Towards a Large Set of Steiner Quadruple Systems (Q3978701)

Let \(D(v)\) be the number of pairwise disjoint Steiner quadruple systems (SQS). The paper is devoted to the estimate of \(D(v)\). 1. A simple counting argument shows that \(D(v)\leq v-3\). 2. It is proved that \(D(4v)\geq 3p\), where \(v\equiv 1\) or 5 (mod 6) and a set of \(p\) mutually 2-chromatic pairwise disjoint SQS(PDQ) of order \(2v\) exists. If \(p=v\) the set of \(3p\) PDQ is maximal. 3. \(D(2^ kv)>(2^ k-1)v\) for \(v\equiv 2\) or 4 (mod 6), \(v\geq 8\), if there exists a set of \(3n\) PDQs of order \(4v\) with certain structure. This implies that \(D(v)\geq v-0(v)\) for infinitely many values of \(v\). 4. Some of the recursive constructions for SQS can be utilized to give lower bounds on \(D(v)\) for many values of \(v\) that are not divisible by 4 are also given. The authors prove the long standing conjecture, due to Lindner and Rosa, that \(D(v)\geq 2\) for all \(v\equiv 2\) or 4 (mod 6), \(v\geq 8\).