Resolvable balanced incomplete block designs with subdesigns of block size 4

In this paper, we look at resolvable balanced incomplete block designs on v points having blocks of size 4, briefly (v,4,1) RBIBDs. The problem we investigate is the existence of (v,4,1) RBIBDs containing a (w,4,1) RBIBD as a subdesign. We also require that each parallel class of the subdesign should be in a single parallel class of the containing design. Removing the subdesign gives an incomplete RBIBD, i.e., an IRB(v,w). The necessary conditions for the existence of an IRB(v,w) are that v?4w and . We show these conditions are sufficient with a finite number (179) of exceptions, and in particular whenever and whenever w?1852.We also give some results on pairwise balanced designs on v points containing (at least one) block of size w, i.e., a (v,{K,w^*},1)-PBD.If the list of permitted block sizes, K₅, contains all integers of size 5 or more, and v,w∈K₅, then a necessary condition on this PBD is v?4w+1. We show this condition is not sufficient for any w?5 and give the complete spectrum (in v) for 5?w?8, as well as showing the condition v?5w is sufficient with some definite exceptions for w=5 and 6, and some possible exceptions when w=15, namely 77?v?79. The existence of this PBD implies the existence of an IRB(12v+4,12w+4).If the list of permitted block sizes, K₁₍₄₎, contains all integers , and v,w∈K₁₍₄₎, then a necessary condition on this PBD is v?4w+1. We show this condition is sufficient with a finite number of possible exceptions, and in particular is sufficient when w?1037. The existence of this PBD implies the existence of an IRB(3v+1,3w+1).     

A construction of balanced arrays of strengtht and some related incomplete block designs

Summary Saha [6] has shown the equivalence between a ‘tactical system’ (or at-design) and a 2-symbol balanced array (BA) of strengtht. The implicit method of construction of BA in that paper has been generalized herein to that of ans-symbol BA of strengtht. Some BIB and PBIB designs are also constructed from these arrays. Majindar [2], Vanstone [8] and Saha [6] have all shown that the existence of a symmetrical BIBD forv treatments implies the existence of six more BIBD's forv treatments in (v/2) blocks. An analogue of this result has been obtained for a large class of PBIB designs in this paper.     

Realizations for direct constructions of resolvable Steiner 2‐designs with block size 5

We consider direct constructions due to R. J. R. Abel and M. Greig, and to M. Buratti, for ({ν},5,1) balanced incomplete block designs. These designs are defined using the prime fields F_p for certain primes p, are 1‐rotational over G ⊕ F_p where G is a group of order 4, and are also resolvable under certain conditions. We introduce specifications to the constructions and, by means of character sum arguments, show that the constructions yield resolvable designs whenever p is sufficiently large. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 8:207–217, 2000     

Balanced incomplete block designs with block size 8

The necessary conditions for the existence of a balanced incomplete block design on υ ≥ k points, with index λ and block size k, are that: For k = 8, these conditions are known to be sufficient when λ = 1, with 38 possible exceptions, the largest of which is υ = 3,753. For these 38 values of υ, we show (υ, 8, λ ) BIBDs exist whenever λ > 1 for all but five possible values of υ, the largest of which is υ = 1,177, and these five υ's are the only values for which more than one value of λ is open. For λ>1, we show the necessary conditions are sufficient with the definite exception of two further values of υ, and the possible exception of 7 further values of υ, the largest of which is υ=589. In particular, we show the necessary conditions are sufficient for all λ> 5 and for λ = 4 when υ ≠ 22. We also look at (8, λ) GDDs of type 7^m. Our grouplet divisible design construction is also refined, and we construct and exploit α ‐ frames in constructing several other BIBDs. In addition, we give a PBD basis result for {n: n ≡ 0, 1; mod 8, n ≥ 8}, and construct a few new TDs with index > 1. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 9: 233–268, 2001     

Super-simple balanced incomplete block designs with block size 4 and index 5

In statistical planning of experiments, super-simple designs are the ones providing samples with maximum intersection as small as possible. Super-simple designs are also useful in other constructions, such as superimposed codes and perfect hash families etc. The existence of super-simple (v,4,λ)-BIBDs have been determined for λ=2,3,4 and 6. When λ=5, the necessary conditions of such a design are that and v≥13. In this paper, we show that there exists a super-simple (v,4,5)-BIBD for each and v≥13.     

