Small point sets of PG(n, q 3) intersecting each k-subspace in 1 mod q points

The main result of this paper is that point sets of PG(n, q ³), q = p ^h , p ≥ 7 prime, of size less than 3(q ^3(n?k) + 1)/2 intersecting each k-space in 1 modulo q points (these are always small minimal blocking sets with respect to k-spaces) are linear blocking sets. As a consequence, we get that minimal blocking sets of PG(n, p ³), p ≥ 7 prime, of size less than 3(p ^3(n?k) + 1)/2 with respect to k-spaces are linear. We also give a classification of small linear blocking sets of PG(n, q ³) which meet every (n ? 2)-space in 1 modulo q points.     

Minimal quadratic residue cyclic codes of length 2 n

LetF be a finite field of prime power orderq(odd) and the multiplicative order ofq modulo 2 ⁿ (n>1) be ?(2 ⁿ )/2. Ifn>3, thenq is odd number(prime or prime power) of the form 8m±3. Ifq=8m?3, then the ring $$R_{2^n } = F\left[ x \right]/< x^{2^n } - 1 > $$ has 2n primitive idempotents. The explicit expressions for these primitive idempotents are obtained and the minimal QR cyclic codes of length 2 ⁿ generated by these idempotents are completely described. Ifq=8m+3 then the expressions for the 2n?1 primitive idempotents ofR ₂ ⁿ are obtained. The generating polynomials and the upper bounds of the minimum distance of minimal QR cyclic codes generated by these 2n?1 idempotents are also obtained. The casen=2, 3 is dealt separately.     

Catenarian Numbers

An integer n is called catenarian if, whenever L/K is an n-dimensional field extension, all maximal chains of fields going from K to L have the same length. Catenarian field extensions and catenarian groups are defined analogously. If n is an even positive integer, 6n is non-catenarian. If n ≥ 3 is odd, there exist infinitely many odd primes p such that p ² n is non-catenarian. A finite-dimensional field extension is catenarian iff its maximal separable subextension is. If q < p are odd primes where q divides p ? 1 (resp., q divides p + 1), every (resp., not every) group of order p ² q is catenarian.     

On isotopisms and strong isotopisms of commutative presemifields

In this paper we prove that the P(q,?) (q odd prime power and ?>1 odd) commutative semifields constructed by Bierbrauer (Des. Codes Cryptogr. 61:187?C196, 2011) are isotopic to some commutative presemifields constructed by Budaghyan and Helleseth (SETA, pp.?403?C414, 2008). Also, we show that they are strongly isotopic if and only if q??1(mod?4). Consequently, for each q???1(mod?4) there exist isotopic commutative presemifields of order q ^2? (?>1 odd) defining CCZ-inequivalent planar DO polynomials.     

Many L-Shaped Polyominoes Have Odd Rectangular Packings

A polyomino is called odd if it can tile a rectangle using an odd number of copies. We give a very general family of odd polyominoes. Specifically, consider an L-shaped polyomino, i.e., a rectangle that has a rectangular piece removed from one corner. For some of these polyominoes, two copies tile a rectangle, called a basic rectangle. We prove that such a polyomino is odd if its basic rectangle has relatively prime side lengths. This general family encompasses several previously known families of odd polyominoes, as well as many individual examples. We prove a stronger result for a narrower family of polyominoes. Let L _n denote the polyomino formed by removing a 1 ×  (n?2) corner from a 2 ×  (n?1) rectangle. We show that when n is odd, L _n tiles all rectangles both of whose sides are at least 8n ³, and whose area is a multiple of n. If we only allow L _n to be rotated, but not reflected, then the same is true, provided that both sides of the rectangle are at least 16n ⁴. We also give several isolated examples of odd polyominoes.     

Small point sets of PG(n, p 3h ) intersecting each line in 1 mod p h points

The main result of this paper is that point sets of PG(n, q), q = p ^3h , p ≥ 7 prime, of size < 3(q ^n-1 + 1)/2 intersecting each line in 1 modulo ${\sqrt[3] q}$ points (these are always small minimal blocking sets with respect to lines) are linear blocking sets. As a consequence, we get that minimal blocking sets of PG(n, p ³), p ≥ 7 prime, of size < 3(p ^3(n-1) + 1)/2 with respect to lines are always linear.     

