Inequalities and bounds for quasi-symmetric 3-designs

Quasi-symmetric 3-designs with block intersection numbers x and y(0x<y<k) are studied, several inequalities satisfied by the parameters of a quasi-symmetric 3-designs are obtained. Let D be a quasi-symmetric 3-design with the block size k and intersection numbers x, y; y>x1 and suppose D′ denote the complement of D with the block size k′ and intersection numbers x′ and y′. If k −1 x + y then it is proved that x′ + y′ k′. Using this it is shown that the quasi-symmetric 3-designs corresponding to y = x + 1, x + 2 are either extensions of symmetric designs or designs corresponding to the Witt-design (or trivial design, i.e., v = k + 2) or the complement of above designs.     

A note on triangle‐free quasi‐symmetric designs

Triangle‐free quasi‐symmetric 2‐ (v, k, λ) designs with intersection numbers x, y; 0<x<y<kand λ>1, are investigated. It is proved that λ?2y ? x ? 3. As a consequence it is seen that for fixed λ, there are finitely many triangle‐free quasi‐symmetric designs. It is also proved that: k?y(y ? x) + x. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 19:422‐426, 2011     

Characterization and Transformation of Invariants

We consider difference equations of order k _n+k ≥ 2 of the form: y_n+k = f(yn,…,yn+k-1), n= 0,1,2,… where f: D ^k → D is a continuous function, and D?R. We develop a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a symmetric invariant I(x ₁,…,x_k ) ∈C^∞[D^k,D]. This condition will be used to construct invariants for linear and rational difference equations. Also, we investigate the transformation of invariants under invertible maps. We generalize and extend several results that have been obtained recently.     

3-(v, 4, 1) covering designs with chromatic numbers 2 and 3

A t-(v, k, λ) covering design is a pair (X, B) where X is a v-set and B is a collection of k-sets in X, called blocks, such that every t element subset of X is contained in at least λ blocks of B. The covering number, C_λ(t, k, v), is the minimum number of blocks a t-(v, k, λ) covering design may have. The chromatic number of (X, B) is the smallest m for which there exists a map φ: X → Z_m such that ∣φ((β)∣ ≥2 for all β ∈ B, where φ(β) = {φ(x): x ∈ β}. The system (X, B) is equitably m-chromatic if there is a proper coloring φ with minimal m for which the numbers ∣φ^?1(c)∣ c ∈ Z_m differ from each other by at most 1. In this article we show that minimum, (i.e., ∣B∣ = C λ (t, k, v)) equitably 3-chromatic 3-(v, 4, 1) covering designs exist for v ≡ 0 (mod 6), v ≥ 18 for v ≥ 1, 13 (mod 36), v ≡ 13 and for all numbers v = n, n + 1, where n ≡ 4, 8, 10 (mod 12), n ≥ 16; and n = 6.5^a 13^b 17^c ?4, a + b + c > 0, and n = 14, 62. We also show that minimum, equitably 2-chromatic 3-(v, 4, 1) covering designs exist for v ≡ 0, 5, 9 (mod 12), v ≥ 0, v = 2.5^a 13^b 17^c + 1, a + b + c > 0, and v = 23. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Infinite families of 2- and 3-designs with parameters v = p + 1, k = (p − 1)/2i + 1, where p odd prime, 2e T (p − 1), e ≥ 2, 1 ≤ i ≤ e

Let p be an odd prime number such that p − 1 = 2^em for some odd m and e ≥ 2. In this article, by using the special linear fractional group PSL(2, p), for each i, 1 ≤ i ≤ e, except particular cases, we construct a 2-design with parameters v = p + 1, k = (p − 1)/2ⁱ + 1 and λ = ((p − 1)/2ⁱ+1)(p − 1)/2 = k(p − 1)/2, and in the case i = e we show that some of these 2-designs are 3-designs. Likewise, by using the linear fractional group PGL(2,p) we construct an infinite family of 3-designs with the same v k and λ = k(k − 2). These supplement a part of [4], in which we gave an infinite family of 3-designs with parameters v = q + 1, k = (q + 1)/2 = (q − 1)/2 + 1 and λ = (q + 1)(q − 3)/8 = k(k − 2)/2, where q is a prime power such that q − 1 = 2m for some odd m and q > 7. Some of the designs given in this article and in [4] fill in a few blanks in the table of Chee, Colbourn, and Kreher [2]. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The intersection problem for m-cycle systems

