Absolute points of correlations of \(\mathrm{PG}(5, q^n)\) (Q6098076)

Let \(\mathrm{PG}(n,q)\) denote the \(n\)-dimensional projective space over the finite field \(\mathbb{F}_q\). Let \(\sigma\) be any automorphism of \(\mathbb{F}_q\). A \(\sigma\)-correlation of \(\mathrm{PG}(n,q)\) is a type reversing and incidence preserving permutation of the subspaces of \(\mathrm{PG}(n,q)\). A \(\sigma\)-correlation of \(\mathrm{PG}(n,q)\) is necessarily induced by a \(\sigma\)-sesquilinear form of the underlying vector space. As such, a \(\sigma\)-correlation of \(\mathrm{PG}(n,q)\) is a natural generalization of a polarity. A point \(P\) is called absolute with relation to the \(\sigma\)-correlation \(\varphi\) if \(P \in P^\varphi\), the set of absolution points with relation to a \(\sigma\)-correlation, \(\sigma\) not the identity, is called a \(\sigma\)-quadric. In this nice paper under review, the authors study and describte \(\sigma\)-quadrics in the projective space \(\mathrm{PG}(5,q^n)\). Their results lead to the determination of the sets of absolute points of degenerate correlations, different from degenerate polarities, in \(\mathrm{PG}(5,q^n)\). In the final section, it is also shown that three of the known ovoids of the hyperbolic quadric \(\mathrm{Q}^+(5,q)\) can be characterized as the intersection of two suitable \(\sigma\)-quadrics with \(\mathrm{Q}^+(5,q)\).