Two-groups on finite translation planes (Q1073332)

Let G be a subgroup of the translation complement of a translation plane defined by a spread on a vector space of dimension 2d over GF(q), where q is odd. Kallaher and the author have shown that if G contains an elementary abelian group of order \(2^ c\), then \(2^{c-2}\) divides d. We show that d is actually divisible by a higher power of 2 unless G is a member of a small class of groups which is listed explicitly. The known finite translation planes admitting nonsolvable groups correspond to the case \(d\leq 4\). There are no known finite translation planes of odd order in which the translation complement contains a simple non-abelian group. Our results show that if a simple group does occur in the translation complement of a finite translation plane of odd order, then d must be divisible by a large power of 2, usually very large. In particular, if \(d\not\equiv 0 mod 8,\) the only possible simple groups have the form PSL(2,u), where \(u\equiv \pm 3 mod 8\). There are no known cases for d odd.