On (q 2 + q + 2, q + 2)-arcs in the Projective Plane PG(2, q)

A (k,n)-arc in PG(2,q) is usually defined to be a set of k points in the plane such that some line meets in n points but such that no line meets in more than n points. There is an extensive literature on the topic of (k,n)-arcs. Here we keep the same definition but allow to be a multiset, that is, permit to contain multiple points. The case k=q ²+q+2 is of interest because it is the first value of k for which a (k,n)-arc must be a multiset. The problem of classifying (q ²+q+2,q+2)-arcs is of importance in coding theory, since it is equivalent to classifying 3-dimensional q-ary error-correcting codes of length q ²+q+2 and minimum distance q ². Indeed, it was the coding theory problem which provided the initial motivation for our study. It turns out that such arcs are surprisingly rich in geometric structure. Here we construct several families of (q ²+q+2,q+2)-arcs as well as obtain some bounds and non-existence results. A complete classification of such arcs seems to be a difficult problem.     

Small complete arcs in andré planes of square order

A complete arc in a projective plane of orderq has at least points. We show the existence of completek-arcs having points in certain André planes of square order. Moreover our construction shows that for all x > \sqrt q \log q$$ " align="middle" border="0"> there are completek-arcs withx < k < Cxlogq, for some absolute constantC.     

On a set of lines of PG(3, q) corresponding to a maximal cap contained in the Klein quadric of PG (5, q)

The problem is considered of constructing a maximal set of lines, with no three in a pencil, in the finite projective geometry PG(3, q) of three dimensions over GF(q). (A pencil is the set of q+1 lines in a plane and passing through a point.) It is found that an orbit of lines of a Singer cycle of PG(3, q) gives a set of size q ³ + q ² + q + 1 which is definitely maximal in the case of q odd. A (q ³ + q ² + q + 1)-cap contained in the hyperbolic (or Klein) quadric of PG(5, q) also comes from the construction. (A k-cap is a set of k points with no three in a line.) This is generalized to give direct constructions of caps in quadrics in PG(5, q). For q odd and greater than 3 these appear to be the largest caps known in PG(5, q). In particular it is shown how to construct directly a large cap contained in the Klein quadric, given an ovoid skew to an elliptic quadric of PG(3, q). Sometimes the cap is also contained in an elliptic quadric of PG(5, q) and this leads to a set of q ³ + q ² + q + 1 lines of PG(3,q ²) contained in the non-singular Hermitian surface such that no three lines pass through a point. These constructions can often be applied to real and complex spaces.     

Note on the existence of large minimal blocking sets in galois planes

A subsetS of a finite projective plane of orderq is called a blocking set ifS meets every line but contains no line. For the size of an inclusion-minimal blocking setq+ +Sq +1 holds ([6]). Ifq is a square, then inPG(2,q) there are minimal blocking sets with cardinalityq +1. Ifq is not a square, then the various constructions known to the author yield minimal blocking sets with less than 3q points. In the present note we show that inPG(2,q),q1 (mod 4) there are minimal blocking sets having more thanqlog₂ q/2 points. The blocking sets constructed in this note contain the union ofk conics, whereklog₂ q/2. A slight modification of the construction works forq3 (mod 4) and gives the existence of minimal blocking sets of sizecqlog₂ q for some constantc.As a by-product we construct minimal blocking sets of cardinalityq +1, i.e. unitals, in Galois planes of square order. Since these unitals can be obtained as the union of parabolas, they are not classical.     

On the non-existence of linear codes attaining the Griesmer bound

A lower bound on the size of a set K in PG(3, q) satisfying for any plane of PG(3, q), q4 is given. It induces the non-existence of linear [n,4,n + 1 – q ²]-codes over GF(q) attaining the Griesmer bound for .     

Degenerate Principal Series Representations of U(p, q) and Spin0(p, q)

Let p>q and let G be the group U(p, q) or Spin₀(p, q). Let P=LN be the maximal parabolic subgroup of G with Levi subgroup where

Proper 2-Covers of PG(3,q), q Even

A k-cover of =PG(3q) is a set S of lines of such that every point is on exactly k lines of S. S is proper if it contains no spread. The existence of proper k-covers of is necessary for the existence of maximal partial packings of q ²+q+1–k spreads of . Here we give the first construction of proper 2-packings of PG(3,q) with q even; for q odd these have been constructed by Ebert.     

