Spanning sets and scattering sets in handcuffed designs of order \(v\) and block size 3 (Q2713655)

Let \(\mathcal H\) be a handcuffed design \(H(v,3,1)\) and define its scattering number \(\text{scat}(\mathcal H)\) and its spanning number \(\text{span}(\mathcal H)\) according to \textit{C. J. Colbourn, J. H. Dinitz} and \textit{D. R. Stinson} [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 57, No.~1, 46-59 (1991; Zbl 0765.05016)]. Let \(\text{scat}(v)\) be the maximum of \(\text{scat}(\mathcal H)\), \(\mathcal H\) running through all \(H(v,3,1)\), and, similarly, \(\text{span}(v)\) the minimum of \(\text{span}(\mathcal H)\). It is known that \(H(v,3,1)\) exists just if \(v \equiv 1 \bmod 4\). The author proves that \(\text{span}(v) = 3\) for \(v \leq 13\) and that \(\text{span}(v) = 4\) for \(v \geq 17\). It is also proved that \(\text{scat}(v)\) is always equal to the integer part of \((\sqrt {8v+1} - 1)/2\).