On \(q\)-covering designs (Q2294102)

Summary: A \(q\)-covering design \(\mathbb{C}_q (n, k, r)\), \(k \ge r\), is a collection \(\mathcal{X}\) of \((k-1)\)-spaces of \(\mathrm{PG}(n-1, q)\) such that every \((r-1)\)-space of \(\mathrm{PG}(n-1,q)\) is contained in at least one element of \(\mathcal{X}\). Let \(\mathcal{C}_q(n, k, r)\) denote the minimum number of \((k-1)\)-spaces in a \(q\)-covering design \(\mathbb{C}_q (n, k, r)\). In this paper improved upper bounds on \(\mathcal{C}_q(2n, 3, 2)\), \(n \ge 4\), \(\mathcal{C}_q(3n + 8, 4, 2)\), \(n \ge 0\), and \(\mathcal{C}_q(2n,4,3)\), \(n \ge 4\), are presented. The results are achieved by constructing the related \(q\)-covering designs.