Covers of generalized quadrangles

We solve a problem posed by Cardinali and Sastry (Elliptic ovoids and their rosettes in a classical generalized quadrangle of even order. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. Math. Sci. 126 (2016), 591-612) about factorization of 2-covers of finite classical generalized quadrangles (GQs). To that end, we develop a general theory of cover factorization for GQs, and in particular, we study the isomorphism problem for such covers and associated geometries. As a byproduct, we obtain new results about semi-partial geometries coming from theta-covers, and consider related problems