The fine intersection problem for Steiner triple systems (Q1015421)

Let \((V,{\mathcal A})\) and \((V,{\mathcal B})\) be two Steiner triple systems of order \(v\). Let \({\mathcal I} = {\mathcal A} \cap {\mathcal B}\). The \textsl{fine intersection} of \((V,{\mathcal A})\) and \((V,{\mathcal B})\) is the pair \((m,n)\) where \(n = |{\mathcal I}|\) and \(m = | \cup_{C \in {\mathcal I}} C |\). The \textsl{fine intersection problem} is to determine, for each order \(v \equiv 1,3 \pmod{6}\), the set \(I(v)\) of fine intersections of Steiner triple systems of order \(v\). In this paper it is shown that \(|I(v)| = \Theta(v^3)\).