A proof of the linearity conjecture for \(k\)-blocking sets in PG\((n,p^{3}), \, p\) prime (Q2431246)

A \(k\)-blocking set \(B\) in \(PG(n,q)\) is a set of points such that any \((n-k)\)-subspace of \(PG(n,q)\) intersects \(B\). A \(k\)-blocking set is called minimal if it does not contain properly an other \(k\)-blocking set. A \(k\)-blocking set in \(PG(n,q)\) is called small if its size is less than \(3(q^k+1)/2\). A \(k\)-blocking set in \(PG(n,q_{0}^t)\) is called \(\mathbb{F}_{q_{0}}\)-linear if it corresponds to all the \((t-1)\)-subspaces in \(PG((n+1)t-1,q_{0})\) intersecting a fixed \(tk\)-subspace of \(PG((n+1)t-1,q_{0})\). The linearity conjecture states that all small minimal \(k\)-blocking sets in \(PG(n,q)\) are linear. In this paper the authors show that a small minimal \(k\)-blocking set in \(PG(n,q^3)\), \(q=p^h\), \(h\geq 1\), \(p\geq 7\) intersecting every \((n-k)\)-space in \(1 \bmod p\) points is linear.