Maximal partial spreads and the modular \(n\)-queen problem (Q687109)

A maximal partial spread in \(PG(3,q)\) is a set \(S\) of mutually skew lines such that every other line intersects at least one of the lines of \(S\). If \(S\) contains \(q+1\) lines, then \(S\) is called a spread. Spreads in \(PG(3,q)\) correspond to translation planes of order \(q^ 2\) defined on 4-dimensional vector spaces with the lines of the spread being the projective interpretation of the lines through the origin. If the plane is Desarguesian the spread is regular and contains reguli. Each regulus corresponds to a derivable net. ``Derivation'' corresponds to replacing a regulus by its opposite regulus. The methods used here in constructing maximal partial spreads are similar to those that have been previously used: One starts with a regular spread, replaces some of the lines of the reguli with lines of the opposite reguli and deletes the lines of \(S\) which intersect these new lines. The \(n\)-queen problem is to find a set of \(n\) queens on a modular \(n\) by \(n\) chessboard such that no two queens can attack each other. The main result is that if \(q\geq 7\) and \(n\) is any integer between \({1 \over 8}(5q^ 2+4q-1)\) and \(q^ 2-q+2\), then there is a maximal partial spread of size \(n\).