Let I_m(v) denote the set of integers k for which a pair of m-cycle systems of K_v, exist, on the same vertex set, having k common cycles. Let J_m(v) = {0, 1, 2,…, t_v ?2, t_v} where t_v = v(v ? 1)/2m. In this article, if 2mn + x is an admissible order of an m-cycle system, we investigate when I_m(2mn + x) = J_m(2mn + x), for both m even and m odd. Results include J^m(2mn + 1) = I^m(2mn + 1) for all n > 1 if m is even, and for all n > 2 if n is odd. Moreover, the intersection problem for even cycle systems is completely solved for an equivalence class x (mod 2m) once it is solved for the smallest in that equivalence class and for K_2m+1. For odd cycle systems, results are similar, although generally the two smallest values in each equivalence class need to be solved. We also completely solve the intersection problem for m = 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9. (The cased m = 5 was done by C-M. K. Fu in 1987.) © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Block designs with large holes and α -resolvable BIBDs

In a (v, k, λ: w) incomplete block design (IBD) (or PBD [v, {k, w^*}. λ]), the relation v ≥ (k ? 1)w + 1 must hold. In the case of equality, the IBD is referred to as a block design with a large hole, and the existence of such a configuration is equivalent to the existence of a λ-resolvable BIBD(v ? w, k ? 1, λ). The existence of such configurations is investigated for the case of k = 5. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for all v and λ ? 2 (mod 4), and for λ ≡ 2 mod 4 with 11 possible exceptions for v. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Non Existence of Triangle Free Quasi-symmetric Designs

The following two results are proved. Let D be a triangle free quasi-symmetric design with k=2y−x and x≥ 1 then D is a trivial design with v=5 and k=3. There do no exist triangle free quasi-symmetric designs with x≥ 1 and λ=y or λ=y−1.Communicated by: P. Wild     

Quasi-symmetric designs with the difference of block intersection numbers two

Quasi-symmetric designs with intersection numbers x > 0 and y = x + 2 under the condition λ > 1 are investigated. If D(v, b, r, k, λ; x, y) is a quasi-symmetric design with above conditions then it is shown that either λ = x + 1 or x + 2 or D is a design with the parameters given in the Table 6 or complement of one of these 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.     

On the noise sensitivity of monotone functions

It is known that for all monotone functions f : {0, 1}ⁿ → {0, 1}, if x ∈ {0, 1}ⁿ is chosen uniformly at random and y is obtained from x by flipping each of the bits of x independently with probability ? = n^?α, then P[f(x) ≠ f(y)] < cn^?α+1/2, for some c > 0. Previously, the best construction of monotone functions satisfying P[f_n(x) ≠ f_n(y)] ≥ δ, where 0 < δ < 1/2, required ? ≥ c(δ)n^?α, where α = 1 ? ln 2/ln 3 = 0.36907 …, and c(δ) > 0. We improve this result by achieving for every 0 < δ < 1/2, P[f_n(x) ≠ f_n(y)] ≥ δ, with:

• ? = c(δ)n^?α for any α < 1/2, using the recursive majority function with arity k = k(α);
• ? = c(δ)n^?1/2log^tn for t = log₂ = .3257 …, using an explicit recursive majority function with increasing arities; and
• ? = c(δ)n^?1/2, nonconstructively, following a probabilistic CNF construction due to Talagrand.

We also study the problem of achieving the best dependence on δ in the case that the noise rate ? is at least a small constant; the results we obtain are tight to within logarithmic factors. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 23: 333–350, 2003     

A note on 3-blocked designs

A blocking set of a design different from a 2-(λ + 2, λ + 1, λ) design has at least 3 points. The aim of this note is to establish which 2-(v, k, λ) designs D with r ≥ 2λ may contain a blocking 3-set. The main results are the following. If D contains a blocking 3-set, then D is one of the following designs: a 2-(2λ + 3, λ + 1, λ), a 2-(2λ + 1), λ + 1, λ), a 2-(2λ - 1, λ, λ), a 2-(4λ + 3, 2λ + 1, λ) Hadamard design with λ odd, or a 2-(4λ - 1, 2λ, λ) Hadamard design. Moreover a blocking 3-set in a 2-(4λ + 3, 2λ + 1, λ) Hadamard design exists if and only if there is a line with three points. In the case of 2- (4λ - 1, 2λ, λ) Hadamard design with λ odd, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a blocking 3-set, while in the case λ even, a necessary condition is given. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Extending symmetric designs

If a symmetric 2-design with parameters (v, k, λ) is extendable, then one of the following holds: v = 4λ + 3, k = 2λ + 1; or v = (λ + 2)(λ² + 4λ + 2), k = λ² + 3λ + 1; or v = 111, k = 11, λ = 1; or v = 495, k = 39, λ = 3. In particular, there are at most three sets of extendable symmetric design parameters with any given value of λ. As a consequence, the only twice-extendable symmetric design is the 21-point projective plane.     

