On Baer cones in \(\mathrm{PG}(3,q)\) (Q2051389)

A Baer cone \(B\) in \(\mathrm{PG}(3,q)\), \(q\) square, is the set of points of a cone with vertex a point \(P\) and base a Baer subplane in a plane disjoint from \(P\). This set \(B\) has size \(q(q+\sqrt{q}+1)+1\) and blocks all lines of \(\mathrm{PG}(3,q)\). In [J. Geom. 111, No. 3, Paper No. 45, 10 p. (2020; Zbl 1452.51001)], \textit{S. Innamorati} and \textit{F. Zuanni} characterised the Baer cones in \(\mathrm{PG}(3,q)\), \(q\) square, as line blocking set meeting every plane in \(q+1,q+\sqrt{q}+1\) or \(q\sqrt{q}+q+1\) points. In this paper, the author provides a stronger statement: the assumption that the order of the space is a square is dropped and the different intersection sizes with planes are allowed to be \(q+1,s+q+1,sq+q+1\) where \(s\) is some fixed integer between \(2\) and \(q\). It is then shown that such a point set \(B\) has \(s=q\) and is the union of two planes, or \(s=\sqrt{q}\) (so \(q\) is a square) and \(B\) is a Baer cone. The proof is combinatorial and is based on the fact that a line blocking set in \(\mathrm{PG}(2,q)\) such that every line meets in either \(1\) or \(n\) points for some \(2\leq n\leq q\) is a Baer subplane or a Hermitian curve.