Note on the existence of large minimal blocking sets in Galois planes (Q1196692)

A subset \(S\) of a finite projective plane of order \(q\) is called a blocking set if \(S\) meets every line but contains no line. A minimal blocking set satisfies \(q+\sqrt{q}+1\leq| S| \leq q\sqrt{q}+1\). If \(q\) is a square, the upper bound is obtained when \(S\) is a unital. In this paper blocking sets are constructed in \(\text{PG}(2,q)\), \(q\) odd, which contain \(k\) carefully selected conics (where \(k\leq (\log_ 2q)/2\)). A minimal blocking set contained in the constructed set will have at least \((q\log_ 2q)/2\) points, which for \(q\) a non-square are larger than other known blocking sets. The construction requires a slight modification when \(q\equiv 3\bmod 4\), and when \(q\) is a square provides an alternative construction of the Buekenhout-Metz unitals.