| Abstract: | 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. |
