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.     

Generalized Steiner systems GS4 (2, 4, v,g) for g = 2, 3, 6

Generalized Steiner systems GS_d(t, k, v, g) were first introduced by Etzion and used to construct optimal constant‐weight codes over an alphabet of size g + 1 with minimum Hamming distance d, in which each codeword has length v and weight k. Much work has been done for the existence of generalized Steiner triple systems GS(2, 3, v, g). However, for block size four there is not much known on GS_d(2, 4, v, g). In this paper, the necessary conditions for the existence of a GS_d(t, k, v, g) are given, which answers an open problem of Etzion. Some singular indirect product constructions for GS_d(2, k, v, g) are also presented. By using both recursive and direct constructions, it is proved that the necessary conditions for the existence of a GS₄(2, 4, v, g) are also sufficient for g = 2, 3, 6. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 9: 401–423, 2001     

Generalized Steiner Systems GS(2, 4, v, 2) with v a Prime Power ≡ 7 (mod 12)

Generalized Steiner systems GS(2, 4, v, g) were first introduced by Etzion and were used to construct optimal constant weight codes over an alphabet of size g + 1 with minimum Hamming distance 5, in which each codeword has length v and weight 4. Etzion conjectured that the necessary conditions v 1 (mod 3) and v ; 7 are also sufficient for the existence of a GS(2,4,v,2). Except for the example of a GS(2,4,10,2) and some recursive constructions given by Etzion, nothing else is known about this conjecture. In this paper, Weil's theorem on character sum estimates is used to show that the conjecture is true for any prime power v 7 (mod 12) except v = 7, for which there does not exist a GS(2,4,7,2).     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis>-Colorings of some graphs of <Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis>-class 1

An f-coloring of a graph G is an edge-coloring of G such that each color appears at each vertex v V（G） at most f（v） times. The minimum number of colors needed to f-color G is called the f-chromatic index of G and is denoted by X′f（G）. Any simple graph G has the f-chromatic index equal to △f（G） or △f（G） ＋ 1, where △f（G） =max v V（G）{[d（v）/f（v）]}. If X′f（G） = △f（G）, then G is of f-class 1; otherwise G is of f-class 2. In this paper, a class of graphs of f-class 1 are obtained by a constructive proof. As a result, f-colorings of these graphs with △f（G） colors are given.     

SUPPORT SIZES OF COMPLETELY DECOMPOSABLE TS （ν, 4）

In this article the spectrum of support sizes of a completely decomposable TS(ν,,4)for any positive integer ν≡1,3 (mod 6) is determined.     

Constant Weight Codes and Group Divisible Designs

The study of a class of optimal constant weight codes over arbitrary alphabets was initiated by Etzion, who showed that such codes are equivalent to special GDDs known as generalized Steiner systems GS(t,k,n,g) Etzion. This paper presents new constructions for these systems in the case t=2, k=3. In particular, these constructions imply that the obvious necessary conditions on the length n of the code for the existence of an optimal weight 3, distance 3 code over an alphabet of arbitrary size are asymptotically sufficient.     

The spectrum of (<Emphasis Type="Italic">gv</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">g</Emphasis>, 3, λ)-DF in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">gv</Emphasis></Subscript>

In this paper, the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a (gv, g, 3, λ)-difference family in Z _gv are established. As a consequence, the existence spectrum of a cyclic (3, λ)-GDD of type g ^v without short orbits is determined. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants Nos. 10771013, 10831002)     

4‐*GDDs(3n) and generalized Steiner systems GS(2, 4, v, 3)

Generalized Steiner systems GS(2, k, v, g) were first introduced by Etzion and used to construct optimal constant weight codes over an alphabet of size g + 1 with minimum Hamming distance 2k ? 3, in which each codeword has length v and weight k. As to the existence of a GS(2, k, v, g), a lot of work has been done for k = 3, while not so much is known for k = 4. The notion k‐*GDD was first introduced and used to construct GS(2, 3, v, 6). In this paper, singular indirect product (SIP) construction for GDDs is modified to construct GS(2, 4, v, g) via 4‐*GDDs. Furthermore, it is proved that the necessary conditions for the existence of a 4‐*GDD(3ⁿ), namely, n ≡ 0, 1 (mod 4) and n ≥ 8 are also sufficient. The known results on the existence of a GS(2, 4, v, 3) are then extended. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 11: 381–393, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/jcd.10047     

