CORDERO, M.

FIGUERO, R.

Osaka City University Repository

Cordero, M. and Figueroa, R.
Osaka J. Math.
30 (1993), 171-178
ON SOME NEW CLASSES OF SEMIFIELD PLANES
M. CORDERO* and R. FIGUERO^
(Received October 21, 1991)
1. Introduction
In [9] Hiramine, Matsumoto and Oyama introduced a construction method
that associates with any translation plane of order q2 (q odd) and kernel K^
GF(q), translation planes of order cf and kernel K'^GF(f). In this article
we study the class of semifield planes of order g4 obtained from this method
and show that with a few exceptions, the members of this class are new semi-
field planes. This class includes some recently constructed classes of planes;
namely the class presented by Boerner-Lantz in [4] and the one by Cordero in
[6].
2. Notation and preliminary results
Let S~(S, +, •) be a finite semifield which is not a field. We denote by
π(S] the semifield plane coordinatized by S with respect to the points (0), (oo),
(0, 0) and (1, 1). The dual translation plane of π(S) is also a semifield plane and
it is coordinatized by the semifield <5*=(<S, +, *), where a*b=b a. Let q be
an odd prime power, EF—GF(f) and χr=x=χq for x^ζF. Let π be a semifield
plane obtained by the construction method of Hiramine, Matsumoto and Oyama.
Then 7Γ admits a matrix spread set of the form
<3ft = \M(u, v) =
where /: ΞF-^ ΞF is an additive function, π is coordinatized by the semifield
S>=S>f=(S>9 +, •), where S>=&x& and
We shall denote this plane by π/. We define the following classes:
* Research partially supported by NSF Grant No. DMS-9107372
t Research partially supported by NSF Grant No. RII-9014056, EPSCoR of Puerto Rico Grant,
and the ARO Grant for Cornell MSI.
172 M. CORDERO AND R. FlGUEROA
Ω(2Γ) = {/: £?->£?: / is an additive function and 9?f is a proper semifield} .
I/ eΩίff): either f(v)=M for some a<=Ξ<3-GF(q\ or f(v)=avθ for
some nonsquare αe£F and 0eAut(£F), 0φτ}.
Notice that IK^) is the class of semifield planes of order c£ which are obtained
from the construction method of Hiramine, Matsumoto and Oyama applied to
translation planes of order q2.
Among the known classes of proper finite semifields we have the following:
(i) Cohen and Ganley commutative semifields [5]
(ii) Kantor semifields [13]
(iii) Knuth semifields of characteristic 2 [14]
(iv) Twisted fields [1] and Generalized twisted fields [2]
(v) Sandier semifields [15]
(vi) Knuth four-type semifields [14], these include the Hughes-Kleinfeld
semifields [10]
(vii) Generalized Dickson semifields [8]
(viii) Boerner-Lantz semifields [4]
(ix) ^-primitive type IV and type V semifields [6]
The semifield planes coordinatized by the semifields on class (viii) belong
to the class Π(2Γ), see [12], Theorem 4.3, and those coordinatized by semifields
on class (ix) belong to ΐl(F) where F—GF(p2) and p is a prime number, see
[6]. The two main results on this paper state that the only known semifields
(from classes (i) to (vii)) which belong to 2(2*) are the Knuth semifields which
are of all four types and the Generalized Dickson semifields.
We now state some properties of 3? / and πf.
Lemma 1. Letf&Ω(3) and 3>=£>f. The nuclei of & are :
(i) 3Z,(S>)={(*,0):*eS},
(ii) m
m
(£)=mj(&)= {(x, 0) : f(xy)=*f(y),far any y<=3}
Proof. For a—(xy y), b=(u, v) and c=(r, s) in 3? the condition (a b) c=
a (b c) is equivalent to the two equations
(2.1)
and
y*f(v)=yϋf(*). (2.2)
Clearly, from 2.1 and 2.2, (#, OJeS?^) for x^3 and since 5? is not a
field, (i) follows.
Assume now that (u9v)^3lM(ίP). If ^ΦO, then from 2.2 with y—\ we
NEW CLASSES OF SEMIFIELD PLANES 173
have t h a t / ( ί ) — - , for any jeί?, which implies that c=^-<=GF(q) and/(s)
=cs. This implies that 3* is a field, which is not the case. Thus, v=Q and
from 2.1 we get that 3l
m
(ίP)= {(u, 0): f(us)=uf(s), for any je£F}.