Small tight sets of hyperbolic quadrics

An x-tight set of a hyperbolic quadric Q ⁺(2n + 1, q) can be described as a set M of points with the property that the number of points of M in the tangent hyperplanes of points of M is as big as possible. We show that such a set is necessarily the union of x mutually disjoint generators provided that x ≤ q and n ≤ 3, or that x < q, n ≥ 4 and q ≥ 71. This unifies and generalizes many results on x-tight sets that are presently known, see (J Comb Theory Ser A 114(7):1293–1314 [1], J Comb Des 16(4):342–349 [5], Des Codes Cryptogr 50:187–201 [4], Adv Geom 4(3):279–286 [8], Bull Lond Math Soc 42(6):991–996 [11]).     

Maximal Subgroups of Finite Orthogonal Groups Stabilizing Spreads of Lines

We prove that, for q odd and n ≥ 3, the group G = O _n (q ²) · 2 is maximal in either the orthogonal group O _2n (q) or the special orthogonal group SO _2n (q). The group G corresponds to the stabilizer of a spread of lines of PG(2n ? 1, q) in which some lines lie on a quadric, some are secant to the quadric, and others are external to the quadric.     

Path-fan Ramsey numbers

For two given graphs F and H, the Ramsey number R(F,H) is the smallest positive integer p such that for every graph G on p vertices the following holds: either G contains F as a subgraph or the complement of G contains H as a subgraph. In this paper, we study the Ramsey numbers R(P_n,F_m), where P_n is a path on n vertices and F_m is the graph obtained from m disjoint triangles by identifying precisely one vertex of every triangle (F_m is the join of K₁ and mK₂). We determine the exact values of R(P_n,F_m) for the following values of n and m: 1?n?5 and m?2; n?6 and 2?m?(n+1)/2; 6?n?7 and m?n-1; n?8 and n-1?m?n or ((q·n-2q+1)/2?m?(q·n-q+2)/2 with 3?q?n-5) or m?(n-3)²/2; odd n?9 and ((q·n-3q+1)/2?m?(q·n-2q)/2 with 3?q?(n-3)/2) or ((q·n-q-n+4)/2?m?(q·n-2q)/2 with (n-1)/2?q?n-5). Moreover, we give nontrivial lower bounds and upper bounds for R(P_n,F_m) for the other values of m and n.     

On the Diophantine Equation x+q=y

In this paper it has been proved that if q is an odd prime, q?7 (mod 8), n is an odd integer ?5, n is not a multiple of 3 and (h,n)=1, where h is the class number of the filed Q(√−q), then the diophantine equation x²+q^2k+1=yⁿ has exactly two families of solutions (q,n,k,x,y).     

Nilpotency of q-Skew Derivations

ABSTRACT

Let R be a prime algebra of characteristic not 2, and let δ be a q-skew σ-derivation of R. We show that if δ²ⁿ  = 0 and q ⁿ  ≠ ?1, then δ^2n?1 = 0.     

On large maximal partial ovoids of the parabolic quadric Q(4, q)

We use the representation ${T_2(\mathcal{O})}$ for Q(4, q) to show that maximal partial ovoids of Q(4, q) of size q ² ? 1, q = p ^h , p an odd prime, h > 1, do not exist. Although this was known before, we give a slightly alternative proof, also resulting in more combinatorial information of the known examples for q an odd prime.     

The existence of maximal (q 2, 2)-arcs in projective Hjelmslev planes over chain rings of length 2 and odd prime characteristic

We prove that (q ², 2)-arcs exist in the projective Hjelmslev plane PHG(2, R) over a chain ring R of length 2, order |R| = q ² and prime characteristic. For odd prime characteristic, our construction solves the maximal arc problem. For characteristic 2, an extension of the above construction yields the lower bound q ² + 2 on the maximum size of a 2-arc in PHG(2, R). Translating the arcs into codes, we get linear [q ³, 6, q ³ ?q ² ?q] codes over ${\mathbb {F}_q}$ for every prime power q > 1 and linear [q ³ + q, 6,q ³ ?q ² ?1] codes over ${\mathbb {F}_q}$ for the special case q = 2 ^r . Furthermore, we construct 2-arcs of size (q + 1)²/4 in the planes PHG(2, R) over Galois rings R of length 2 and odd characteristic p ².     

