Inherited conics in Hall planes (Q1727784)

In a finite projective plane, an arc is a set of points such that no three points are collinear. It is well known that an arc can have at most \(q+2\) points if \(q\) is even and \(q+1\) points if \(q\) is odd, where \(q\) is the order of the plane. Those arcs of size \(q+1\) are called ovals and those of size \(q+2\) are called hyperovals. A plane is said to be Desarguesian if it satisfies Desargues' configuration theorem, that is two triangles in the plane are in perspective from a point if and only if they are in perspective from a line. Planes satisfying this theorem are isomorphic to \(PG_2(F_q)\). Hall planes are a class of non-Desarguesian planes that can be formed from Desarguesian planes. A conic in \(PG_2(F_q)\) is a set of points satisfying a homogeneous polynomial of degree 2. Every non-degenerate conic in \(PG_2(F_q)\) is an oval, and if \(q\) is odd the converse is true by the well-known theorem of Segre. In this paper, the authors examine numerous cases of conics to determine if they remain an arc in the Hall plane obtained by derivation. In the cases when it does not remain an arc, they describe the combinatorial properties of these inherited conics.