Related papers: Planar arcs
An arc in $\mathbb F_q^2$ is a set $P \subset \mathbb F_q^2$ such that no three points of $P$ are collinear. We use the method of hypergraph containers to prove several counting results for arcs. Let $\mathcal A(q)$ denote the family of all…
We prove that if $C$ is a reflexive smooth plane curve of degree $d$ defined over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$ with $d\leq q+1$, then there is an $\mathbb{F}_q$-line $L$ that intersects $C$ transversely. We also prove the same result for…
In the projective planes $\mathrm{PG}(2,q)$, we collect the smallest known sizes of complete arcs for the regions \begin{align*} &\mbox{all } q\le160001,~~ q \mbox{ prime power};\\ &Q_{4}=\{34 \mbox{ sporadic }q'\mbox{s in the interval…
The number A(q) is the upper limit of the ratio of the maximum number of points of a curve defined over $\Fq$ to the genus. By constructing class field towers with good parameters we present improvements of lower bounds of A(q) for q an odd…
We prove that if $E \subset {\mathbb F}_q^2$, $q \equiv 3 \mod 4$, has size greater than $Cq^{7/4}$, then $E$ determines a positive proportion of all congruence classes of triangles in ${\mathbb F}_q^2$. The approach in this paper is based…
The existence of ovals and hyperovals is an old question in the theory of non-Desarguesian planes. The aim of this paper is to describe when a conic of ${\rm PG}(2,q)$ remains an arc in the Hall plane obtained by derivation. Some…
It is known for a long time that a nonsingular real algebraic curve of degree 2k in the projective plane cannot have more than 7/2*k^2-9/4*k+3/2$ even ovals. We show here that this upper bound is asymptotically sharp, that is to say we…
A maximal arc of degree k in a finite projective plane P of order q = ks is a set of (q-s+1)k points that meets every line of P in either k or 0 points. The collection of the nonempty intersections of a maximal arc with the lines of P is a…
We investigate finite 3-nets embedded in a projective plane over a (finite or infinite) field of any characteristic p. Such an embedding is regular when each of the three classes of the 3-net comprises concurrent lines, and irregular…
New upper bounds on the smallest size t_{2}(2,q) of a complete arc in the projective plane PG(2,q) are obtained for q <= 9109. From these new bounds it follows that for q <= 2621 and q = 2659,2663,2683,2693,2753,2801, the relation…
A plane curve $C\subset\mathbb{P}^2$ of degree $d$ is called \emph{blocking} if every $\mathbb{F}_q$-line in the plane meets $C$ at some $\mathbb{F}_q$-point. We prove that the proportion of blocking curves among those of degree $d$ is…
Let $\mathbb{F}_q$ be a finite field of $q$ elements where $q$ is a large odd prime power and $Q =a_1 x_1^{c_1}+...+a_dx_d^{c_d}\in \mathbb{F}_q[x_1,...,x_d]$, where $2\le c_i\le N$, $\gcd(c_i,q)=1$, and $a_i\in \mathbb{F}_q$ for all $1\le…
Let $q\geq 5$ be a prime power. In this note, we prove that if a plane curve $\mathcal{X}$ of degree $q - 1$ defined over $\mathbb{F}_q$ without $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear components attains the Sziklai upper bound $(d-1)q+1 = (q - 1)^2$ for the…
In 1955 B. Segre showed that any oval in a projective plane over a finite field of odd order is a conic. His proof constructs a conic which matches the oval in some points and tangents, and then shows that it actually coincides with the…
In $\mathrm{PG}(3, q)$, $q = 2^n$, $n \ge 3$, let ${\cal A} = \{(1,t,t^{2^h},t^{2^h+1}) \mid t \in \mathbb{F}_q\} \cup \{(0,0,0,1)\}$, with $\mathrm{gcd}(n,h) = 1$, be a $(q+1)$-arc and let $G_h \simeq \mathrm{PGL}(2, q)$ be the stabilizer…
The topological Tverberg theorem claims that for any continuous map of the (q-1)(d+1)-simplex to R^d there are q disjoint faces such that their images have a non-empty intersection. This has been proved for affine maps, and if $q$ is a…
Suppose C is a singular curve in CP^2 and it is topologically an embedded surface of genus g; such curves are called cuspidal. The singularities of C are cones on knots K_i. We apply Heegaard Floer theory to find new constraints on the sets…
For a given genus $g \geq 1$, we give lower bounds for the maximal number of rational points on a smooth projective absolutely irreducible curve of genus $g$ over ${\mathbb F}_q$. As a consequence of Katz-Sarnak theory, we first get for any…
Given an elliptic curve $E$ over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$ we study the finite extensions $\mathbb{F}_{q^n}$ of $\mathbb{F}_q$ such that the number of $\mathbb{F}_{q^n}$-rational points on $E$ attains the Hasse upper bound. We obtain an…
Using an Euclidean approach, we prove a new upper bound for the number of closed points of degree 2 on a smooth absolutely irreducible projective algebraic curve defined over the finite field $\mathbb F\_q$.This bound enables us to provide…