Complete systems of lines on a Hermitian surface over a finite field (Q1963152)

It has been proved by \textit{B. Segre} [Ann. Mat. Pura Appl., IV. Ser. 70, 1-202 (1965; Zbl 0146.16703)] that the Hermitian surface \(H(3,q)\) has no spread. Hence the following question is natural. What is the maximum size \(m_q\) of a maximal spread of \(H(3,q)\)? The authors, with the aid of a computer, estimate \(m_q\) for different values of \(q\). Exhaustive searching shows that \(m_9=16\). They prove that \(m_{16}\geq 25\) and \(m_{25}\geq 42\) by constructing a maximal partial spread of \(H(3,16)\) of order 25 and a maximal partial spread of \(H(3,25)\) of order 42. All maximal spreads of \(H(3,9)\) are proved to be isomorphic and are related to the classical Kummer's quartic surface.