Super‐simple resolvable balanced incomplete block designs with block size 4 and index 2

The necessary conditions for the existence of a super‐simple resolvable balanced incomplete block design on v points with block size k = 4 and index λ = 2, are that v ≥ 16 and . These conditions are shown to be sufficient. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 15: 341–356, 2007     

Self‐dual codes and the (22,8,4) balanced incomplete block design

An Erratum has been published for this article in Journal of Combinatorial Designs 14: 83–83, 2006 . We enumerate a list of 594 inequivalent binary (33,16) doubly‐even self‐orthogonal codes that have no all‐zero coordinates along with their automorphism groups. It is proven that if a (22,8,4) Balanced Incomplete Block Design were to exist then the 22 rows of its incident matrix will be contained in at least one of the 594 codes. Without using computers, we eliminate this possibility for 116 of these codes. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs.     

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.     

Group divisible 3‐designs with block size four and group type 1ns1

In this article, we mainly consider the existence problem of a group divisible design GDD $\left(3,4,n+s\right)$ of type $1^n{s}^1$. We present two recursive constructions for this configuration using candelabra systems and construct explicitly a few small examples admitting given automorphism groups. As an application, several new infinite classes of GDD $\left(3,4,n+s\right)$s of type $1^n{s}^1$ are produced. Meanwhile a few new infinite families on candelabra quadruple systems with group sizes being odd and stem size greater than one are also obtained.     

Simple 3‐designs of PSL(2, 2n) with block size 7

In this paper, we determine the number of the orbits of 7‐subsets of with a fixed orbit length under the action of PSL(2, 2ⁿ). As a consequence, we determine the distribution of λ for which there exists a simple 3‐(2ⁿ + 1, 7, λ) design with PSL(2, 2ⁿ) as an automorphism group. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 16: 1–17, 2008     

A hole‐size bound for incomplete t‐wise balanced designs

An incomplete t‐wise balanced design of index λ is a triple (X,H,??) where X is a υ–element set, H is a subset of X called the hole, and B is a collection of subsets of X called blocks, such that, every t‐element subset of X is either in H or in exactly λ blocks, but not both. If H is a hole in an incomplete t‐wise balanced design of order υ and index λ, then |H| ≤ υ/2 if t is odd and |H| ≤ (υ ? 1)/2 if t is even. In particular, this result establishes the validity of Kramer's conjecture that the maximal size of a block in a Steiner t‐wise balanced design is at most υ/2 if t is odd and at most (υ?1)/2 when t is even. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 9: 269–284, 2001     

Using block designs in crossing number bounds

The crossing number $\mathrm{\text{CR}}\left(G\right)$ of a graph $G=\left(V,E\right)$ is the smallest number of edge crossings over all drawings of $G$ in the plane. For any $k\ge 1$, the $k$‐planar crossing number of $G,{\mathrm{\text{CR}}}_k\left(G\right)$, is defined as the minimum of $\text{CR}\left(G_1\right)+\text{CR}\left(G_2\right)+?+\text{CR}\left(G_k\right)$ over all graphs $G_1,G_2,\dots ,G_k$ with ${\cup }_{i=1}^k{G}_i=G$. Pach et al [Comput. Geom.: Theory Appl. 68 (2018), pp. 2–6] showed that for every $k\ge 1$, we have ${\text{CR}}_k\left(G\right)\le (2/k^2?1/k^3)\text{CR}\left(G\right)$ and that this bound does not remain true if we replace the constant $2/k^2?1/k^3$ by any number smaller than $1/k^2$. We improve the upper bound to $(1/k^2)\left(1+o\left(1\right)\right)$ as $k\to \infty$. For the class of bipartite graphs, we show that the best constant is exactly $1/k^2$ for every $k$. The results extend to the rectilinear variant of the $k$‐planar crossing number.     