Minimal Covers of Q +(2n + 1, q) by (n − 1)-Dimensional Subspaces

A t-cover of a quadric is a set C of t-dimensional subspaces contained in such that every point of is contained in at least one element of C.We consider (n – 1)-covers of the hyperbolic quadric Q ⁺(2n + 1, q). We show that such a cover must have at least q ^{n + 1} + 2q + 1 elements, give an example of this size for even q and describe what covers of this size should look like.     

Nuclei of point sets of sizeq+1 contained in the union of two lines inPG(2,q)

We give a complete classification for pairs ( (),) where () is the set of all nuclei of a set ofq+1 not collinear points contained in the union of two lines in a desarguesian planePG(2,q) of orderq. We also obtain some new results concerning blocking sets of Rédei type and certain point-sets of type [0,1,m,n] inPG(2, q).     

A New Approach to the Main Conjecture on Algebraic-Geometric MDS Codes

The Main Conjecture on MDS Codes statesthat for every linear [n, k] MDS code over q, if 1 <k < q, then n q+1,except when q is even and k=3 or k=q-1,in which cases n q +2. Recently, there has beenan attempt to prove the conjecture in the case of algebraic-geometriccodes. The method until now has been to reduce the conjectureto a statement about the arithmetic of the jacobian of the curve,and the conjecture has been successfully proven in this way forelliptic and hyperelliptic curves. We present a new approachto the problem, which depends on the geometry of the curve afteran appropriate embedding. Using algebraic-geometric methods,we then prove the conjecture through this approach in the caseof elliptic curves. In the process, we prove a new result aboutthe maximum number of points in an arc which lies on an ellipticcurve.     

A new extension theorem for 3-weight modulo q linear codes over $${\mathbb{F}_ q}$$

We prove that every [n, k, d] _q code with q ≥ 4, k ≥ 3, whose weights are congruent to 0, −1 or −2 modulo q and is extendable unless its diversity is for odd q, where .      

Partial t-Spreads in PG(2t+1,q)

This article first of all discusses the problem of the cardinality of maximal partial spreads in PG(3,q), q square, q>4. Let r be an integer such that 2rq+1 and such that every blocking set of PG(2,q) with at most q+r points contains a Baer subplane. If S is a maximal partial spread of PG(3,q) with q ²-1-r lines, then r=s( +1) for an integer s2 and the set of points of PG(3,q) not covered byS is the disjoint union of s Baer subgeometriesPG(3, ). We also discuss maximal partial spreads in PG(3,p ³), p=p ₀ ^h , p ₀ prime, p ₀ 5, h 1, p 5. We show that if p is non-square, then the minimal possible deficiency of such a spread is equal to p ²+p+1, and that if such a maximal partial spread exists, then the set of points of PG(3,p ³) not covered by the lines of the spread is a projected subgeometryPG(5,p) in PG(3,p ³). In PG(3,p ³),p square, for maximal partial spreads of deficiency p ²+p+1, the combined results from the preceding two cases occur. In the final section, we discuss t-spreads in PG(2t+1,q), q square or q a non-square cube power. In the former case, we show that for small deficiencies , the set of holes is a disjoint union of subgeometries PG(2t+1, ), which implies that 0 (mod +1) and, when (2t+1)( -1) <q-1, that 2( +1). In the latter case, the set of holes is the disjoint union of projected subgeometries PG(3t+2, ) and this implies 0 (mod q ^2/3+q ^1/3+1). A more general result is also presented.     

Some remarks on embeddings of the flag geometries of projective planes in finite projective spaces

The flag geometry of a finite projective plane II of orders is the generalized hexagon of order (s, 1) obtained from II by putting equal to the set of all flags of II, by putting equal to the set of all points and lines of II and where I is the natural incidence relation (inverse containment), that is, is the dual of the double of II in the sense of [8]. Then we say that is fully (and weakly) embedded in the finite projective space PG(d, q) if is a subgeometry of the natural point-line geometry associated with PG(d, q), if s=q, if the set of points of generates PG(d, q) (and if the set of points of not opposite any given point of does not generate PG(d, q)). We have classified all such embeddings in [3, 4, 5, 6]. In the present paper, we weaken the hypotheses in some special cases, and we give an alternative formulation of the classification.     

