About maximal partial 2-spreads in \(\mathrm{PG}(3m-1,q)\) (Q2455071)

A partial \(t\)-spread in \(\Sigma=\text{PG}(m,q)\) is any set of mutually disjoint \(t\)-spaces of \(\Sigma\). A partial \(t\)-spread is called maximal if it is not contained in a larger partial \(t\)-spread. A \(t\)-spread of \(\Sigma\) is a partial \(t\)-spread that covers all the points of \(\Sigma\). It is well known that there exists a \(t\)-spread in \(\text{PG}(m,q)\) if and only if \(t+1\) is a divisor of \(m+1\), in which case the deficiency of a partial \(t\)-spread \(\mathcal S\) of \(\Sigma= \text{PG}(m,q)\) is the difference between the cardinality of a \(t\)-spread of \(\Sigma\) and the cardinality of \(\mathcal S\). In the paper under review the authors construct maximal partial \(2\)-spreads in \(\text{PG}(8,q)\) of various deficiencies by building upon the ideas of \textit{A. Gács} and \textit{T. Szőnyi} found in [Des. Codes Cryptography 29, 123--129 (2003; Zbl 1038.51005)]. The techniques are then generalized to produce various maximal partial \(2\)-spreads in \(\text{PG}(3m-1,q)\) for \(m \geq 4\).