Plane representations of ovoids (Q1281139)

An ovoid of \(\text{PG}(3,q)\), \(q > 2\), is a set of \(q^2 + 1\) points of \(\text{PG}(3,q)\), no three of which are collinear. The only known ovoids of \(\text{PG}(3,q)\) are the elliptic quadrics, which exist for all \(q\), and the Suzuki-Tits ovoids, which exist for \(q = 2^e\), where \(e \geq 3\) is odd. It is well known that for odd \(q\) the only ovoids are the elliptic quadrics. For even \(q\), the ovoids have been classified only for \(q\) up to and including 32. One of the major tools used in recent classification results for ovoids in the even order case has been the representation of such ovoids by various sets of arcs in the plane. This long awaited paper by Glynn provides the background and a number of variations for this tool. From the theory of generalized quadrangles it can be shown that an ovoid in \(\text{PG}(3,q)\) corresponds to a spread in the generalized quadrangle \(T_2(O)\) where \(O\) is an irreducible conic. Such spreads are made up of lines forming \(q\) cones over \(q\)-arcs. Furthermore, these lines, as lines of \(\text{PG}(3,q)\), form a spread of \(\text{AG}(3,q)\). It is possible to reverse this procedure. Starting with a pencil of \(q\)-arcs which partition the points of an affine plane and an association between these arcs and the elements of the finite field of order \(q\), a set of lines of \(T_2(O)\) can be constructed. Conditions can be found on the set of \(q\)-arcs that ensure that the constructed lines form a spread of \(T_2(O)\). There are five different, but similar, sets of conditions that give rise to these spreads, and hence ovoids of \(\text{PG}(3,q)\).