Symmetric Graphs and their Quotients

In this expository paper we describe a group theoretic characterization of arc-transitive graphs and their quotients. When passing from a symmetric graph to its quotient, much information is lost, but some of this information may be recovered from a certain combinatorial design on the blocks, as well as a bipartite graph between the blocks. We address the "extention problem" which asks, when is this additional information sufficient to recover the original graph?Comment: This is my honours thesis from 2005, its a bit of a mes

Quantum Walks on Embeddings

We introduce a new type of discrete quantum walks, called vertex-face walks, based on orientable embeddings. We first establish a spectral correspondence between the transition matrix $U$ and the vertex-face incidence structure. Using the incidence graph, we derive a formula for the principal logarithm of $U^2$, and find conditions for its underlying digraph to be an oriented graph. In particular, we show this happens if the vertex-face incidence structure forms a partial geometric design. We also explore properties of vertex-face walks on the covers of a graph. Finally, we study a non-classical behavior of vertex-face walks

Classification of quasi-symmetric 2-(64,24,46) designs of Blokhuis-Haemers type

This paper completes the classification of quasi-symmetric 2-$(64,24,46)$ designs of Blokhuis-Haemers type supported by the dual code $C^{\perp}$ of the binary linear code $C$ spanned by the lines of $AG(3,2^2)$ initiated in \cite{bgr-vdt}. It is shown that $C^{\perp}$ contains exactly 30,264 nonisomorphic quasi-symmetric 2-$(64,24,46)$ designs obtainable from maximal arcs in $AG(2,2^2)$ via the Blokhuis-Haemers construction. The related strongly regular graphs are also discussed.Comment: 11 page

Efficient Continuous-Duty Bitter-Type Electromagnets for Cold Atom Experiments

We present the design, construction and characterization of Bitter-type electromagnets which can generate high magnetic fields under continuous operation with efficient heat removal for cold atom experiments. The electromagnets are constructed from a stack of alternating layers consisting of copper arcs and insulating polyester spacers. Efficient cooling of the copper is achieved via parallel rectangular water cooling channels between copper layers with low resistance to flow; a high ratio of the water-cooled surface area to the volume of copper ensures a short length scale ~1 mm to extract dissipated heat. High copper fraction per layer ensures high magnetic field generated per unit energy dissipated. The ensemble is highly scalable and compressed to create a watertight seal without epoxy. From our measurements, a peak field of 770 G is generated 14 mm away from a single electromagnet with a current of 400 A and a total power dissipation of 1.6 kW. With cooling water flowing at 3.8 l/min, the coil temperature only increases by 7 degrees Celsius under continuous operation.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Experimental Results of the Search for Unitals in Projective Planes of Order 25

In this paper we present the results from a program developed by the author that finds the unitals of the known 193 projective planes of order 25.. There are several planes for which we have not found any unital. One or more than one unitals have been found for most of the planes. The found unitals for a given plane are nonisomorphic each other. There are a few unitals isomorphic to a unital of another plane. A t - (v; k; {\lambda}) design D is a set X of points together with a family B of k-subsets of X called blocks with the property that every t points are contained in exactly {\lambda} blocks. The design with t = 2 is called a block-design. The block-design is symmetric if the role of the points and blocks can be changed and the resulting confguration is still a block-design. A projective plane of order n is a symmetric 2-design with v = n2 + n + 1, k = n + 1, {\lambda} = 1. The blocks of such a design are called lines. A unital in a projective plane of order n = q2 is a set U of q3 + 1 points that meet every line in one or q + 1 points. In the case projective planes of order n = 25 we have: q = 5, the projective plane is 2 - (651; 26; 1) design, the unital is a subset of q3 + 1 = 53+ 1 = 126 points and every line meets 1 or 6 points from the subse

