A structure theory for two-dimensional translation planes of order \(q^2\) that admit collineation groups of order \(q^2\) (Q1120818)

The authors study translation planes of order \(q^2\) and kernel \(\mathrm{GF}(q)\) that admit a collineation group of order \(q^2\) in the linear translation complement. They give a representation of the collineation group \(G\) by a suitable set of matrices depending on some functions over \(\mathrm{GF}(q)\). Using this representation the authors prove structure theorems for arbitrary translation planes of order \(q^2\) and kernel \(\mathrm{GF}(q)\) admitting a linear collineation group \(G\) of order \(q^2\). E.g., \(G\) must have either a regular orbit or two orbits of length \(q^2/2\). Furthermore, by means of the associated functions the authors analyze the case where \(G\) has a regular infinite point orbit. For functions of some given types they determine the planes completely. For a translation plane \(\Pi\) of order \(q^2\), \(q=p^r\), admitting a linear collineation group of order \(pq^2\) they show that \(p=2\) and that the plane must be a semifield plane. An important topic is the study of collineation groups. Except for three types of planes the collineation group \(G\) of order \(q^2\) is normal in the linear translation complement \(F\) of the translation plane \(\Pi\). For \(G\) normal in \(F\) the authors get some sharper results on \(G\) and \(\Pi\). Another main result is the isomorphism theorem for translation planes of order \(q^2\) and kernel \(\mathrm{GF}(q)\) admitting linear collineation groups of order \(q^2\). Excluding some exceptional cases two such planes are isomorphic if and only if the corresponding groups are conjugate in \(\Gamma L(4,q)\).