Normal spreads
A \((t - 1)\)-spread in \(\Sigma = PG(n - 1, q)\) is a family \({\mathcal S}\) of mutually disjoint subspaces of dimension \(t - 1\) which partition the points of \(\Sigma\). A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a spread is \(t |n\), and so we assume \(n = rt\) for some integer \(r\) from now on. There is a natural \(2 - (q^{rt}, q^t, 1)\) translation design with parallelism associated with each \((t - 1)\)-spread, which is a translation plane when \(r = 2\). If \(r > 2\), a \((t - 1)\)-spread \({\mathcal S}\) is called normal (or geometric) if \({\mathcal S}\) induces a spread in any subspace generated by two of its elements. The associated design \(A({\mathcal S})\) is isomorphic to \(AG(r,q^t)\) if and only if \({\mathcal S}\) is normal. Normal spreads have many applications in finite geometry from the construction of packings to the classification of certain kinds of flag-transitive affine planes. R. C. Bose pointed out that taking the elements of a normal \((t - 1)\)-spread \({\mathcal S}\) as ``points, the subspaces of dimension \(2t - 1\) joining two elements of \({\mathcal S}\) as ``lines, and the natural inclusion as ``incidence yields an isomorphic copy of \(PG(r - 1, q^t)\). In the paper under review the author represents normal spreads by using Grassmannians. Let \(\Sigma = PG(rt - 1, q)\), and let \({\mathcal G} \subseteq \overline \Sigma = PG ( {{rt}\choose{t}} - 1, q)\) be the Grassmannian of \((t - 1)\)-subspaces of \(\Sigma\). Let \(g\) be the associated Grassmannian map. If \({\mathcal S}\) is a normal \((t - 1)\)-spread of \(\Sigma\), it is shown here that there exists an \((r^t - 1)\)-subspace \(\Delta\) of \(\overline \Sigma\) such that \(g ({\mathcal S}) = \Delta \cap {\mathcal G}\) is an algebraic variety \({\mathcal V}_{r,t}\) which is a \((q^{t(r - 1)} + q^{t(r - 2)} + \ldots + q^t + 1)\)-cap of \(\Delta \cong PG(r^t - 1, q)\). Moreover, the collineation group of \(\Delta\) stabilizing \({\mathcal V}_{r,t}\) acts 2-transitively on its points. As a corollary it is shown that \({\mathcal V}_{r,2}\) is the union of 3-dimensional elliptic quadrics, and for \(q\) even \({\mathcal V}_{r,3}\) is the union of ovoids of the hyperbolic quadric \(Q^+ (7,q)\). Now restrict to the case \(r = 3\) and \(t = 2\), so that the Bose model for \(PG(2,q^2)\) is obtained from a normal 1-spread \({\mathcal S}\) of \(PG(5,q)\) as previously described. Let \({\mathcal T}\) be the lines of \({\mathcal S}\) corresponding to some Bose subplane of \(PG(2, q^2)\). Then it is shown that there is a 5-dimensional subspace \(S\) of \(\Delta \cong PG(8,q)\) such that \(g({\mathcal T}) = S \cap {\mathcal V}_{3,2}\) is a Veronesean surface of \(S\). From this it follows that \({\mathcal V}_{3,2}\) is partitioned into \(q^2 - q + 1\) Veronesean surfaces. Similarly, it is shown that a Hermitian curve of \(PG(2,q^2)\) is represented on the variety \({\mathcal V}_{3,2}\) by the intersection of \({\mathcal V}_{3,2}\) with a certain hyperplane of \(\Delta\). If \(q \equiv 0,2 \pmod 3\), this hyperplane section of \({\mathcal V}_{3,2}\) is a ``unitary ovoid of \(Q^+ (7,q)\) [see \textit{W. M. Kantor}, Can. J. Math. 34, 1195-1207 (1982; Zbl 0493.51006) for an alternate description]. The final ingredient of this paper has to do with blocking sets. Let \(r = 3\) and consider the Bose model for \(\Pi = PG(2, q^t)\) obtained from a normal \((t - 1)\)-spread \({\mathcal S}\) of \(\Sigma = PG (3t - 1, q)\). If \(L\) is a \(t\)-subspace of \(\Sigma\) not contained in one of the \((2t - 1)\)-subspaces joining two elements of \({\mathcal S}\), it is shown that the lines of \({\mathcal S}\) meeting \(L\) correspond to a nontrivial blocking set of \(\Pi\). Such blocking sets are called linear. Many known blocking sets, including those of Rédei-type, turn out to be linear. A class of non-Rédei minimal blocking sets, which are also linear, has recently been constructed in [\textit{P. Polito} and \textit{O. Polverino}, Combinatorica 18, No. 1, 133-137 (1998; Zbl 0910.05017)]. This idea is then extended to construct a blocking set of \(PG(3,q^2)\) (i.e., meets every line but contains no hyperplane) of the smallest possible size.
