Products of mixed covering arrays of strength two

A covering array CA(N;t,k, v is an N × k array such that every N × t subarray contains all t‐tuples from v symbols at least once, where t is the strength of the array. Covering arrays are used to generate software test suites to cover all t‐sets of component interactions. The particular case when t = 2 (pairwise coverage) has been extensively studied, both to develop combinatorial constructions and to provide effective algorithmic search techniques. In this paper, a simple “cut‐and‐paste” construction is extended to covering arrays in which different columns (factors) admit different numbers of symbols (values); in the process an improved recursive construction for covering arrays with t = 2 is derived. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 14: 124–138, 2006     

Concerning seven and eight mutually orthogonal Latin squares

In this paper, three new direct Mutually Orthogonal Latin Squares (MOLS) constructions are presented for 7 MOLS(24), 7 MOLS(75) and 8 MOLS(36); then using recursive methods, several new constructions for 7 and 8 MOLS are obtained. These reduce the largest value for which 7 MOLS are unknown from 780 to 570, and the largest odd value for which 8 MOLS are unknown from 1935 to 419. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Element neighbourhoods in twofold triple systems

The method of differences is used to establish that every 2-regular multigraph onv– 10,2 (mod 3) points occurs as the neighbourhood graph of an element in a twofold triple system of orderv, with two exceptions: C₂C₃and C₃C₃.Dedicated to Professor Hanfried Lenz on the occasion of his seventieth birthday     

The number oft-wise balanced designs

We prove that the number oft-wise balanced designs of ordern is asymptotically , provided that blocks of sizet are permitted. In the process, we prove that the number oft-profiles (multisets of block sizes) is bounded below by and above by for constants c₂>c₁>0.     

The spectrum for rotational Steiner triple systems

We develop some recursive constructions for rotational Steiner triple systems with which the spectrum of a k-rotational Steiner triple system of order v is completely determined for each positive integer k. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Concerning Difference Matrices

Several new constructions for difference matrices are given. One classof constructions uses pairwise balanced designs to develop newdifference matrices over the additive group of GF (q). A second class of constructions gives difference matrices overgroups whose orders are not (necessarily) prime powers.     

Orderly algorithms for generating restricted classes of graphs

Orderly algorithms for the generation of exhaustive lists of nonisomorphic graphs are discussed. The existence of orderly methods to generate the graphs with a given subgraph and without a given subgraph is established. This method can be used to list all the nonisomorphic subgraphs of a given graph, as well as to produce catalogs of Hamiltonian graphs, pancyclic graphs, degree-constrained graphs, and other classes. A generalization of this method is given that can be used to generate lists of graphs with given girth, planar graphs, k-colorable graphs, and k-connected graphs, for example. Finally, these observations are employed to generate restricted classes of digraphs, notably acyclic digraphs and poset digraphs. The generation of poset digraphs is shown to supply a practical orderly method for producing a catalog of lattices. Similar observations concerning vertex addition generation methods allow one to improve on existing methods for the generation of catalog of interval and circle graphs.     

Chip firing and all-terminal network reliability bounds

The (all-terminal) reliability of a graph G is the probability that all vertices are in the same connected component, given that vertices are always operational but edges fail independently each with probability p. Computing reliability is #P-complete, and hence is expected to be intractable. Consequently techniques for efficiently (and effectively) bounding reliability have been the major thrust of research in the area. We utilize a deep connection between reliability and chip firings on graphs to improve previous bounds for reliability.     

Constructing heterogeneous hash families by puncturing linear transversal designs

Constructions that use hash families to select columns from small covering arrays in order to construct larger ones can exploit heterogeneity in the numbers of symbols in the rows of the hash family. For specific distributions of numbers of symbols, the efficacy of the construction is improved by accommodating more columns in the hash family. Known constructions of such heterogeneous hash families employ finite geometries and their associated transversal designs. Using thwarts in transversal designs, specific constructions of heterogeneous hash families are developed, and some open questions are posed.     

Constructions for Permutation Codes in Powerline Communications

A permutation array (or code) of length n and distance d is a set Γ of permutations from some fixed set of n symbols such that the Hamming distance between each distinct x, y ∈ Γ is at least d. One motivation for coding with permutations is powerline communication. After summarizing known results, it is shown here that certain families of polynomials over finite fields give rise to permutation arrays. Additionally, several new computational constructions are given, often making use of automorphism groups. Finally, a recursive construction for permutation arrays is presented, using and motivating the more general notion of codes with constant weight composition.