On the line structure of designs (Q1182948)

A \((v,b,r,k,\lambda)\)-design is a pair \((S,\beta)\), where \(S\) is a \(v\)- set, whose elements are called points, and \(\beta\) is a collection of \(b\) \(k\)-subsets of \(S\), called blocks, such that any pair of points is contained in exactly \(\lambda\) blocks. The parameter \(r=\lambda(v-1)/(k- 1)\) denotes the number of blocks through a point. A line of a \((v,b,r,k,\lambda)\)-design is the intersection of all the blocks containing two given points. It is easy to show that \(| L|\leq (b- \lambda)/(r-\lambda)\) for any line \(L\). A line which meets this upper bound is said to be of maximal length. The author studies designs whose point-set can be partitioned into maximal lines. In particular, he shows that the existence of an affine resolvable design with four blocks in each affine resolution class is equivalent to the existence of a Hadamard design whose point-set can be partitioned into maximal lines. He gives two recursive constructions for affine resolvable designs with four blocks in each affine resolution class.