Characterizations of near hexagons by means of one local space (Q1395816)

A near polygon is a partial linear space with the property that for every point \(p\) and every line \(L\), there exists an unique point on \(L\) nearest to \(p\). A quad in a near polygon is a non-degenerate geodetically closed sub-generalized quadrangle whose lines are full lines of the near polygon. The author characterizes three families of near hexagons by means of the local space in one point. Firstly, the direct product of a generalized triangle and a line is characterized by the facts that every two points at distance \(2\) are contained in a good quad, and one local space is a degenerate projective plane. More generally, it is shown next that a near hexagon is classical (i.e., every two points at distance \(2\) are contained in a big quad) iff every two points at distance \(2\) are contained in a good quad and one local space is a projective plane. Finally, a near hexagon such that (a) there exists a line which is incident with at least three points; (b) every two points at distance \(2\) have at least two common neighbours; (c) one local space is an \((t_1+1,t_2+2)\)-cross (\(t_1,t_2\) positive integers), is either glued or isomorphic to the direct product of a line with a generalized quadrangle. In the last part of the paper the author proves that the local spaces cannot be isomorphic to an affine plane if the near hexagon has thick lines.