An arc partition of the Hughes plane using a field-theoretic model (Q2493214)

The Desarguesian plane \(PG(2,q^2)\) and the Hughes plane \(H(q^2)\) of order \(q^2\), for odd prime powers \(q\), are modeled in this paper using a nearfield based on the Galois field \(GF(q^6)\). The same collection of points is used for both models. If a set \(S\) of common points is left invariant by the Frobenius map \(x \to x^{q^3}\), it is shown that the line in \(PG(2,q^2)\) represented by some non-zero element \(v\) in \(GF(q^6)\) meets \(S\) in the same number of points as the line in \(H(q^2)\) represented by the same element \(v\). Using the above correspondence, several well-known constructions in \(PG(2,q^2)\) are shown also to hold true in \(H(q^2)\). In particular, \(H(q^2)\) is partitioned into \(q^2 + q + 1\) complete \((q^2 - q + 1)\)-arcs. These arcs further can be combined to form \(q^2 + q + 1\) unitals of \(H(q^2)\) which yield a model of \(PG(2,q)\) when taken as the ``lines''. Another model of \(PG(2,q)\) involving ovals of \(H(q^2)\) also is discussed.