Self-converse large sets of pure directed triple systems

An $LPDTS(v,\lambda )$ is a collection of $\frac{3(v?2)}{\lambda }$ pairwise disjoint $PDTS(v,\lambda )s$ on the same set of v elements. An $LPDT{S}^{?}(v)$ is a special $LPDTS(v,1)$ which contains exactly $\frac{v?2}{2}$ converse hexads of $PDTS(v)s$. In this paper, we mainly discuss the existence of an $LPDT{S}^{?}(v)$ and get the following conclusions: (1) there exists an $LPDT{S}^{?}(v)$ if and only if $v\equiv 0,4\mathrm{mod 6},v\ge 4$ except possibly $v=30$. (2) There exists an $LPDTS(v,\lambda )$ with index $\lambda \equiv 2,4\mathrm{mod 6}$ if and only if $v\equiv 0,4\mathrm{mod 6},v\ge 2\lambda +2,v\equiv 2\mathrm{mod}\mathit{\lambda }$ except possibly $v=30$.     

Large sets of extended directed triple systems with odd orders

For three types of triples, unordered, cyclic and transitive, the corresponding extended triple, extended triple system and their large set are introduced. The spectrum of LEDTS(v) for even v has been given in our paper (Liu and Kang (2009) [9]). In this paper, we shall discuss the existence problem of LEDTS(v) for odd v and give the almost complete conclusion: there exists an LEDTS(v) for any positive integer v≠4 except possible v=95,143,167,203,215.     

The spectrum for large sets of pure directed triple systems

An LPDTS(ν) is a collection of 3(ν-2) disjoint pure directed triple systems on the same set ofνelements. It is showed in Tian's doctoral thesis that there exists an LPDTS(ν) forν=0,4 (mod 6),ν≥4. In this paper, we establish the existence of an LPDTS(ν) forν= 1,3 (mod 6),ν> 3. Thus the spectrum for LPDTS(ν) is completely determined to be the set {ν:ν= 0, 1 (mod 3),ν≥4}.     

The spectrum for overlarge sets of directed triple systems

A directed triple system of order v,denoted by DTS(v,λ),is a pair(X,B)where X is a v- set and B is a collection of transitive triples on X such that every ordered pair of X belongs toλtriples of B.An overlarge set of disjoint DTS(v,λ),denoted by OLDTS(v,λ),is a collection{(Y\{y},A_i)}_i, such that Y is a(v 1)-set,each(Y\{y},A_i)is a DTS(v,λ)and all A_i's form a partition of all transitive triples of Y.In this paper,we shall discuss the existence problem of OLDTS(v,λ)and give the following conclusion:there exists an OLDTS(v,λ)if and only if eitherλ=1 and v≡0,1(mod 3),orλ=3 and v≠2.     

Embeddings of simple directed triple systems

In this paper, we completely solve the embedding problem of simple directed triple systems by proving that the necessary conditions for the embeddings of directed triple systems are also sufficient. This project is supported by the Science and Technology Foundation of Shanghai Jiao Tong University     

Some infinite families of large sets of Kirkman triple systems

A large set of Kirkman triple systems of order v, denoted by LKTS(v), is a collection {(X, B_i) : 1 ≤ i ≤ v ? 2}, where every (X,B_i) is a KTS(v) and all B_i form a partition of all triples on X. Many researchers have studied the existence of LKTS(v) for a long time. In [13], the author introduced a concept—large set of generalized Kirkman systems (LGKS), which plays an important role in the discussion of LKTS. In this article, we give a new construction for LGKS and obtain some new results of LKTS, that is, there exists an LKTS(6u + 3) for u = qⁿ, where n ≥ 1, q ≡ 7 (mod 12) and q is a prime power. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 16: 202–212, 2008     

The spectrum for overlarge sets of hybrid triple systems

A hybrid triple system of order v and index λ,denoted by HTS(v,λ),is a pair(X,B) where X is a v-set and B is a collection of cyclic triples and transitive triples on X,such that every ordered pair of X belongs to λ triples of B. An overlarge set of disjoint HTS(v,λ),denoted by OLHTS(v,λ),is a collection {(Y {y},Ai)}i,such that Y is a(v+1)-set,each(Y {y},Ai) is an HTS(v,λ) and all Ais form a partition of all cyclic triples and transitive triples on Y.In this paper,we shall discuss the existence problem of OLHTS(v,λ) and give the following conclusion: there exists an OLHTS(v,λ) if and only if λ=1,2,4,v ≡ 0,1(mod 3) and v≥4.     

Self-converse large sets of pure Mendelsohn triple systems

A Mendelsohn triple system of order v （MTS（v）） is a pair （X,B） where X is a v-set and 5g is a collection of cyclic triples on X such that every ordered pair of X belongs to exactly one triple of B. An MTS（v） （X,B） is called pure and denoted by PMTS（v） if （x, y, z） ∈ B implies （z, y, x） ∈B. A large set of MTS（v）s （LMTS（v）） is a collection of v - 2 pairwise disjoint MTS（v）s on a v-set. A self-converse large set of PMTS（v）s, denoted by LPMTS＊ （v）, is an LMTS（v） containing [ v-2/2] converse pairs of PMTS（v）s. In this paper, some results about the existence and non-existence for LPMTS＊ （v） are obtained.     

Another construction for large sets of Kirkman triple systems

A large set of Kirkman triple systems of order v, denoted by LKTS(v), is a collection , where every is a KTS(v) and all form a partition of all triples on X. In this article, we give a new construction for LKTS(6v + 3) via OLKTS(2v + 1) with a special property and obtain new results for LKTS, that is there exists an LKTS(3v) for , where p, q ≥ 0, r _i , s _j ≥ 1, q _i is a prime power and mod 12.      

