A remark on symplectic spreads (Q993747): Difference between revisions

Let \(q=2^r\) and let \(PG(2n-1,q)\) be the projective \((2n-1)\)-dimensional space over \(GF(q)\). A spread of \(PG(2n-1,q)\) is a set of \(q^n+1\) pairwise disjoint \((n-1)\)-dimensional subspaces which partition the pointset of \(PG(2n-1,q)\). A spread is symplectic if all of its elements are totally isotropic with respect to some polarity of the space, defined by a nonsingular alternating bilinear form of the underlying vector space. Let \(\mathcal Q\) be a a nonsingular quadric of \(PG(2n-1,q)\), \(n\geq 2\), \(q\) even, and let \(\mathcal S\) be a spread of \(PG(2n-1,q)\). Then \(\mathcal S\) is symplectic with respect to the polarity defined by \(\mathcal Q\) if and only if any \(X\in {\mathcal S}\) either is contained in \(\mathcal Q\) or intersects \(\mathcal Q\) in a totally isotropic \((n-2)\)-dimensional subspace (Lemmas 1, 2). Theorem 2. A translation plane of order \(q^n\), \(q\) even, with kernel containing \(GF(q)\), is defined by a symplectic spread if and only if it contains a Thas arc.