Nontrivial t-Designs over Finite Fields Exist for All t

A $t$-$(n,k,\lambda)$ design over \F_q is a collection of $k$-dimensional subspaces of \F_q^n, called blocks, such that each $t$-dimensional subspace of \F_q^n is contained in exactly $\lambda$ blocks. Such $t$-designs over \F_q are the $q$-analogs of conventional combinatorial designs. Nontrivial $t$-$(n,k,\lambda)$ designs over \F_q are currently known to exist only for $t \leq 3$. Herein, we prove that simple (meaning, without repeated blocks) nontrivial $t$-$(n,k,\lambda)$ designs over \F_q exist for all $t$ and $q$, provided that $k > 12t$ and $n$ is sufficiently large. This may be regarded as a $q$-analog of the celebrated Teirlinck theorem for combinatorial designs

Conformal Designs based on Vertex Operator Algebras

We introduce the notion of a conformal design based on a vertex operator algebra. This notation is a natural analog of the notion of block designs or spherical designs when the elements of the design are based on self-orthogonal binary codes or integral lattices, respectively. It is shown that the subspaces of fixed degree of an extremal self-dual vertex operator algebra form conformal 11-, 7-, or 3-designs, generalizing similar results of Assmus-Mattson and Venkov for extremal doubly-even codes and extremal even lattices. Other examples are coming from group actions on vertex operator algebras, the case studied first by Matsuo. The classification of conformal 6- and 8-designs is investigated. Again, our results are analogous to similar results for codes and lattices.Comment: 35 pages with 1 table, LaTe

Conway groupoids, regular two-graphs and supersimple designs

A $2-(n,4,\lambda)$ design $(\Omega, \mathcal{B})$ is said to be supersimple if distinct lines intersect in at most two points. From such a design, one can construct a certain subset of Sym$(\Omega)$ called a "Conway groupoid". The construction generalizes Conway's construction of the groupoid $M_{13}$. It turns out that several infinite families of groupoids arise in this way, some associated with 3-transposition groups, which have two additional properties. Firstly the set of collinear point-triples forms a regular two-graph, and secondly the symmetric difference of two intersecting lines is again a line. In this paper, we show each of these properties corresponds to a group-theoretic property on the groupoid and we classify the Conway groupoids and the supersimple designs for which both of these two additional properties hold.Comment: 17 page

The Intersection problem for 2-(v; 5; 1) directed block designs

The intersection problem for a pair of 2-(v, 3, 1) directed designs and 2-(v, 4, 1) directed designs is solved by Fu in 1983 and by Mahmoodian and Soltankhah in 1996, respectively. In this paper we determine the intersection problem for 2-(v, 5, 1) directed designs.Comment: 17 pages. To appear in Discrete Mat

Hadamard matrices modulo 5

In this paper we introduce modular symmetric designs and use them to study the existence of Hadamard matrices modulo 5. We prove that there exist 5-modular Hadamard matrices of order n if and only if n != 3, 7 (mod 10) or n != 6, 11. In particular, this solves the 5-modular version of the Hadamard conjecture.Comment: 7 pages, submitted to JC