Ovals in commutative semifield planes (Q1383681)

A translation plane coordinatized by a semifield of odd order admits an orthogonal polarity whose absolute points form an oval \(\Omega\) (necessarily parabolic, having one point on the line at infinity). The collineation group of the plane which stabilizes such an \(\Omega\), acts 2-transitively on the affine points of \(\Omega\). In this paper, it is shown that if a translation plane \(\pi\) of odd order contains a parabolic oval \(\Omega\) preserved by a collineation group acting 2-transitively on the affine points of \(\Omega\), then \(\pi\) is a commutative semifield plane and \(\Omega\) consists of the absolute points of the natural orthogonal polarity of \(\pi\). Furthermore, an infinite class of 2-transitive parabolic ovals in commutative twisted field planes of odd order is given. The authors conclude with an interesting open question. Under the assumptions of their theorem, it can be shown that \(\pi\) can be coordinatized by a generalized twisted field \(Q\), which has a commutative isotope. If this implies that \(Q\) is itself commutative, then the theorem can be strengthened by replacing commutative semifield with commutative twisted field.