Quasi-symmetric designs with good blocks and intersection number one (Q1869824)

A 2-\((v,k,\lambda)\) design \(D\) is called quasi-symmetric, with intersection numbers \(x\) and \(y\), if any two distinct blocks of \(D\) intersect in either \(x\) or \(y\) points, and both intersection numbers are realized. A quasi-symmetric design is called proper if \(x \neq y\). Otherwise the design is improper (or symmetric). \textit{T. P. McDonough} and \textit{V. C. Mavron} [J. Comb. Des. 3, 433-441 (1995; Zbl 0885.05025)] defined a block \(B\) in a quasi-symmetric design with intersection numbers \(x\) and \(y\) (\(0 \leq x \leq y\)) to be good if, for any block \(C\) with \(|B \cap C|= y\) and any point \(p \notin B \cap C\), there is a (unique) block containing \(p\) and \(B \cap C\). In this paper the authors study proper quasi-symmetric designs with \(x=1\) and with a good block. They show that such a design is one of the following three types: (a) a quasi-symmetric design with parameters of \(\text{PG}_2(4,q)\), viz. \(v = (q^5-1)/(q-1)\), \(k = \lambda = (q^3-1)/(q-1)\), \(b=(q^2+1)v\), \(r=(q^2+1)k\), \(x=1\) and \(y=q+1\) (\(q \geq 2\)); (b) the unique 2-\((23,7,21)\) Witt design with \(v=23\), \(k=7\), \(\lambda = 21\), \(b=253\), \(r=77\), \(x=1\) and \(y=3\); or (c) a quasi-symmetric design with parameters \(v=1+((\alpha -1)\lambda + 1)(y-1)\) and \(k=1+\alpha(y-1)\), where \(\alpha\) is an integer and \(\alpha > y \geq 5\), and in which the design induced on a good block is a 2-\((k,y,1)\) design. No examples of type (c) designs have so far been found, and the authors have carried out some computations which lead them to believe that no such designs exist. In their second main result they show that \(\text{PG}_2(4,q)\) is the only design of type (a) in which all blocks are good.