Companion <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis>-algebras

In this paper we develop a theory of companion d-algebras in sufficient detail to demonstrate considerable parallelism with the theory of BCK-algebras as well as obtaining a collection of results of a novel type. Included among the latter are results on certain natural posets associated with companion d-algebras as well as constructions on Bin(X), the collection of binary operations on the set X, which permit construction of new companion d-algebras from companion d-algebras X also in natural ways. Supported by Korea Research Foundation Grant (KRF-2002-041-C00003).     

The flatness properties of <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis>-poset <Emphasis Type="Italic">A</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">I</Emphasis>) and Rees factor <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis>-posets

Let S be a pomonoid and I a proper right ideal of S. In a previous paper, using the amalgamated coproduct A(I) of two copies of _S S over I, we were able to solve one of the problems posed in S. Bulman-Fleming et al. (Commun. Algebra 34:1291–1317, 2006). In the present paper, we investigate further flatness properties of A(I). We also solve another problem stated in the paper cited above. Namely, we determine the condition under which Rees factor S-posets have property (P _w ). Research supported by nwnu-kjcxgc-03-18.     

Large sets of <Emphasis Type="Italic">t</Emphasis>-designs from groups

This paper addresses questions related to the existence and construction of large sets of t-(v, k, λ) designs. It contains material from my talk in the Combinatorial Designs Conference in honor of Alex Rosa’s 70th birthday, which took place in beautiful Bratislava, in July, 2007. Naturally, only a small number of “highlight” topics could be included, and for the most part these involve the use of symmetry, that is, it is assumed that the particular designs or large sets of designs, are invariant under a prescribed group of automorphisms. I present almost no proofs, but give references so that the reader can find a much wider repertory of theorems and constructions in the literature. For completeness, I include the statement of a few recursive constructions. The latter are extremely important on their own right, and deserve extensive attention elsewhere. I hope the reader becomes interested in the intriguing open problems posed at the end of the paper and succeeds in solving some of them. (Communicated by Peter Horák)     

Consecutive customer losses in regular and oscillating <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">X</Emphasis></Superscript>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis>/1/<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis> systems

We derive fast recursions to compute the probability that k or more consecutive customer losses take place during a busy period of a queue, the so called k-CCL probability, for regular and oscillating M ^X /G/1/n systems.     

Approximations for the <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">GI</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>+<Emphasis Type="Italic">GI</Emphasis> type call center

In this paper, we propose approximations to compute the steady-state performance measures of the M/GI/N+GI queue receiving Poisson arrivals with N identical servers, and general service and abandonment-time distributions. The approximations are based on scaling a single server M/GI/1+GI queue. For problems involving deterministic and exponential abandon times distributions, we suggest a practical way to compute the waiting time distributions and their moments using the Laplace transform of the workload density function. Our first contribution is numerically computing the workload density function in the M/GI/1+GI queue when the abandon times follow general distributions different from the deterministic and exponential distributions. Then we compute the waiting time distributions and their moments. Next, we scale-up the M/GI/1+GI queue giving rise to our approximations to capture the behavior of the multi-server system. We conduct extensive numerical experiments to test the speed and performance of the approximations, which prove the accuracy of their predictions.      

Existence of Generalized Steiner Systems <Emphasis Type="Italic">GS</Emphasis>(2,4,ν,2)

Generalized Steiner systems GS(2,4,v,2) were first discussed by Etzion and used to construct optimal constant weight codes over an alphabet of size three with minimum Hamming distance five, in which each codeword has length v and weight four. Etzion conjectured its existence for any integer v 7 and v 1(mod 3). The conjecture has been verified for prime powers v > 7 and v 7(mod 12) by the latter two of the present authors. It has also been pointed out that there does not exist a GS(2,4,7,2). In this paper, constructions using frame generalized Steiner systems, two holey perfect bases and orthogonal Latin squares are discussed. With these constructions the conjecture is confirmed with the exception for v=7 and three possible exceptions for v 13, 52, 58.AMS classification: 05B05, 94B25     

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).     

