English

Zero-sum flows for Steiner systems

Combinatorics 2021-01-05 v1

Abstract

Given a tt-(v,k,λ)(v, k, \lambda) design, D=(X,B)\mathcal{D}=(X,\mathcal{B}), a zero-sum nn-flow of D\mathcal{D} is a map f:B{±1,,±(n1)}f : \mathcal{B}\longrightarrow \{\pm1,\ldots, \pm(n-1)\} such that for any point xXx\in X, the sum of ff over all blocks incident with xx is zero. For a positive integer kk, we find a zero-sum kk-flow for an STS(uw)(u w) and for an STS(2v+7)(2v+7) for v1 (mod 4)v\equiv 1~(\mathrm{mod}~4), if there are STS(u)(u), STS(w)(w) and STS(v)(v) such that the STS(u)(u) and STS(v)(v) both have a zero-sum kk-flow. In 2015, it was conjectured that for v>7v>7 every STS(v)(v) admits a zero-sum 33-flow. Here, it is shown that many cyclic STS(v)(v) have a zero-sum 33-flow. Also, we investigate the existence of zero-sum flows for some Steiner quadruple systems.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2101.00867,
  title  = {Zero-sum flows for Steiner systems},
  author = {Saieed Akbari and Hamid Reza Maimani and Leila Parsaei Majd and Ian M. Wanless},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2101.00867},
  year   = {2021}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-23T21:44:38.204Z