Some mutually disjoint steiner systems

A t-design λ; t-d-n is a system of subsets of size d (called blocks) from an n-set S, such that each t-subset from S is contained in precisely λ blocks. A Steiner system S(l, m, n) is a t-design with parameters 1; l-m-n. Two Steiner systems (or t-designs) are disjoint if they share no blocks. A search has been conducted which resulted in discovering 9 mutually disjoint S(5, 8, 24)'s, 24 mutually disjoint S(4, 7, 23)'s, 60 mutually disjoint S(3, 6, 22)'s, and 197 mutually disjoint S(2, 5, 21)'s. Taking unions of several mutually disjoint Steiner systems will then produce t-designs (with varying λ's) on 21, 22, 23, and 24 points.     

Countable linear orders with disjoint infinite intervals are mutually orthogonal

Two linear orderings of a same set are perpendicular if the only self-mappings of this set that preserve them both are the identity and the constant mappings. Two linear orderings are orthogonal if they are isomorphic to two perpendicular linear orderings. We show that two countable linear orderings are orthogonal as soon as each one has two disjoint infinite intervals. From this and previously known results it follows in particular that each countably infinite linear ordering is orthogonal to itself.     

On digraphs with no two disjoint directed cycles

We obtain a result on configurations in 2-connected digraphs with no two disjoint dicycles. We derive various consequences, for example a short proof of the characterization of the minimal digraphs having no vertex meeting all dicycles and a polynomially bounded algorithm for finding a dicycle through any pair of prescribed arcs in a digraph with no two disjoint dicycles, a problem which is NP-complete for digraphs in general.     

Graphs with three mutually pseudo-similar vertices

Vertices u and v of a graph X are pseudo-similar if X ? u ? X ? v but no automorphism of X maps u to v. We describe a group-theoretic method for constructing graphs with a set of three mutually pseudo-similar vertices. The method is used to construct several examples of such graphs. An algorithm for extending, in a natural way, certain graphs with three mutually pseudo-similar vertices to a graph in which the three vertices are similar is given. The algorithm suggests that no simple characterization of graphs with a set of three mutually pseudo-similar vertices can exist.     

A model with no strongly separable almost disjoint families

We answer a question of Shelah and Steprāns [6] by producing a model of ZFC where there are no strongly separable almost disjoint families. The notion of a strongly separable almost disjoint family is a natural variation on the well known notion of a completely separable almost disjoint family, and is closely related to the metrization problem for countable Fréchet groups.     

A construction of mutually disjoint Steiner systems from isomorphic Golay codes

It is well known that the extended binary Golay [24,12,8] code yields 5-designs. In particular, the supports of all the weight 8 codewords in the code form a Steiner system S(5,8,24). In this paper, we give a construction of mutually disjoint Steiner systems S(5,8,24) by constructing isomorphic Golay codes. As a consequence, we show that there exists at least 22 mutually disjoint Steiner systems S(5,8,24). Finally, we prove that there exists at least 46 mutually disjoint 5-(48,12,8) designs from the extended binary quadratic residue [48,24,12] code.     

Minimal transformations with no common factor need not be disjoint

A countable family of minimal transformations (X, Z) is described for which no pair have a non-trivial common factor, and so that no pair is disjoint. This answers in the negative a question of H. Furstenberg.     

Designs with mutually orthogonal resolutions and decompositions of edge‐colored graphs

Two resolutions R and R^′ of a combinatorial design are called orthogonal if |R_i∩R|≤1 for all R_i∈R and R∈R^′. A set Q={R¹, R², …, R^d} of d resolutions of a combinatorial design is called a set of mutually orthogonal resolutions (MORs) if the resolutions of Q are pairwise orthogonal. In this paper, we establish necessary and sufficient conditions for the asymptotic existence of a (v, k, 1)‐BIBD with d mutually orthogonal resolutions for d≥2 and k≥3 and necessary and sufficient conditions for the asymptotic existence of a (v, k, k?1)‐BIBD with d mutually orthogonal near resolutions for d≥2 and k≥3. We use complementary designs and the most general form of an asymptotic existence theorem for decompositions of edge‐colored complete digraphs into prespecified edge‐colored subgraphs. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 17: 425–447, 2009     

On sets of pairwise disjoint blocks in Steiner triple systems

In a Steiner triple system with 19 points, each disjoint pair blocks is contained in at least 43 quadruplets of pairwise disjoint blocks. In a Steiner triple system with 25 points, each disjoint pair of blocks is contained in a pairwise disjoint quintuple of blocks. Theorems used are those of Connor on determinants based on intersecting and nonintersecting blocks of a BIBD, and of Turán on extremal graphs without triangles.     

