Characterizations of Buekenhout-Metz unitals (Q1906232)

[See the paper by \textit{V. Abatangelo} and \textit{B. Larato}, ibid., No. 2, 137-145 (1996; see the paper above) for other results on unitals and for some definitions.] The main result of this paper is the following. Theorem. Let \(U\) be a unital in \(PG(2,q^2)\) where \(q > 2\) is even or \(q = 3\). Then \(U\) is a Buekenhout-Metz unital (\(B\)-unital in the terminology of Abatangelo and Larato) iff there exists a point \(T\) on \(U\) such that the points of \(U\) on each of the secant line through \(T\) form a Baer subline. A note added in the proof indicates that a stronger version has been proved by \textit{C. Quinn} and the \textit{R. Casse} [J. Geom. 52, No. 1-2, 159-167 (1995; Zbl 0820.51009)].