The number of points in a combinatorial geometry with no 8-point-line minors (Q4400934)

Combinatorial geometry (or simple matroid theory) is concerned with the geometric properties of arbitrary sets of points. It aims to dispense not only with coordinates but with the ambient space as well. One way to do this is to replace the properties of the ambient space by excluded-minor conditions. For example, no rank-2 contraction of a set of points in the projective space \(PG(n-1,q)\) over the finite field of order \(q\) can have more than \(q + 1\) points. Hence, one of the properties of sets of points in \(PG(n-1,q)\) is that they have no minors isomorphic to the \((q+2)\)-point line. This numerical condition puts an upper bound on the number of points in the combinatorial geometry. More specifically, if \textbf{G} is a rank-n geometry (or simple matroid) containing no minor isomorphic to the \((q+2)\)-point line, then the number of points of \textbf{G} is at most \[ {{q^n -1}\over {q - 1}} = q^{n-1} + q^{n-2} + \cdots + q + 1. \] For rank greater than 3, this bound is sharp if and only if \(q\) is a prime power and \textbf{G} is isomorphic to the projective geometry \(PG(n-1,q)\). This result opens the question of what the sharp upper bound would be when \(q\) is not a prime power? The authors investigate the smallest case, i.e., \(q = 6\). The geometries having no minor isomorphic to the \((q + 2)\)-point line form a minor-closed class \({\mathcal U}(q)\). Noting that the rank-\(n\) projective geometry \(PG(n-1,5)\) is in \({\mathcal U}(6)\), the authors show that for rank greater than 3, the combinatorial geometry of largest size in \({\mathcal U}(6)\) must be \(PG(n-1, 5)\). For the entire collection see [Zbl 0890.00032].