Let (ry s)^3lr(3>). Then, as above, s=0 and from 2.1 we get that τ/(z;)=
f(v7), for any v^2. By taking #=f (so #— r), we have xf(v)=f(vx), for any
z>e£F. This completes the proof of (ii).
The following lemma is a consequence of the previous one.
Lemma 2. Let /eΩ(3). Then f(v)=<a> for some a<=3—GF(q) if and
only i/
3. On the class 11(3)
Let /eΩ(£F) and let TT^ denote the dual translation plane of πf with
respect to (°°). We begin this section by showing that the semifields on classes
(i)-(v) above do not coordinatize planes in Π(£F).
Lemma 3. Let fGΩ(EF) and let S be a semίfield belonging to any one of
the classes (i)-(v) above. Then neither πf nor πf is isomorphic to π(S).
Proof. If 9? (ίP*) is a semifield which coordinatizes πf (π*), thenίP (.ί?*)
has characteristic^ 2. On the other hand, if S belongs to classes (ii) or (iii),
then the characteristic of S is 2 and therefore S is not isotopic to ί?(or £P*). If
S belongs to class (i), then S is commutative and by using Exercise 8.10 in [11]
we conclude that .ί?(or ί?*) is not isotopic to S. Thus in these cases π/^π(S)
^pTΓ*. In [3] it is shown that a generalized twisted field plane of order pny p an
odd prime, w>3, admits an autotopism g whose order is a ^-primitive divisor of
pn— 1, i.e. \g\ \p"—l but \g\ X p* — 1 for \<i<n— 1. From Propositions 6.3
and 6.4 in [9] it follows that if g is an autotopism of πf then \g\ \ 4(q2— 1).
Therefore if S is a generalized twisted field plane then πf^π(S)^π*. (Recall
that every twisted field palne is a generalized twisted field plane, [2].)
Assume now that S belongs to class (v) above. Then the dimension of S
over 31, (S) is >4 and Jl
m
(S) = m
r
(S) ([15], Theorem 1). Since S is a 2-
dimensional vector space over Jl^S*), we have that πf^π(S). If πJ^π(S),
then by Theorem 8.2 in [11] we would have 3'^ 32/(5))^37r(5)-32w(5)^
3l
m
(S>)==3l
r
(S>)^3ll(S). From here we conclude that S is a 2-dimensional
vector space over 37/(5) which is a contradiction. Thus π*^π(S).
Next we deal with the Knuth four-type semifields. These semifields were
defined in [14]. The semifields of type II, III and IV are characterized by their
nuclei; type II: 32
r
=3l
m
^&> type III: Jl^Jl^S and type IV: ^-Stf^ΞF.
A semifield of type I has multiplication given by:
174 M. CORDERO AND R. FlGUEROA
*, y) (*, «0 - (**+,/" VA, w+x+y*- V*) (3.3)
where (x,y), (u, ϋJeSFxff, 1 ^ σeAut(£?) and A and £ are elements in £F such
that the polynomial x*+l-\~gx—h is irreducible in 3". The next lemma gives
the condition under which a semifield plane coordinatized by a Knuth semifield
plane belongs to the class Π(£F).
Lemma 4. Let /eΩ(£?) αwrf to K be a Knuth four-type semifield. Then
π/ or π* is isomorphic to π(K) if and only iff(v)—aϋ for some
Proof. Assume that f(v)=aϋ. Then by Lemma 2 and Corollary 7.4.2 in
[14] we have that 9?f is of all four types I, II, III, IV where σ2=l and £=0.
Let K be a Knuth four-type semifield. If K is of type II, III, or IV and
if
 πfς*π(K) or πf^π(K) then by ([11], Theorem 8.2) and Lemmas 1 and 2 it
follows that f(v)=αϋ. Suppose that K is of type I. If £=0 and σ2=ί then
from 3.3 we get that K=3?fί where f\(v)—hv<r= hv. Hence, by Lemma 2, £?^
3Z,(jr)=3Z
w
(JΓ)=3ϊ
r
(Jr). Now if πf^π(K) or πfcχπ(K), then by ([11], Theo-
rem 8.2) and Lemma 2 we have thatf(v)=αϋ. We now show that the case when
£=0 and σ2^! and the case wheng^O are not possible.
