Incidence matrices of finite quadratic spaces (Q723439)

Let \(q\) be an odd prime power and \[ Q(X) = x_0^2 - x_1^2 + x_2^2 +\cdots + (-1)^n \alpha x_n^2 \] with \(\alpha\) a nonzero element of \(\mathbb{F}_q\). This defines a quadric hypersurface in the projective space \(\text{PG}(n,q)\). A point \(X \in \text{PG}(n,q)\) is \textit{isotropic} if \(Q(X) = 0\) and otherwise it is \textit{anisotropic}. There is a bijection between points and hyperplanes in \(\text{PG}(n,q)\) and we say that a hyperplane is isotropic (resp. anisotropic) if the corresponding point is isotropic (resp. anisotropic). Let \(\mathbf{A}\) be the \((q^n+q^{n-1} + \cdots + q + 1) \times (q^n+q^{n-1} + \cdots + q + 1)\) incidence matrix of points and hyperplanes of \(\text{PG}(n,q)\). Divide this matrix into blocks: \[ \begin{pmatrix} {\mathbf A}_{11} & {\mathbf A}_{12} \\ {\mathbf A}_{21} & {\mathbf A}_{22} \end{pmatrix}, \] where the columns of \({\mathbf A}_{11}\) and \({\mathbf A}_{12}\) are labeled by the anisotropic and isotropic points, respectively, and the rows of \({\mathbf A}_{11}\) and \({\mathbf A}_{21}\) are labeled by the corresponding hyperplanes. The authors study the \(2\)-ranks of these matrices, that is, their ranks as matrices over \(\mathbb{F}_2\). It is known that \({\mathbf A}_{22}\) is always of full rank. When \(n=2\) the authors show that the \(2\)-rank of \({\mathbf A}_{11}\) is \(q^2-1\) and that \({\mathbf A}_{12}\) and \({\mathbf A}_{21}\) have \(2\)-rank \(q\). When \(n=3\), they show that \({\mathbf A}_{11}\) is full rank. They make a conjecture about the \(2\)-ranks of these matrices for general \(n\).