Pairwise balanced designs whose block size set contains seven and thirteen

In this paper, we investigate the PBD‐closure of sets K with {7,13} ? K ? {7,13,19,25,31,37,43}. In particular, we show that ν ≡ 1 mod 6, ν ≥ 98689 implies ν ? B({7,13}). As an intermediate result, many new 13‐GDDs of type 13^q and resolvable BIBD with block size 6 or 12 are also constructed. Furthermore, we show some elements to be not essential in a Wilson basis for the PBD‐closed set {ν: ν ≡ 1 mod 6, ν ≥ 7}. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 15: 283–314, 2007     

Decomposable super‐simple NRBIBDs with block size 4 and index 6

Necessary conditions for the existence of a super‐simple, decomposable, near‐resolvable ‐balanced incomplete block design (BIBD) whose 2‐component subdesigns are both near‐resolvable ‐BIBDs are (mod ) and . In this paper, we show that these necessary conditions are sufficient. Using these designs, we also establish that the necessary conditions for the existence of a super‐simple near‐resolvable ‐RBIBD, namely (mod ) and , are sufficient. A few new pairwise balanced designs are also given.     

Directed B(K, 1; v) with K = {4, 5} and {4, 6} related to deletion/insertion‐correcting codes

Motivated by the construction of t‐deletion/insertion‐correcting codes, we consider the existence of directed PBDs with block sizes from K = {4, 5} and {4, 6}. The spectra of such designs are determined completely in this paper. For any integer {υ ≥ 4, a DB({4,5} ,1; υ) exists if and only if υ∉{6, 8, 9, 12, 14}, and a DB({4, 6}, 1; υ) exists if and only if υ ≡ 0,1 mod 3 and υ∉{9,15}. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 9: 147–156, 2001     

On c‐Bhaskar Rao designs with block size 4

Several new families of c‐Bhaskar Rao designs with block size 4 are constructed. The necessary conditions for the existence of a c‐BRD (υ,4,λ) are that: (1)λ_min=?λ/3 ≤ c ≤ λ and (2a) c≡λ (mod 2), if υ > 4 or (2b) c≡ λ (mod 4), if υ = 4 or (2c) c≠ λ ? 2, if υ = 5. It is proved that these conditions are necessary, and are sufficient for most pairs of c and λ; in particular, they are sufficient whenever λ?c ≠ 2 for c > 0 and whenever c ? λ_min≠ 2 for c < 0. For c < 0, the necessary conditions are sufficient for υ> 101; for the classic Bhaskar Rao designs, i.e., c = 0, we show the necessary conditions are sufficient with the possible exception of 0‐BRD (υ,4,2)'s for υ≡ 4 (mod 6). © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 10: 361–386, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/jcd.10009     

A New Class of Optimal 3-splitting Authentication Codes

The necessary condition for the existence of a (ν, 3× 3,1)-splitting BIBD is ν ≡ 1 (mod 54). In this paper, we show that the necessary condition is also sufficient with one possible exception of ν = 55. As its application, we obtain a new infinite class of optimal 3-splitting authentication codes. AMS Classification: 05B05, 94A62 An erratum to this article is available at .     

Embeddability and construction of affine α-resolvable pairwise balanced designs

An affine α-resolvable PBD of index λ is a triple (V, B, R), where V is a set (of points), B is a collection of subsets of V (blocks), and R is a partition of B (resolution), satisfying the following conditions: (i) any two points occur together in λ blocks, (ii) any point occurs in α blocks of each resolution class, and (iii) |B| = |V| + |R| − 1. Those designs embeddable in symmetric designs are described and two infinite series of embeddable designs are constructed. The analog of the Bruck–Ryser–Chowla theorem for affine α-resolvable PBDs is obtained. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 6:111–129, 1998