Let 5>=5>/ and suppose that πfs*π(K). Then S^mj^^Jl^K). Let
(*,jOe3Zf(JΓ). The condition ((x,y) (0, 1)) (0, *)=(*, jO«((0, l) (O^)), for all
s is £F is equivalent to
(x+y'-^y-Yh = xs'h+y-s-fh , (3.4)
and
yσ-2hs+(x+y*-lgγ-ls*g = xs'g+ys-F+y -^g g , (3.5)
for any s in £?. If £=0 and σ2^ 1 ^ <r, then 3.5 implies that j=0 and from 3.4
we get that x'~2=x. Therefore £F & Jl
 t(K) C {(x, 0) Λ eΞF and Λ?σl=Λ?> which
implies that σ2=l, but σ2^!. If ^^0 then from 3.4 we get that y=Q, and
from 3.5 we have that x*~*s*g=xs*g. Hence 3&JlJ(K)c.{(x, 0): ΛjeΞF and
Λ ^I^ΛJ} and therefore σ=l, which is a contradiction. A similar argument shows
that πf^π(K) is not possible.
The last class to consider is the class of generalized Dickson semifields. Let
π(3)) be a generalized Dickson semifield plane of order q* which is coordinatized
by the semifield 3)=(β), +, •) where ^—^FxS' and the product is given by
(cf[8])
(*, y) (', *) = (ΛT+y Vω, xs+yr*) (3.6)
where α, /3, σ are arbitrary automorphisms of £? but not all the identity, and
ω is a nonsquare in £?. If (uy v) ((x,y) (r, s))=((u9 v) (xyy)) (r, s) then the fol-
lowing two conditions must be satisfied :
NEW CLASSES OF SEMIFIELD PLANES 175
uy"sβω+v*(xs+yr')βω = v*yβrω+(uy+vxσ)*sβω , (3.7)
and
ιyβVVp = v"yβsω (3.8)
From now on 3) will denote a generalized Dickson semifield plane of order
cf with multiplication given by (3.6).
Under certain conditions a generalized Dickson semifield is a Knuth four-
type semifield. In the next lemma we give the necessary conditions on the auto-
morphisms or, βy σ under which 3) is a Knuth four-type semifield.
Lemma 5. If any of the following conditions are satisfied :
(i) β=aσ and βσ=\, or
(ii) a—\ and σ=β, or
(iii) a= 1 and σβ— 1
then 3) is a Knuth four-type semifield.
Proof. Assume that (i) is true. Then 3.7 and 3.8 become, respectively,
uy«sβω = u«y*sβω , (3.9)
and,
vyβsωσ = v*yβsω (3.10)
From these equations we get that (xy 0)^32m(^)) for any Λ^eΞF and (r, 0)e
for any r^ΞF. Since 3) is not a field we have that 32
m
(^))=^n
r
(^))^S
and 3) is a Knuth semifield of type II. In a similar way if (ii) or (iii) occur
then 3) is a Knuth semifield of type III or IV, respectively.
In the following lemma the nuclei of 3) are given.
Lemma 6. Assume that 3) is not a Knuth four-type semifield. Then the
nuclei of 3) are :
(i) 3Z,(^={(ιι,0)e^: «-==«},
(ii) 3l
m
(3))= {(*, 0) ^ 3)\ xβ=x°*} , and
(iii)
Proof. Let (u, ^)e32/(^) and suppose that z φO. Then from 3.8 we get
that vω'r=v"ω, y*°=yβ and sβ<r=s, for all y, se£F. Hence, a<r=β and βσ=l,
which is a contradiction by Lemma 5 (i). Thus, v=0 and from 3.8 we have that
uy"sβω=u*y*sβω for alljy, $e£F; from this (i) follows, (ii) and (iii) are proved
similarly.
In the next two lemmas the question of when a generalized Dickson semi-
field plane belongs to the class Π(2Γ) is answered.
