New constructions of Menon difference sets (Q1318371)

A \((v,k,\lambda)\)-difference set \(D\) in a group \(G\) of order \(v\) is a \(k\)-subset of \(G\) such that the list of nonzero differences \(d-d'\) \((d,d' \in D)\) cover each group element exactly \(\lambda\) times. Difference sets with \(v=4 (k-\lambda)\) are called Menon-Hadamard difference sets and are of particular interest in view of their equivalence with perfect binary arrays. The authors prove the following theorem: If \(G\) is an abelian group of type \[ (2^{a_ 1}) (2^{a_ 2}) \cdots (2^{a_ s}) (3^{b_ 1})^ 2 (3^{b_ 2})^ 2 \cdots (3^{b_ r})^ 2 \text{ with } \sum a_ i = 2a+2,\;\sum b_ i=b, \] then \(G\) contains a Menon- Hadamard difference set. The only cases previously known had an elementary abelian Sylow 3- subgroup, therefore the construction in the paper is a remarkable progress. Recently, many more Menon-Hadamard difference sets have been constructed by \textit{M. Xia} [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 61, No. 2, 230-242 (1992; Zbl 0772.05022)].