Intersections of nonclassical unitals and conics in \(\mathrm{PG}(2,q^2)\) (Q1960277)

Let \(\mathrm{PG}(2,q^2)\) be the projective plane of order \(q^2\). The classification of all the possible intersections between an oval and a unital in a finite projective plane is an open problem. The question has been solved in the case of a conic and a classical unital. In this article the authors investigate the intersection patterns of a conic and a non-classical Buekenhout-Metz unital in \(\mathrm{PG}(2,q^2)\). Consider the Buekenhout-Metz unital defined as \[ \mathcal{U}_{a,b}=\{(1,t,at^2+bt^{q+1}+r)| t \in \mathrm{GF}(q^2), r \in \mathrm{GF}(q)\} \cap \{P_\infty\}, \] with \(4a^{q+1}+(b^q-b)^2\) nonsquare in \(\mathrm{GF}(q)\) if \(q\) is odd, or \(b \notin \mathrm{GF}(q)\) and \(\operatorname{tr}(a^{q+1}/(b^q+b))=0\) if \(q\) is even. The main result of the paper is the following. { Theorem}: In \(\mathrm{PG}(2,q^2)\), \(q>2\), let \(\Omega\) a conic through \(P_{\infty}\). The possible intersections between \(\Omega\) and \(\mathcal{U}_{a,b}\) are the follwing: {\parindent=5mm \begin{itemize}\item[--] \(\mathcal{U}_{a,b}\cap \Omega=\{P_{\infty}\}\); \item[--] \(\mathcal{U}_{a,b}\cap \Omega=\Omega\), \(q\) odd; \item[--] \(|\mathcal{U}_{a,b}\cap \Omega|=2\); \item[--] \(\mathcal{U}_{a,b}\cap \Omega\) is a Baer subconic of \(\Omega\); \item[--] \(\mathcal{U}_{a,b}\cap \Omega\) is a \(k\)-arc with \(k=q,q+1,q+2\) and meets every Baer subconic of \(\Omega\) in at most four points; \item[--] \(\mathcal{U}_{a,b}\cap \Omega\) is the union of two Baer subconics sharing two points or, if \(q\) is odd, also one point; and \item[--] \(\mathcal{U}_{a,b}\cap \Omega\) is a \(k\)-arc with \(q-6\sqrt{q}+2\leq k\leq q+6\sqrt{q}+2\) and meets every Baer subconic of \(\Omega\) in at most eight points. \end{itemize}}