A Remarkable q,t-Catalan Sequence and q-Lagrange Inversion

We introduce a rational function C _n(q, t) and conjecture that it always evaluates to a polynomial in q, t with non-negative integer coefficients summing to the familiar Catalan number . We give supporting evidence by computing the specializations and C _n (q) = C _n(q,1) = C _n(1,q). We show that, in fact, D _n(q) q-counts Dyck words by the major index and C _n(q) q-counts Dyck paths by area. We also show that C _n(q, t) is the coefficient of the elementary symmetric function e _nin a symmetric polynomial DH_n(x; q, t) which is the conjectured Frobenius characteristic of the module of diagonal harmonic polynomials. On the validity of certain conjectures this yields that C _n(q, t) is the Hilbert series of the diagonal harmonic alternants. It develops that the specialization DH_n(x; q, 1) yields a novel and combinatorial way of expressing the solution of the q-Lagrange inversion problem studied by Andrews [2], Garsia [5] and Gessel [11]. Our proofs involve manipulations with the Macdonald basis {P (x; q, t)} which are best dealt with in -ring notation. In particular we derive here the -ring version of several symmetric function identities.Work carried out under NSF grant support.     

On schematic orthogonal arraysOA(q t,k, q,t)

Am × k matrixA, with entries from a set ofq 2 elements, is called an orthogonal arrayOA(m, k, q, t) (t 2) if eachm × t submatrix ofA contains all possible 1 ×t row vectors with the same frequency(m = q ^t ). We call the array schematic if the set of rows ofA forms an association scheme with the relations determined by the Hamming distance. In this paper we determine the schematic orthogonal arraysOA(q ^t ,k, q, t) with2t – 1 > k.     

Small semiovals in PG(2, q)

A semioval in a projective plane is a nonempty subset S of points with the property that for every point P ∈ S there exists a unique line ℓ such that . It is known that and both bounds are sharp. We say that S is a small semioval in if . Dover [5] proved that if S has a (q − 1)-secant, then , thus S is small, and if S has more than one (q − 1)-secant, then S can be obtained from a vertexless triangle by removing some subset of points from one side. We generalize this result and prove that if there exist integers 1 ≤ t and − 1 ≤ k such that and S has a (q − t)-secant, then the tangent lines at the points of the (q − t)-secant are concurrent. Specially when t = 1 then S can be obtained from a vertexless triangle by removing some subset of points from one side. The research was supported by the Italian-Hungarian Intergovernmental Scientific and Technological Cooperation Project, Grant No. I-66/99 and by the Hungarian National Foundation for Scientific Research, Grant Nos. T 043556 and T 043758.     

The closed ideal of (c o ,p,q)-summing operators

For 1/p+1/q1, we study the closed ideal formed by the (c _o ,p,q)-summing operators. It turns out thatT:XY does not belong to if and only if it factors the mapId:l _p ^*l _q . By localization, we get the ideal that consists of those operatorsT for which all ultrapowersT ^u are contained in . Operators in the complement of are characterized by the property that they factor the mapsId:l _p ^*n l _q ⁿ uniformly. Our main tools are ideal norms.Supported by DFG grant PI 322/1-2     

On nets of orderq 2 and degreeq+1 admitting GL(2,q)

In this paper we consider finite nets of orderq ² and degreeq + 1 which admit GL(2,q). Our main result says that if a net of orderq ² and degreeq + 1 admits a collineation group with a point-regular normal subgroupT such that /T GL(2,q), then is isomorphic to a regulus net, a twisted regulus net, a Hering net, or . Except in the last one, each of them corresponds to a surface in PG(3,q) obtained from a homogeneous polynomial in two variables.     

Parametrization of Triangle Groups as Subgroups of PSL(2, q)

In this paper we are interested in triangle groups (j, k, l) where j = 2 and k = 3. The groups (j, k, l) can be considered as factor groups of the modular group PSL(2, Z) which has the presentation x, y : x² = y³ = 1. Since PSL(2,q) is a factor group of G^k,l,m if -1 is a quadratic residue in the finite field F_q, it is therefore worthwhile to look at (j, k, l) groups as subgroups of PSL(2, q) or PGL(2, q). Specifically, we shall find a condition in form of a polynomial for the existence of groups (2, 3, k) as subgroups of PSL(2, q) or PGL(2, q).Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 20F05 Secondary 20G40.