A characterization of the generalized twisted field planes of characteristic \(\geq 5\) (Q1332625)

A generalized twisted field is a member of a special class of semifields defined by Albert. The aim of the paper under review is to characterize the non-Desarguesian semifield planes \(\pi\) of order \(p^ n\) which are coordinatized by a generalized twisted field. The characterization is in terms of the autotopism group \(G\) of \(\pi\). Denote by \(\overline G\) the group induced by \(G\) on the line at infinity. The \(\pi\) is a generalized twisted field plane if and only if \(\overline G\) has an element of order \((p^ k - 1) \cdot ((p^ n-1)/(p^ m-1))\) for some integers \(k\) and \(m\) with \(k | m\), \(m| m\), and \(m < n\) (with possible exceptions for \(p = 3)\). The proof of this theorem is based on Oyama's description of quasifields [\textit{T. Oyama}, Osaka J. Math. 22, 35-54 (1985; Zbl 0561.51006)] and on a result of Cordero and the author which gives a suitable spread set for the description of \(\pi\). By using this special spread set the proof is reduced to some tedious number theoretic lemmas concerning \(p\)-adic expansions of integers.