\(\mathbb F _q\)-linear blocking sets in \(PG(2,q^4)\) (Q2493212)

A blocking set \(B\) in the projective plane \(PG(2, q)\), \(q = p^h\), \(p\) prime is a set meeting every line of \(PG(2, q)\). Let \(\pi = PG(2, q^n) = PG(V, \mathbb{F}_{q^n})\), \(q = p^h\), \(p\) prime. A blocking set \(B\) is an \(\mathbb{F}_q\)-linear blocking set if \(B\) is an \(\mathbb{F}_q\)-linear set of \(\pi\) of rank \(n + 1\) (that is \(B\) is defined by the non-zero vectors of an \((n + 1)\)-dimensional \(\mathbb{F}_q\)-vector subspace \(W\) of \(V\)), it is denoted by \(B = B_W\). If \(B_W\) is an \(\mathbb{F}_q\)-linear blocking set, then each line of \(\pi\) intersects \(B_W\) in a number of points congruent to \(1\) modulo \(q\), hence the exponent of an \(\mathbb{F}_q\)-linear blocking set is at least \(h\). An \(\mathbb{F}_q\)-linear blocking set \(B\) of \(\pi = PG(2, q^n)\), \(q = p^h\), \(p\) prime, \(n > 2\), can be obtained as the projection of a canonical subgeometry \(\Sigma\simeq PG(n, q)\) of \(\Sigma^\ast = PG(n, q^n)\) to \(\pi\) from an \((n - 3)\)-dimensional subspace \(\Lambda\) of \(\Sigma^\ast\), disjoint from \(\Sigma\), and in this case it is denoted by \(B = B_{\Lambda, \Sigma}\). In the paper under review, the authors show that two \(\mathbb{F}_q\)-linear blocking sets, \(B_{\Lambda, \Sigma}\) and \(B_{\Lambda', \Sigma'}\), of exponent \(h\) respectively of the planes \(\pi_\Lambda\) and \(\pi_\Lambda'\), constructed in \(\Sigma^\ast\) (\(n > 2\)), are isomorphic if and only if there exists a collineation \(\varphi\) of \(\Sigma^\ast\) mapping \(\Lambda\) to \(\Lambda'\) and \(\Sigma\) to \(\Sigma'\). As an application of such a result they complete the classification of all \(\mathbb{F}_q\)-linear blocking sets in \(PG(2, q^4)\).