Symmetries of biplanes (Q2205885)

This paper looks at possible automorphisms of symmetric \((v,k,2)\) BIBDs (biplanes), in particular those with \(k \in \{13,16\}\). For \(k=13\), the authors show that the order of the automorphism group is \(1\) or \(3\) unless the design is isomorphic to the one found by \textit{M. Aschbacher} [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 11, 272--281 (1971; Zbl 0223.05006)] or its dual. For \(k=16\), they show the order of the automorphism group divides \(2^7 \cdot 3^2 \cdot 5 \cdot 7 \cdot 11 \cdot 13\). The authors also investigate biplanes with a primitive automorphism group that preserves a homogeneous Cartesian decomposition.