A construction of almost Steiner systems

Abstract

Let n, k, and t be integers satisfying n> k> t ≥ 2. A Steiner system with parameters t, k, and n is a k-uniform hypergraph on n vertices in which every set of t distinct vertices is contained in exactly one edge. An outstanding problem in Design Theory is to determine whether a nontrivial Steiner system exists for t ≥ 6. In this note we prove that for every k> t ≥ 2 and sufficiently large n, there exists an almost Steiner system with parameters t, k, and n; that is, there exists a k-uniform hypergraph on n vertices such that every set of t distinct vertices is covered by either one or two edges.