Holey perfect Mendelsohn designs of type \(2^nu^1\) with block size four (Q1952725)

Summary: Let 4-HPMD denote a holey perfect Mendelsohn design with block size four. The existence of 4-HPMDs with \(n\) holes of size 2 and one hole of size 3, that is, of type \(2^n3^1\), was established by \textit{F. E. Bennett} et al. [Ars Comb. 29, 65--72 (1990; Zbl 0717.05020)]. In this paper, we investigate the existence of 4-HPMDs of type \(2^nu^1\) for \(1 \leq u \leq 16\): a \(\text{4-HPMD}(2^nu^1)\) exists if and only if \(n \geq \max(4, u + 1)\), except possibly for \((n,u) = (7,5)\), \((7, 6)\), \((11,9)\), \((11, 10)\). We also investigate the existence of \(\text{4-HPMD}(2^nu^1)\) for general \(u\) and prove that there exists a \(\text{4-HPMD}(2^nu^1)\) for all \(n \geq \lceil 5u/4 \rceil + 4\). Moreover, if \(u \geq 35\), then a \(\text{4-HPMD}(2^nu^1)\) exists for all \(n \geq \lceil 5u/4 \rceil + 1\); if \(u \geq 95\), then a \(\text{4-HPMD}(2^nu^1)\) exists for all \(n \geq \lceil 5u/4 \rceil - 2\).