A class of symmetric graphs with 2-arc-transitive quotients

Let $\Gamma$ be a finite X-symmetric graph with a nontrivial X-invariant partition $\mathcal {B}$ on $V(\Gamma)$ such that $\Gamma_{\mathcal {B}}$ is a connected (X,2)-arc-transitive graph and $\Gamma$ is not a multicover of $\Gamma_{\mathcal {B}}$. This article aims to give a characterization of $(\Gamma, X, \mathcal {B})$ for the case where $|\Gamma(C) \cap B| = 3$ for $B\in \mathcal {B}$ and $C \in \Gamma_{\mathcal {B}}(B)$. This investigation requires a study on (X,2)-arc-transitive graphs of valency 4 or 7. We give a characterization of tetravalent (X,2)-arc-transitive graphs at first; and as a byproduct, we prove that every tetravalent (X,2)-transitive graph is either the complete graph on 5 vertices or a near n-gonal graph for some $n\ge 4$. Then we show that a heptavalent $(X,2)$-arc-transitive graph $\Sigma$ can occur as $\Gamma_{\mathcal {B}}$ if and only if $X_\tau^{\Sigma(\tau)}\cong PSL(3,2)$ for $\tau\in V(\Sigma)$.Comment: 22 page

Symmetric graphs with complete quotients

Let $\Gamma$ be a $G$-symmetric graph with vertex set $V$. We suppose that $V$ admits a $G$-partition $\mathcal{B} = \{ B_0, ... , B_b \}$, with parts of size $v$, and that the quotient graph induced on $\mathcal B$ is a complete graph of order $b+1$. Then, for each pair of distinct suffices $i, j$, the graph induced on the union $B_i\cup B_j$ is bipartite with each vertex of valency $0$ or $t$ (a constant). When $t=1$, it was shown earlier how a flag-transitive $1$-design $D(B_i)$ induced on a part $B_i$ can sometimes be used to classify possible triples $(\Gamma, G, \mathcal B)$. Here we extend these ideas to $t > 1$ and prove that, if the group induced by $G$ on a part $B_i$ is $2$-transitive and the "blocks" of $D(B_i)$ have size less than $v$, then either (i) $v < b$, or (ii) the triple $(\Gamma, G, \mathcal B)$ is known explicitly.Comment: The first version of this manuscript dates from 2000. It was uploaded to the arXiv since several people wished to have a copy. This new version is updated with a literature review up to 2017. It is submitted for publication and is currently under review (September 2017

Supersaturation of C4C_4: from Zarankiewicz towards Erd\H{o}s-Simonovits-Sidorenko

For a positive integer $n$, a graph $F$ and a bipartite graph $G\subseteq K_{n,n}$ let ${F(n+n, G)}$ denote the number of copies of $F$ in $G$, and let $F(n+n, m)$ denote the minimum number of copies of $F$ in all graphs $G\subseteq K_{n,n}$ with $m$ edges. The study of such a function is the subject of theorems of supersaturated graphs and closely related to the Sidorenko-Erd\H{o}s-Simonovits conjecture as well. In the present paper we investigate the case when $F= K_{2,t}$ and in particular the quadrilateral graph case. For $F=C_4$, we obtain exact results if $m$ and the corresponding Zarankiewicz number differ by at most $n$, by a finite geometric construction of almost difference sets. $F= K_{2,t}$ if $m$ and the corresponding Zarankiewicz number differs by $Cn\sqrt{n}$ we prove asymptotically sharp results. We also study stability questions and point out the connections to covering and packing block designs

Hypergraph encoding set systems and their linear representations

We study $t$-designs of parameters $(n,k,\lambda)$ over finite fields as group divisible designs and set systems admitting a transitive action of a linear group encoded in an hypergraph $G$ whose vertex set of size $n$ is partitioned into sets of size $k$ in such a way that every $t$-subset is contained in at least $\lambda$ subsets of $G$. We relate the problem to the representation theory of the general linear group \GL(n,\mathbb{F}_{q}) and the constructions of AG codes over finite fields

Combinatorial tt-designs from special polynomials

Combinatorial $t$-designs have nice applications in coding theory, finite geometries and several engineering areas. There are two major methods of constructing $t$-designs. One of them is via group actions of certain permutation groups which are $t$-transitive or $t$-homogeneous on some point set. The other is a coding-theoretical one. The objectives of this paper are to introduce two constructions of $t$-designs with special polynomials over finite fields GF$(q)$, and obtain $2$-designs and $3$-designs with interesting parameters. A type of d-polynomials is defined and used to construct $2$-designs. Under the framework of the first construction, it is shown that every o-polynomial over GF$(2^m)$ gives a $2$-design, and every o-monomial over GF$(2^m)$ yields a $3$-design. Under the second construction, every $o$-polynomial gives a $3$-design. Some open problems and conjectures are also presented in this paper