- The geometry of some two-character sets
- On the intersection of two subgeometries of \(PG(n,q)\)
- Random constructions and density results
- On the code generated by the incidence matrix of points and hyperplanes in \(\text{PG}(n,q)\) and its dual
- Lifting subregular spreads
- An empty interval in the spectrum of small weight codewords in the code from points and \(k\)-spaces of \(\mathrm{PG}(n,q)\)
- LDPC codes from Singer cycles
- Linear \((q+1)\)-fold blocking sets in \(\text{PG} (2,q^4)\)
- Linear \(k\)-blocking sets
- On tangent spaces and external flats to Grassmannians of lines over finite fields
- The generalized translation dual of a semifield
- Classes and equivalence of linear sets in \(\mathrm{PG}(1,q^{n})\)
- Some characterizations of finite Hermitian Veroneseans
- New maximum scattered linear sets of the projective line
- Classical mixed partitions
- Piecewise regular spreads
- Desarguesian and unitary complete partial ovoids
- Families of twisted tensor product codes
- Lax embeddings of the Hermitian unital
- Book spreads in \(\mathrm{PG}(7,2)\)
- Scattered subspaces and related codes
- 50 years of translation structures
- Linear cutting blocking sets and minimal codes in the rank metric
- Maximum scattered linear sets of pseudoregulus type and the Segre variety \(\mathcal{S}_{n,n}\)
- Covering of subspaces by subspaces
- Vertex properties of maximum scattered linear sets of \(\mathrm{PG} ( 1 , q^n )\)
- Mixed partitions and related designs
- Simplectic spreads and finite semifields
- On symplectic semifield spreads of \(\mathrm{PG}(5,q^2)\), \(q\) even
- A geometric characterisation of Desarguesian spreads
- Identifiers for MRD-codes
- A proof of the linearity conjecture for \(k\)-blocking sets in PG\((n,p^{3}), \, p\) prime
- Blocking sets of \(\mathcal H(n, q^2)\) with respect to generators
- Blocking sets in \(\text{PG}(2,q^n)\) from cones of \(\text{PG}(2n,q)\)
- Blocking sets and semifields
- On BEL-configurations and finite semifields
- On linear sets on a projective line
- Linear sets from projection of Desarguesian spreads
- A characterisation of \(\mathbb{F}_q\)-conics of \(\mathrm{PG}(2,q^3)\)
- Eggs in finite projective spaces and unitals in translation planes
- \((d, \boldsymbol{\sigma})\)-Veronese variety and some applications
- Embeddings of line-Grassmannians of polar spaces in Grassmann varieties
- Constructing minimal blocking sets using field reduction
- Hermitian Veronesean caps
- On the equivalence of linear sets
- Desarguesian spreads and field reduction for elements of the semilinear group
- Finite semifields with a large nucleus and higher secant varieties to Segre varieties
- On some subvarieties of the Grassmann variety
- The structure of full polarized embeddings of symplectic and Hermitian dual polar spaces
- Subregular spreads and blocking sets
- Scattered linear sets generated by collineations between pencils of lines
- Nearfield planes and the direction problem in \(\mathrm{AG}(2,q^2)\)
- The Bose representation of PG(2,q^3) in PG(8,q)
- MRD-codes and linear sets
- Symplectic semifield spreads of \(\mathrm{PG}(5, q^t )\), \(q\) even
- Partial k-parallelisms in finite projective spaces
- On scattered linear sets of pseudoregulus type in \(\operatorname{PG}(1,q^{t})\)
- Spreads of PG(3, q) and ovoids of polar spaces
- On the algebraic variety \(\mathcal V_{r,t}\)
- Small blocking sets in higher dimensions
- Blocking sets and derivable partial spreads
- On the geometry of Hermitian matrices of order three over finite fields
- Classifications and constructions of minimum size linear sets on the projective line
- Vector space partitions of GF(2)^8
- On the geometry of the Hermitian Veronese curve and its quasi-Hermitian surfaces
- Slices of the unitary spread
- Saturating systems and the rank-metric covering radius
- Saturating linear sets of minimal rank
- Small point sets of \(\text{PG}(n,p^{3h})\) intersecting each line in 1 mod \(p^{h}\) points
- Classification of minimal blocking sets in small Desarguesian projective planes
- Outer strong blocking sets
- On finite Steiner surfaces
- On the maximum field of linearity of linear sets
- Non-linear MRD codes from cones over exterior sets
- Schubert subspace codes
- A geometric invariant of linear rank-metric codes
- The geometry of covering codes in the sum-rank metric
- Automorphism groups of maximum scattered linear sets in finite projective lines
- On two-intersection sets with respect to hyperplanes in projective spaces
- On the classification of low-degree ovoids of Q(4, q)
- On subspaces defining linear sets of maximum rank
- Generalised evasive subspaces
- Linear sets in finite projective spaces
- On line-parallelisms of \(\mathrm{PG}(3,q)\)
- Scattered polynomials: an overview on their properties, connections and applications
- Regular fat linear sets
- A geometric approach to rank metric codes and a classification of constant weight codes
- A study of \((x(q + 1), x; 2, q)\)-minihypers
- On MPS construction of blocking sets in projective spaces: a generalization
- Some remarks on the spin module representation of \(\mathrm{Sp}_6(2^e)\)
- Galois geometries and coding theory
- On affine designs and Hadamard designs with line spreads
- On the code generated by the incidence matrix of points and \(k\)-spaces in \(\text{PG}(n,q)\) and its dual
- On small blocking sets and their linearity
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