Some big sets of mutually disjoint subgeometries of PG(d, q t )

In PG(d, q ^t ) we construct a set ? of mutually disjoint subgeometries isomorphic to PG(d, q) almost partitioning the point set of PG(d, q ^t ) such that there is a group of collineations of PG(d, q ^t ) operating simultaneously as a Singer cycle on all elements of ?. In PG(t?1,q ^t ) we construct big subsets ? of ? whose elements are far away from each other in the following sense:

u

? If P ₁, P ₂ ∈ ? _k , then no point of P ₁ lies on ak-dimensional subspace of P ₂.

For example, we get a set ofq - 1 subplanes of orderq of PG(2,q ³) such that no point of one subplane lies on a line of another subplane, and such that no three points of three different subplanes are collinear.     

Composites reinforced with a system of three straight mutually orthogonal fibers

The effectiveness of reinforcement in direction 3 has been estimated by investigating the mechanical characteristics of two types of three-dimensionally reinforced materials differing with respect to the arrangement of the reinforcement and the fiber content in each direction. The superior transverse stiffness, shear strength, and transverse tensile strength of three-dimensionally reinforced composites based on a system of three mutually orthogonal fibers, as compared with laminated materials, is demonstrated. The theoretical values of the elastic constants, calculated from the relations of [5], are compared with the experimental data.For communication 1 see [5].Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR, Riga. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 6, pp. 1011–1018, November–December, 1973.     

Classification of linear spaces without three mutually parallel lines

We classify all finite linear spaces without three mutually parallel lines. Apart from two exceptions, such a space is necessarily a generalized projective plane, a simple extension of a generalized projective plane, or a complete inflated affine plane with a generalized projective plane at infinity.Dedicated to Giuseppe Tallini on the occasion of his 60^th birthday     

Geodetic blocks of diameter three

It is shown that geodetic blocks of diameter 3 are self-centred and upper and lower geodetic critical and also lower diameter critical. Geodetic blocks of diameter 3 which are isomorphic toK _n ⁽²⁾ are characterised. The second author is on leave from the A. M. Jain College, Madras and acknowledges the financial support of the U. G. C. Teacher Fellowship for this research.     

Composite materials reinforced with a system of three straight,mutually orthogonal fibers

An extension of existing methods of calculating fibrous composites to the case of reinforcement in three mutually perpendicular directions is presented. The basic approach involves the introduction of a "modified" matrix, the properties of which are determined in terms of the elastic moduli of the binder and the reinforcement coefficient in one of the three directions. Approximate expressions are obtained for the elastic characteristics of materials with a high-modulus reinforcing phase. There is a considerable increase in the transverse modulus by comparison with the shear modulus, even for a low reinforcement coefficient in the third direction.     

A sufficient condition for a graph to contain three disjoint 1-factors

Ore derived a sufficient condition for a graph to contain a Hamiltonian cycle. We obtain a sufficient condition, similar to Ore's condition, for a graph to contain a Hamiltonian cycle and a 1-factor which are edge disjoint.     

Fractional set systems with few disjoint pairs

Ahlswede (1980) [1] and Frankl (1977) [5] independently found a result about the structure of set systems with few disjoint pairs. Bollobás and Leader (2003) [3] gave an alternate proof by generalizing to fractional set systems and noting that the optimal fractional set systems are {0,1}-valued. In this paper we show that this technique does not extend to t-intersecting families. We find optimal fractional set systems for some infinite classes of parameters, and we point out that they are strictly better than the corresponding {0,1}-valued fractional set systems. We prove some results about the structure of an optimal fractional set system, which we use to produce an algorithm for finding such systems. The run time of the algorithm is polynomial in the size of the ground set.