A note on MDS codes, \(n\)-arcs and complete designs (Q1404331)

A matrix obtained from the \((0,1)\)-incidence matrix of a design \(D\) by replacing ones with non-zero elements from \(\text{GF}(q)\) is called a generalized incidence matrix over \(\text{GF}(q)\). The dimension \(d_q\) of \(D\) over \(\text{GF}(q)\) is the minimum value of the \(q\)-rank of a generalized incidence matrix of \(D\). The author proves that the dimension \(d_q\) of a complete design on \(n\) points, having as blocks all \(w\)-subsets, is at least or equal to \(n-w+1\), and \(d_q=n-w+1\) if and only if there exists an \([n,n-w+1,w]\) MDS code over \(\text{GF}(q).\)