Characterization of quadric cones in a Galois projective space (Q1978143)

Every quadric in PG\((n,q)\), that is, the set of points that are zeros of a quadratic form, can be described as a cone \(\Pi_r Q_s\), where \(\Pi_r\) is a linear space that is the vertex, possibly empty, and \(Q_s\) is the base, which is an elliptic, hyperbolic or parabolic non-singular quadric in a subspace \(\Pi_s\) [see the reviewer and \textit{J. A. Thas}, General Galois geometries (Oxford Mathematical Monographs. Oxford: Clarendon Press) (1991; Zbl 0789.51001), Chapter 22]. Here, two characterizations of such cones are given as sets of points with certain intersection properties with respect to lines. The cases are (i) \(n\) odd and \(r=0\), when the base is necessarily parabolic; (ii) \(n\) even and \(r=0\) with the base hyperbolic.