Characterisations of flock quadrangles (Q1590669)

A flock quadrangle is a generalized quadrangle which arises from a flock of a quadratic cone in a way discovered by \textit{J. A. Thas} [Eur. J. Comb. 8, 441-452 (1987; Zbl 0646.51019)]. If the cone lives in the finite projective space \(PG(3,q)\), then the parameters of the quadrangle are \((q^2,q)\). For \(q\) even, such a quadrangle has a family of \(q+1\) subquadrangles with parameters \((q,q)\), all of which are of Tits-type, hence associated to ovals. Such an oval is a translation oval precisely when the corresponding (sub)quadrangle is self-dual. In the paper under review, the authors classify all flock quadrangles in the even case having at least one self-dual subquadrangle or, equivalently, such that at least one of the \(q+1\) associated ovals is a translation oval. In fact, only two cases can occur: either we have the classical quadrangle arising from a Hermitian polarity in \(PG(3,q^2)\), or the quadrangle arising from the generalized hexagon \(H(q)\), as discovered by \textit{W. M. Kantor} [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 29, 212-219 (1980; Zbl 0465.51007)]. Hence only two classes of translation ovals can be related to flock quadrangles. These beautiful results are proved in an algebraic way, leaving some mystery behind because of a remarkable resemblance of one of the algebraic steps with an equation turning up in the study of ovoids of \(PG(3,q)\).