Infinite family of large complete arcs in PG(2, q n ), with q odd and n > 1 odd

For q odd and n > 1 odd, a new infinite family of large complete arcs K′ in PG(2, q ⁿ ) is constructed from complete arcs K in PG(2, q) which have the following property with respect to an irreducible conic ${\mathcal{C}}$ in PG(2, q): all the points of K not in ${\mathcal{C}}$ are all internal or all external points to ${\mathcal{C}}$ according as q ≡ 1 (mod 4) or q ≡ 3 (mod 4).     

Mixed partitions and related designs

We define a mixed partition of Π =  PG(d, q ^r ) to be a partition of the points of Π into subspaces of two distinct types; for instance, a partition of PG(2n ? 1, q ²) into (n ? 1)-spaces and Baer subspaces of dimension 2n ? 1. In this paper, we provide a group theoretic method for constructing a robust class of such partitions. It is known that a mixed partition of PG(2n ? 1, q ²) can be used to construct a (2n ? 1)-spread of PG(4n ? 1, q) and, hence, a translation plane of order q ²ⁿ . Here we show that our partitions can be used to construct generalized Andrè planes, thereby providing a geometric representation of an infinite family of generalized Andrè planes. The results are then extended to produce mixed partitions of PG(rn ? 1, q ^r ) for r ≥ 3, which lift to (rn ? 1)-spreads of PG(r ² n ? 1, q) and hence produce $2-(q^{r^2n},q^{rn},1)$ (translation) designs with parallelism. These designs are not isomorphic to the designs obtained from the points and lines of AG(r, q ^rn ).     

Packing Triangles in K 4-Free Graphs

Paul Erd?s conjectured that every K ₄-free graph of order n and size ${k + \lfloor n^2/4\rfloor}$ contains at least k edge disjoint triangles. In this note, we prove that such a graph contains at least 32k/35 + o(n ²) edge disjoint triangles and prove his conjecture for k ≥  0.077n ².     

More translation planes and semifields from Dembowski–Ostrom polynomials

In this article we use pairs of Dembowski–Ostrom polynomials with special properties (see (P1)–(P3) in the introduction below) to construct translation planes of order q ⁿ which admit cyclic groups of order q ⁿ ?1 having orbits of lengths 1, 1, (q ⁿ ?1)/2, (q ⁿ ?1)/2 on the line at infinity. The same pairs also define semifields of order q ²ⁿ . We discuss the properties of these translation planes and semifields. These constructions extend the related construction in Dempwolff and Müller, Osaka J Math [5].     

On integral Apollonian circle packings

The curvatures of four mutually tangent circles with disjoint interiors form what is called a Descartes quadruple. The four least curvatures in an integral Apollonian circle packing form what is called a root Descartes quadruple and, if the curvatures are relatively prime, we say that it is a primitive root quadruple. We prove a conjecture of Mallows by giving a closed formula for the number of primitive root quadruples with minimum curvature −n. An Apollonian circle packing is called strongly integral if every circle has curvature times center a Gaussian integer. The set of all such circle packings for which the curvature plus curvature times center is congruent to 1 modulo 2 is called the “standard supergasket.” Those centers in the unit square are in one-to-one correspondence with the primitive root quadruples and exhibit certain symmetries first conjectured by Mallows. We prove these symmetries; in particular, the centers are symmetric around y=x if n is odd, around x=1/2 if n is an odd multiple of 2, and around y=1/2 if n is a multiple of 4.     

Conics and caps

In this article, we begin with arcs in PG(2, q ⁿ ) and show that they correspond to caps in PG(2n, q) via the André/Bruck?CBose representation of PG(2, q ⁿ ) in PG(2n, q). In particular, we show that a conic of PG(2, q ⁿ ) that meets ?_?? in x points corresponds to a (q ⁿ ?+?1 ? x)-cap in PG(2n, q). If x?=?0, this cap is the intersection of n quadrics. If x?=?1 or 2, this cap is contained in the intersection of n quadrics and we discuss ways of extending these caps. We also investigate the structure of the n quadrics.     

On large sets of disjoint Steiner triple systems II

Let D(v) denote the maximum number of pairwise disjoint Steiner triple systems of order v. In this paper, we prove that if n is an odd number, there exist 12 mutually orthogonal Latin squares of order n and D(1 + 2n) = 2n ? 1, then D(1 + 12n) = 12n ? 1.