Lemma 7. Let f^£l(3) and £>=3>f. Assume that V is a non-
176 M. CORDERO AND R. FlGUEROA
desarguesίan semifield plane that admits a matrix spread set of the form
where θ, φ are automorphisms of £F and k is a nonsquare in 3. Then, if
one of the following must be true :
(i) θ=φ=τ, where xr=x, and f(v)=cϋ for some c^3ί
(ii) f(v)=cv* , for some ψ eAut(2Γ) and some nonsquare c in
Proof. Let 3£=^3x^F. Then JK* = {(X, XM(u, v)): M(u, v)(=JH} U
{(0, X)} is a spread for πf in 3C®3£. Let JHf be the spread for <U in 2£®%
associated with JΛ
λ
. Since πf^V, there is a semilinear transformation T from
the 3*- vector space 3£ξ&3£ into itself that maps <3W* onto c5K*. We may assume
that (X, 0)Γ=(X, 0) and (0, X)T=(Q, X], so the linear part of T has the form
( ), for some A, B^GL(2y q2). Let δ be the automorphism of £F associated0 B'
with T. Since T maps (jf, XM(u, v))e <5/* onto (JΓ, JC^M ,^ e;)δJB)ecίίί?,
where (efy)e=(a?y), we have that for each M(u9 v)^JM there is a unique
ι such that
= Q(x, y) . (3.11)
Let Q(a,b) = A-lM(l,0)'B = A-lB9ueGF(q)-iQ} and M'-^. Then
A-lM(u, OYB=u'A^B=urQ(ay b)<=3Hly for all u'^GF(q)-{0}. Thus, if α^O,
then u'=(u')φ, which implies that ^e {1, T} . Similarly, if b^ 1, then 0e {1, r} .
Since A~l=Q(a,b)B-\ 3.11 becomes
B-lM(ιι, ^ )δ£ = Q(α, 4)-ιρ(*, y) . (3.12)
Let Δ=det Q(a> b)~l and tr(7V)=trace of a matrix ΛΓ. Since tr(B"1M(w, v)*B)=
(u+u)*^GF(q), from 3.12 we have that tr(Q(a, b)~lQ(x, 0))— Δ(aφx+axφ)&
GF(q), for all Λ eΞF. If φ=l, then we have that 2axΔ^GF(q), for any Λ?e£F,
which implies that α— 0. Therefore if αΦO then φ=τ. Likewise, considering
ρ(0, y) we get that if b^O then θ=τ.
First we assume that #^0 and b^O. Then θ=φ=τ and cU=π($>g), where
g(y)= ky. By Lemma 2 the three nuclei of Sg are equal and isomorphic to
£?. Now (i) follows from Lemma 2. Assume that α— 0 and δ^.O. Then
5=τ and we may assume that φ^r. Letting r=(yb~1)τ, s=xφ(kbr),g(s)=dsφ~
where d=(kb)φ~1b~1 is a nonsquare in £F and Qι(r, s)=( r j we have that
^S(s) ¥'
0(0, b)-lQ(x, y)=Qι(r, s). Now 3.12 becomes
s)B^. (3.13)
NEW CLASSES OF SEMIFIELD PLANES 177
Let B ^ 1 2 and e=detB. Then uB=e-1(blb4r+b4b2g(s)-blb3s-b2b3ft) and
_ _
U8=e^(—b2b3r—b2b4g(s)+b1b3s+blb4r). Since ί?=ϊ*δ, with s=0 we get b1b4e~l =
b&e-1 and b2b3e"
1
=b2b3e-
1
. Thus b^e'1 and ^ V1 are in GF(q). Taking r=0
we get b4b2e-
ld3φ^-(ΐ^l)s=bφ3e-ls-b2b4e-ldsφ'~\ If ςr1^! (also $τl*τ),
then b1b3=0 and b2b4=0. If φ-
1
^! then blb3=b2b4d and (blb3e~l)2=zd where
Z=blb2b3b4e~
2
. Since z^GF(q), z is a square in GF(f), then since </ is a non-
square in GF(f) we must have 6^=0 and ά3i4=0. So for any <p^τ we con-
clude that b1b3=0 and i2i4=0. Since £^vO, then &2=i3=0 or b1=b4—0. If
b2=b3=Q, then from 3.13 we have v^^b^s abd f(vY=e^b4g(s). From these
equations it follows that f(v)=cvφ~ where c is a nonsquare in £F. If ^=^4=0,
then a similar argument shows that f(v)=cvφ where again c is a nonsquare in 3.
Thus in either case (ii) follows. The case when #^0 and b=0 is handled
similarly.
