over an algebraically closed field of constants.     

Sieve-equivalence and explicit bijections

Suppose A₁,…, A_n are subsets of a finite set A, and B₁,…, B_n are subsets of a finite set B. For each subset S of N = {1, 2,…, n}, let A_s = ∩_i?SA_i and B_S = ∩_i?SB_i. It is shown that if explicit bijections f_S:A_S → B_S for each S ? N are given, an explicit bijection h:A-∪_i=1A_i→B-∪_i=1B_i can be constructed. The map h is independent of any ordering of the elements of A and B, and of the order in which the subsets A_i and B_i are listed.     

A sufficient condition for a graph to be weakly k-linked

For a pair (s, t) of vertices of a graph G, let λ_G(s, t) denote the maximal number of edge-disjoint paths between s and t. Let (s₁, t₁), (s₂, t₂), (s₃, t₃) be pairs of vertices of G and k > 2. It is shown that if λ_G(s_i, t_i) ≥ 2k + 1 for each i = 1, 2, 3, then there exist 2k + 1 edge-disjoint paths such that one joins s₁ and t₁, another joins s₂ and t₂ and the others join s₃ and t₃. As a corollary, every (2k + 1)-edge-connected graph is weakly (k + 2)-linked for k ≥ 2, where a graph is weakly k-linked if for any k vertex pairs (s_i, t_i), 1 ≤ i ≤ k, there exist k edge-disjoint paths P₁, P₂,…, P_k such that P_i joins s_i and t_i for i = 1, 2,…, k.     

An Asymptotic Property of Schachermayer's Space under Renorming

Let X be a Banach space with closed unit ball B. Given k , X is said to be k-β, respectively, (k + 1)-nearly uniformly convex ((k + 1)-NUC), if for every ε > 0 there exists δ, 0 < δ < 1, so that for every x B and every ε-separated sequence (x_n) B there are indices (n_i)^k_{i = 1}, respectively, (n_i)^{k + 1}_{i = 1}, such that (1/(k + 1))||x + ∑^k_{i = 1} x_ni|| ≤ 1 − δ, respectively, (1/(k + 1))||∑^{k + 1}_{i = 1} x_ni|| ≤ 1 − δ. It is shown that a Banach space constructed by Schachermayer is 2-β, but is not isomorphic to any 2-NUC Banach space. Modifying this example, we also show that there is a 2-NUC Banach space which cannot be equivalently renormed to be 1-β.