Semiarcs with long secants (Q405165)

Summary: In a projective plane \(\Pi_q\) of order \(q\), a non-empty point set \(\mathcal{S}_t\) is a \(t\)-semiarc if the number of tangent lines to \(\mathcal{S}_t\) at each of its points is \(t\). If \(\mathcal{S}_t\) is a \(t\)-semiarc in \(\Pi_q\), \(t<q\), then each line intersects \(\mathcal{S}_t\) in at most \(q+1-t\) points. Dover proved that semiovals (semiarcs with \(t=1\)) containing \(q\) collinear points exist in \(\Pi_q\) only if \(q\leq 3\). We show that if \(t>1\), then \(t\)-semiarcs with \(q+1-t\) collinear points exist only if \(t\geq \sqrt{q-1}\). In \(\mathrm{PG}(2,q)\) we prove the lower bound \(t\geq(q-1)/2\), with equality only if \(\mathcal{S}_t\) is a blocking set of Rédei type of size \(3(q+1)/2\).{ }We call the symmetric difference of two lines, with \(t\) further points removed from each line, a \(V_t\)-configuration. We give conditions ensuring a \(t\)-semiarc to contain a \(V_t\)-configuration and give the complete characterization of such \(t\)-semiarcs in \(\mathrm{PG}(2,q)\).