Flag-transitive \(C_ 3\)-geometries (Q686161)

The known flag-transitive residually connected finite geometries with Buekenhout-diagram \(C_ 3\) and with thick lines are presently the Tits- buildings and the flat (i.e. all planes are incident with all points) \(A_ 7\)-geometry. It is well-known that no other flat examples can exist. The author now calls a residually connected finite \(C_ 3\)- geometry with thick lines which is neither flat nor a building anomalous. He shows that an anomalous example with a flag-transitive automorphism group \(A\) has to satisfy a certain number of conditions (mainly on the orders of the projective planes and generalized quadrangles appearing as residues, but also on the group \(A\) in its action on the projective planes). These conditions do not rule out the existence of an anomalous flag-transitive geometry, but it makes their existence once again very unlikely. For example, it follows from the paper under review that the order of the above mentioned projective plane in a flag-transitive anomalous geometry is at least 1001.