Some geometry of the isomorphism \(Sp(4,q)\cong O(5,q)\), \(q\) even (Q5944990): Difference between revisions

A \(k\)-cap in the finite projective space \(PG(N,q)\) is a set of \(k\) points, no three collinear; the maximum size of such a set is denoted by \(m_2 (N,q)\). When \(N=3\), a cap achieving this maximum has certain other special properties and is called an ovoid; the known classes of ovoids are the elliptic quadrics and, for \(q=2^{2j+1}\), the Suzuki-Tits ovoids. Partitions of \(PG(3,q)\) into elliptic quadrics are known; the authors give a partition of the same space into Suzuki-Tits ovoids, and some ``mixed'' partitions. As the authors observe, there are only a few cases in which \(m_2(N,q)\) is known for \(N\geq 4\), so that the problem of constructing maximal caps other than ovoids is far from being solved. They construct, however, a family of caps of size \(2(q^2+1)\) in \(PG(4,q)\).