Extended directed triple systems

Let {n;b₂,b₁} denote the class of extended directed triple systems of the order n in which the number of blocks of the form [a,b,a] is b₂ and the number of blocks of the form [b,a,a] or [a,a,b] is b₁. In this paper, we have shown that the necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of the class {n;b₂,b₁} is b₁≠1, 0?b₂+b₁?n and

(1)

for ;

(2)

for .

     

Generalized Latin squares and their defining sets

A generalized Latin square of type (n,k) is an n×n array of symbols 1,2,…,k such that each of these symbols occurs at most once in each row and each column. Let d(n,k) denote the cardinality of the minimal set S of given entries of an n×n array such that there exists a unique extension of S to a generalized Latin square of type (n,k). In this paper we discuss the properties of d(n,k) for k=2n-1 and k=2n-2. We give an alternate proof of the identity d(n,2n-1)=n²-n, which holds for even n, and we establish the new result . We also show that the latter bound is tight for n divisible by 10.     

Indecomposable large sets of Steiner triple systems with indices 5, 6

A family ( X, B1 ), (X, B2 ), . . . , (X, Bq ) of q STS(v)s is a λ-fold large set of STS(v) and denoted by LSTS λ (v) if every 3-subset of X is contained in exactly λ STS(v)s of the collection. It is indecomposable and denoted by IDLSTS λ (v) if there does not exist an LSTS λ'(v) contained in the collection for any λ' λ. In this paper, we show that for λ = 5, 6, there is an IDLSTS λ (v) for v ≡ 1 or 3 (mod 6) with the exception IDLSTS6 (7).     

Further results on overlarge sets of Kirkman triple systems

In this paper, we introduce a new concept -- overlarge sets of generalized Kirkman systems （OLGKS）, research the relation between it and OLKTS, and obtain some new results for OLKTS. The main conclusion is： If there exist both an OLKF（6^k） and a 3-OLGKS（6^k-1,4） for all k ∈{6,7,...,40}／{8,17,21,22,25,26}, then there exists an OLKTS（v） for any v ≡ 3 （mod 6）, v ≠ 21. As well, we obtain the following result： There exists an OLKTS（6u ＋ 3） for u = 2^2n-1 - 1, 7^n, 31^n, 127^n, 4^r25^s, where n ≥ 1,r＋s≥ 1.     

Transitive resolvable idempotent quasigroups and large sets of resolvable Mendelsohn triple systems

We first define a transitive resolvable idempotent quasigroup (TRIQ), and show that a TRIQ of order v exists if and only if 3∣v and . Then we use TRIQ to present a tripling construction for large sets of resolvable Mendelsohn triple systems s, which improves an earlier version of tripling construction by Kang. As an application we obtain an for any integer n≥1, which provides an infinite family of even orders.     

On large sets of disjoint Kirkman triple systems

In this paper, we introduce LR(u) designs and use these designs together with large sets of Kirkman triple systems (LKTS) and transitive KTS (TKTS) of order v to construct an LKTS(uv). Our main result is that there exists an LKTS(v) for v∈{3nm(2·13k+1)t;n?1,k?1,t=0,1,m∈{1,5,11,17,25,35,43}}.     

A construction for large sets of disjoint Kirkman triple systems

A Steiner system S(t, k, v) is called i-resolvable, 0 < i < t, if its block set can be partitioned into S(i, k, v). In this paper, a 2-resolvable S(3, 4, v) is used to construct a large set of disjoint Kirkman triple systems of order 3v − 3 (briefly LKTS) and some new orders for LKTS are then obtained. Research supported by Tianyuan Mathematics Foundation of NSFC Grant 10526032 and Natural Science Foundation of Universities of Jiangsu Province Grant 05KJB110111.     

An improved product construction for large sets of Kirkman triple systems

It has been shown by Lei, in his recent paper, that there exists a large set of Kirkman triple systems of order uv (LKTS(uv)) if there exist an LKTS(v), a TKTS(v) and an LR(u), where a TKTS(v) is a transitive Kirkman triple system of order v, and an LR(u) is a new kind of design introduced by Lei. In this paper, we improve this product construction by removing the condition “there exists a TKTS(v)”. Our main idea is to use transitive resolvable idempotent symmetric quasigroups instead of TKTS. As an application, we can combine the known results on LKTS and LR-designs to obtain the existence of an LKTS(3ⁿm(2·13^n₁+1)(2·13^n_t+1)) for n1, m{1,5,11,17,25,35,43,67,91,123}{2^2r+125^s+1 : r0,s0}, t0 and n_i1 (i=1,…,t).     

On the maximum double independence number of Steiner triple systems

The maximum independence number of Steiner triple systems of order $v$ is well‐known. Motivated by questions of access balancing in storage systems, we determine the maximum total cardinality of a pair of disjoint independent sets of Steiner triple systems of order $v$ for all admissible orders.     

The existence of 2-balanced Mendelsohn triple systems

A Mendelsohn triple system MTS$(v,b)$ is a collection of $b$ cyclic triples (blocks) on a set of $v$ points. It is $j$-balanced for $j=1,2,3$ when any two points, ordered pairs, or cyclic triples (resp.) are contained in the same or almost the same number of blocks (difference at most one). A $(2,3)$-balanced Mendelsohn triple system is an MTS$(v,b)$ that is both 2-balanced and 3-balanced. Employing large sets of Mendelsohn triple systems and partitionable Mendelsohn candelabra systems, we completely determine the spectrum for which a 2-balanced Mendelsohn triple system exists. Meanwhile, we determine the existence spectrum for a $(2,3)$-balanced Mendelsohn triple system.