651 research outputs found
The Classification of Flag-transitive Steiner 4-Designs
Among the properties of homogeneity of incidence structures flag-transitivity
obviously is a particularly important and natural one. Consequently, in the
last decades also flag-transitive Steiner tdesigns (i.e. flag-transitive
t-(v,k,1) designs) have been investigated, whereas only by the use of the
classification of the finite simple groups has it been possible in recent years
to essentially characterize all flag-transitive Steiner 2-designs. However,
despite the finite simple group classification, for Steiner t-designs with
parameters t > 2 such characterizations have remained challenging open problems
for about 40 years (cf. [11, p. 147] and [12, p. 273], but presumably dating
back to around 1965). The object of the present paper is to give a complete
classification of all flag-transitive Steiner 4-designs. Our result relies on
the classification of the finite doubly transitive permutation groups and is a
continuation of the author's work [20, 21] on the classification of all
flag-transitive Steiner 3-designs.Comment: 26 pages; to appear in: "Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics
The classification of flag-transitive Steiner 3-designs
We solve the long-standing open problem of classifying all 3-(v,k,1) designs
with a flag-transitive group of automorphisms (cf. A. Delandtsheer, Geom.
Dedicata 41 (1992), p. 147; and in: "Handbook of Incidence Geometry", ed. by F.
Buekenhout, Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, 1995, p. 273; but presumably dating
back to 1965). Our result relies on the classification of the finite
2-transitive permutation groups.Comment: 27 pages; to appear in the journal "Advances in Geometry
Classification of flag-transitive Steiner quadruple systems
A Steiner quadruple system of order v is a 3-(v,4,1) design, and will be
denoted SQS(v). Using the classification of finite 2-transitive permutation
groups all SQS(v) with a flag-transitive automorphism group are completely
classified, thus solving the "still open and longstanding problem of
classifying all flag-transitive 3-(v,k,1) designs" for the smallest value of k.
Moreover, a generalization of a result of H. Lueneburg (1965, Math. Z. 89,
82-90) is achieved.Comment: 11 page
Commutative association schemes
Association schemes were originally introduced by Bose and his co-workers in
the design of statistical experiments. Since that point of inception, the
concept has proved useful in the study of group actions, in algebraic graph
theory, in algebraic coding theory, and in areas as far afield as knot theory
and numerical integration. This branch of the theory, viewed in this collection
of surveys as the "commutative case," has seen significant activity in the last
few decades. The goal of the present survey is to discuss the most important
new developments in several directions, including Gelfand pairs, cometric
association schemes, Delsarte Theory, spin models and the semidefinite
programming technique. The narrative follows a thread through this list of
topics, this being the contrast between combinatorial symmetry and
group-theoretic symmetry, culminating in Schrijver's SDP bound for binary codes
(based on group actions) and its connection to the Terwilliger algebra (based
on combinatorial symmetry). We propose this new role of the Terwilliger algebra
in Delsarte Theory as a central topic for future work.Comment: 36 page
Distance-regular graphs
This is a survey of distance-regular graphs. We present an introduction to
distance-regular graphs for the reader who is unfamiliar with the subject, and
then give an overview of some developments in the area of distance-regular
graphs since the monograph 'BCN' [Brouwer, A.E., Cohen, A.M., Neumaier, A.,
Distance-Regular Graphs, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1989] was written.Comment: 156 page
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