Optimally small sumsets in groups IV. Counting multiplicities and the <Emphasis Type="Italic">λ</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis></Subscript> functions

We continue our investigation on how small a sumset can be in a given abelian group. Here small takes into account not only the size of the sumset itself but also the number of elements which are repeated at least twice. A function λ _G (r, s) computing the minimal size (in this sense) of the sum of two sets with respective cardinalities r and s is introduced. (Lower and upper) bounds are obtained, which coincide in most cases. While upper bounds are obtained by constructions, lower bounds follow in particular from the use of a recent theorem by Grynkiewicz.     

Ultra <Emphasis Type="Italic">LI</Emphasis>-ideals in lattice implication algebras and <Emphasis Type="Italic">MTL</Emphasis>-algebras

A mistake concerning the ultra LI-ideal of a lattice implication algebra is pointed out, and some new sufficient and necessary conditions for an LI-ideal to be an ultra LI-ideal are given. Moreover, the notion of an LI-ideal is extended to MTL-algebras, the notions of a (prime, ultra, obstinate, Boolean) LI-ideal and an ILI-ideal of an MTL-algebra are introduced, some important examples are given, and the following notions are proved to be equivalent in MTL-algebra: (1) prime proper LI-ideal and Boolean LI-ideal, (2) prime proper LI-ideal and ILI-ideal, (3) proper obstinate LI-ideal, (4) ultra LI-ideal. This work was supported by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. Y605389) and K. C. Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University.     

Some results on 4<Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis></Superscript>2<Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis></Superscript> designs with clear two-factor interaction components

Clear effects criterion is one of the important rules for selecting optimal fractional factorial designs, and it has become an active research issue in recent years. Tang et al. derived upper and lower bounds on the maximum number of clear two-factor interactions (2fi’s) in 2 ^n−(n−k) fractional factorial designs of resolutions III and IV by constructing a 2 ^n−(n−k) design for given k, which are only restricted for the symmetrical case. This paper proposes and studies the clear effects problem for the asymmetrical case. It improves the construction method of Tang et al. for 2 ^n−(n−k) designs with resolution III and derives the upper and lower bounds on the maximum number of clear two-factor interaction components (2fic’s) in 4 ^m 2 ⁿ designs with resolutions III and IV. The lower bounds are achieved by constructing specific designs. Comparisons show that the number of clear 2fic’s in the resulting design attains its maximum number in many cases, which reveals that the construction methods are satisfactory when they are used to construct 4 ^m 2 ⁿ designs under the clear effects criterion. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10571093, 10671099 and 10771123), the Research Foundation for Doctor Programme (Grant No. 20050055038) and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province of China (Grant No. Q2007A05). Zhang’s research was also supported by the Visiting Scholar Program at Chern Institute of Mathematics.     

On the ideal (<Emphasis Type="Italic">v</Emphasis><Superscript>0</Superscript>)

The σ-ideal (v ⁰) is associated with the Silver forcing, see [5]. Also, it constitutes the family of all completely doughnut null sets, see [9]. We introduce segment topologies to state some resemblances of (v ⁰) to the family of Ramsey null sets. To describe add(v ⁰) we adopt a proof of Base Matrix Lemma. Consistent results are stated, too. Halbeisen’s conjecture cov(v ⁰) = add(v ⁰) is confirmed under the hypothesis t = min{cf(c), r}. The hypothesis cov(v ⁰) = ω ₁ implies that (v ⁰) has the ideal type (c, ω ₁, c).      

Analysis of GI<Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">X</Emphasis></Superscript>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>)//<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis> systems with stochastic customer acceptance policy

We investigate GI ^X /M(n)//N systems with stochastic customer acceptance policy, function of the customer batch size and the number of customers in the system at its arrival. We address the time-dependent and long-run analysis of the number of customers in the system at prearrivals and postarrivals of batches and seen by customers at their arrival to the system, as well as customer blocking probabilities. These results are then used to derive the continuous-time long-run distribution of the number of customers in the system. Our analysis combines Markov chain embedding with uniformization and uses stochastic ordering as a way to bound the errors of the computed performance measures.