Lemma 8. Lβί/eΩ(2Γ) and assume that 3) is not a Knuth four-type semi-
field. If either π/ or π* is isomorphic to π(3))y then f(v)=cv* for some nonsquare
c in ί? and -ψ>e Aut(£F),
Proof. Assume that πf^π(3)}. Then from Lemmas 1 (i) and 6 (i) we
have that 9'^37/(S)/)^5r2/(^); this implies that u*=u for all u&3*. Hence
a=l and 3.6 becomes (x,y) (r, s) = (x,y) ( r s). Let Q(r,s) = ( r s\
\spω r / \spω r /
Then {Q(r, s): r, seS} is a matrix spread set for π(3J). Suppose now that
πJ^π(W). Then πf^π(3)*) and SF^JZ,^)^^^*), so 3)* is a 2-dimen-
sional vector space over ^2/(^)*). Since ^ι(3)*}=^
r
(3J)) from Lemma 6 (iii) we
get that σβ=l. Let z^3)* and let (u,v)' be the coordinates of # with re-
spect to the basis (0, 1), (1,0) of .2)* over 3Z/(^)*), i.e. (u, v)f=(u9 0)*(1, 0)+
(z>, 0)*(0, 1) where * is the product in .2)*. Then (u, v)'=(u, vσ). Now (r, *)'*
Letting ρ'(^c, y)=
 σ
 we have that (r, *)'*(*, y)'=(ry s)Q'(xy y).
ω x
Hence, {Q'(x, y): x> y^^f} is a matrix spread set for π(3)*). Therefore in
either case ((πf^π(3)) or π*^π(£D*) we may apply Lemma 7. Since 3) (and
therefore £D*) is not a Knuth four-type semifield, by Lemmas 2 and 4, case (i)
of Lemma 7 does not occur; therefore the proof is complete.
We can now state our main results; their proofs follow from the lemmas.
Theorem 3.1. Let /eΩ(2Γ)— Λ(£F). Then neither πf nor π* is isomor-
phic to a semifield plane coordinatίzed by a semifield belonging to any one of the
classes (i)-(vii).
178 M. CORDERO AND R. FlGUEROA
Theorem 3.2. Letf^λ(3). Then
(i) f(v)=av for some a^3—GF(q) if and only if πf or π* is isomorphic
to a semifield plane coordinatized by a Knuth four-type semifield.
(ii) f(v)=av9 for some nonsquare ae£F and Θ^Aut(3f), θ^τ if and only
if πf or π* is isomorphic to a semifield plane coordinatized by a gener-
alized Dickson semifield.
References
[1] A.A. Albert: Finite non-commutative division algebras, Proc. Arner. Math. Soc.
9 (1958), 928-932.
[2] A.A. Albert: Generalized twisted field planes, Pacific J. Math. 11 (1961), 1-8.
[3] A.A. Albert: Isotopy for generalized twisted fields, Anais da Adad. Bras. Ciencias
33 (1961), 265-275.
[4] V. Boerner-Lantz: A class of semifields of order q4, J. Geometry 27 (1986) 11-118.
[5] S.D. Cohen and M.J. Ganley: Commutative semifields
 f two dimensional over
their middle nuclei, J. Algebra 75 (1982), 373-385.
[6] M. Cordero: Semifield planes of order p* that admit a p-primitive Baer collineation,
Osaka J. Math. 28 (1991), 305-321.
[7] M. Cordero and R. Figueroa: On semifield planes of order qn that admit a collinea-
tion whose order is a p-primitive divisor of qn — 1., submitted.
[8] P. Dembowski: Finite Geometries, Springer, New York, 1968.
[9] Y. Hiramine, M. Matsumoto and T. Oyama: On some extension of I spread sets,
Osaka J. Math. 24 (1987), 123-137.
[10] D.R. Hughes and E. Kleinfeld: Seminuclear extensions of galois fields, Amer. J.
Math. 82 (1960), 315-318.
[11] D.R. Hughes and F.C. Piper: Projective planes, Springer, New York, 1973.
[12] N.L. Johnson: Sequences of derivable translation planes, Osaka J. Math. 25
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[13] W.M. Kantor: Expanded, sliced and spread setst in Finite Geometries (N.L.
Johnson, M.J. Kallaher and C.T. Long, eds), Marcel Dekker, New York, 1983,
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[14] D.E. Knuth: Finite semifields andprojective planes, J. Algebra 2 (1965), 182-217.
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Math. 84 (1962), 239-264.
M. Cordero
Department of Mathematics
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas 79409
R. Figueroa
Department of Mathematics
University of Puerto Rico
Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico 00931


On some new classes of semifield planes

Cordero, Minerva

Figueroa, R.

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On some new classes of semifield planes

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