Single‐cell discretization of O(kh2 + h4) for ∂u/∂n for three‐space dimensional mildly quasi‐linear parabolic equation

In this article, using a single computational cell, we report some stable two‐level explicit finite difference approximations of O(kh² + h⁴) for ?u/?n for three‐space dimensional quasi‐linear parabolic equation, where h > 0 and k > 0 are mesh sizes in space and time directions, respectively. When grid lines are parallel to x‐, y‐, and z‐coordinate axes, then ?u/?n at an internal grid point becomes ?u/?x, ?u/?y, and ?u/?z, respectively. The proposed methods are also applicable to the polar coordinates problems. The proposed methods have the simplicity in nature and use the same marching type of technique of solution. Stability analysis of a linear difference equation and computational efficiency of the methods are discussed. The results of numerical experiments are compared with exact solutions. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 19: 327–342, 2003.     

Self-converse Mendelsohn designs with block size 4t + 2

A Mendelsohn design MD(v, k, λ) is a pair (X, B) where X is a v-set together with a collection B of cyclic k-tuples from X such that each ordered pair from X, as adjacent entries, is contained in exactly λk-tuples of B. An MD(v, k, λ) is said to be self-converse, denoted by SCMD(v, k, λ) = (X, B, f), if there is an isomorphic mapping from (X, B) to (X, B⁻¹), where B⁻¹ = {B⁻¹ = 〈x_k, x_k−1, … x₂, x₁〉; B = 〈x₁, … ,x_k〉 ∈ B.}. The existence of SCMD(v, 3, λ) and SCMD(v, 4, 1) has been settled by us. In this article, we will investigate the existence of SCMD(v, 4t + 2, 1). In particular, when 2t + 1 is a prime power, the existence of SCMD(v, 4t + 2, 1) has been completely solved, which extends the existence results for MD(v, k, 1) as well. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Combin Designs 7: 283–310, 1999     

A geometric approach to equal sums of fifth powers

Most of the known results about the Diophantine equation x⁵ + y⁵ + z⁵ = u⁵ + v⁵ + w⁵ are shown to be particular instances of a simple geometrical construction. By studying a K3 surface contained in the fourfold, we show that there are an infinity of parametric solutions also satisfying x + y + z = u + v + w, x ? y = u ? v; and we show that these may be effectively determined.     

Eisenstein series of 3/2 weight and one conjecture of Kaplansky

We shall prove thatf ₁ =x ² +y ⁴ + 7z ² represents all eligible numbers congruent to 2 mod 3 except 14 × 7^2k which was conjectured by Kanplansky. Our method is to use modular forms of weight 3/2. Our method can also be applied to other ternary quadratic forms.     

Linear preservers of decomposable symmetric tensors

Let U be an n-dimensional vector space over an algebraically closed field F. Let U(^m) denote the mth symmetric power of U. For each positive integer k≤min{m,n}, let D_k denote the set of all nonzero decomposable elements x₁ …x_m in U(^m) such that dim(x₁ …x_m ) = k and E_k denote the set of all decomposable elements x₁ …x_m in U(^m) such that dim(x₁ …x_m ) ≤ k. In this paper we first show that E_k is an algebraic variety with D_k as a dense subset and determine the dimension of E_k . We next use these results to study the structure of linear mappings T on U^m such that T(D_k ) ? D_k or T(E_k ) ? E_k for some fixed k.     

Existential closure of block intersection graphs of infinite designs having finite block size and index

In this article we study the n‐existential closure property of the block intersection graphs of infinite t‐(v, k, λ) designs for which the block size k and the index λ are both finite. We show that such block intersection graphs are 2‐e.c. when 2?t?k ? 1. When λ = 1 and 2?t?k, then a necessary and sufficient condition on n for the block intersection graph to be n‐e.c. is that n?min{t, ?(k ? 1)/(t ? 1)? + 1}. If λ?2 then we show that the block intersection graph is not n‐e.c. for any n?min{t + 1, ?k/t? + 1}, and that for 3?n?min{t, ?k/t?} the block intersection graph is potentially but not necessarily n‐e.c. The cases t = 1 and t = k are also discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 19: 85–94, 2011