On the geometry of full points of abstract unitals (Q2334446)

An abstract unitial of order \(n\) is a \(2-(n^3+1,n+1,1)\) design. A point \(P\) is a full point with respect to two blocks \((b_1,b_2)\) if \(P \not \in b_1 \cup b_2\) and for each point \(Q\) on \(b_1\), the block connecting \(P\) and \(Q\) intersects \(b_2\). The set of all full points of \(U\) with respect to these two blocks is denoted by \(F_U(b_1,b_2)\). The authors show that for any abstract unital of order \(q\) embedded in \(\mathrm{PG}(2,q^2)\), the set \(F_U(b_1,b_2)\), when \(b_1\) and \(b_2\) are disjoint, is contained in a line. They show that the perspectives of two disjoint blocks generate a semi-regular cyclic permutation group acting on each block. Additionally, they give a complete description of the structure of full points in the classical Hermitan unitals. The paper ends with computational results about full points in abstract unitials of order \(3\) and \(4\).