Related papers: Model theory of Steiner triple systems
In this article we construct uncountably many new homogeneous locally finite Steiner triple systems of countably infinite order as Fra\"{\i}ss\'{e} limits of classes of finite Steiner triple systems avoiding certain subsystems. The…
Free Steiner triple systems (STS) are infinite structures that are naturally characterised by a universal property. We consider the class of free STSs from a model theoretic viewpoint. We show that free STSs on any number of generators are…
We show that for any n divisible by 3, almost all order-n Steiner triple systems have a perfect matching (also known as a parallel class or resolution class). In fact, we prove a general upper bound on the number of perfect matchings in a…
The existence of Steiner triple systems STS(n) of order n containing no nontrivial subsystem is well known for every admissible n. We generalize this result in two ways. First we define the expander property of 3-uniform hypergraphs and…
We show that for any n divisible by 3, almost all order-n Steiner triple systems admit a decomposition of almost all their triples into disjoint perfect matchings (that is, almost all Steiner triple systems are almost resolvable).
We address several extremal problems concerning the spreading property of point sets of Steiner triple systems. This property is closely related to the structure of subsystems, as a set is spreading if and only if there is no proper…
A partial Steiner triple system of order $u$ is a pair $(U,\mathcal{A})$ where $U$ is a set of $u$ elements and $\mathcal{A}$ is a set of triples of elements of $U$ such that any two elements of $U$ occur together in at most one triple. If…
The smallest open case for classifying Steiner triple systems is order 21. A Steiner triple system of order 21, an STS(21), can have subsystems of orders 7 and 9, and it is known that there are 12,661,527,336 isomorphism classes of STS(21)s…
The $p$-rank of a Steiner triple system $B$ is the dimension of the linear span of the set of characteristic vectors of blocks of $B$, over GF$(p)$. We derive a formula for the number of different Steiner triple systems of order $v$ and…
A triple system is cancellative if it does not contain three distinct sets $A,B,C$ such that the symmetric difference of $A$ and $B$ is contained in $C$. We show that every cancellative triple system $\mathcal{H}$ that satisfies certain…
Let $\F_q^n$ be a vector space of dimension $n$ over the finite field $\F_q$. A $q$-analog of a Steiner system (briefly, a $q$-Steiner system), denoted $S_q[t,k,n]$, is a set $S$ of $k$-dimensional subspaces of $\F_q^n$ such that each…
If $G$ is a finite group then there is an integer $M_G$ such that$,$ for $u\ge M_G$ and $u\equiv 1$ or $3$ (mod 6), there is a Steiner triple system $U$ on $u$ points for which ${\rm Aut} U \cong G. \ $ If $V$ is a Steiner triple system…
A Steiner triple system, STS$(v)$, is a family of $3$-subsets (blocks) of a set of $v$ elements such that any two elements occur together in precisely one block. A collection of triples consisting of two copies of each block of an STS is…
Let STS(n) denote the number of Steiner triple systems on n vertices, and let F(n) denote the number of 1-factorizations of the complete graph on n vertices. We prove the following upper bound. STS(n) <= ((1 + o(1)) (n/e^2))^(n^2/6) F(n) <=…
The paper is devoted to the study of free objects in the variety of Steiner loops and of the combinatorial structures behind them, focusing on their automorphism groups. We prove that all automorphisms are tame and the automorphism group is…
A Kirkman triple system of order $v$, KTS$(v)$, is a resolvable Steiner triple system on $v$ elements. In this paper, we investigate an open problem posed by Doug Stinson, namely the existence of KTS$(v)$ which contain as a subdesign a…
Steiner triple systems (STSs) have been classified up to order 19. Earlier estimations of the number of isomorphism classes of STSs of order 21, the smallest open case, are discouraging as for classification, so it is natural to focus on…
We introduce a uniform method of proof for the following results. For {\em each} of the following conditions, there are $2^{\aleph_0}$ families of Steiner systems, satisfying that condition: i) Theorem~2.2.4: (extending \cite{Chicoetal})…
A famous theorem of Kirkman says that there exists a Steiner triple system of order $n$ if and only if $n\equiv 1,3\mod{6}$. In 1973, Erd\H{o}s conjectured that one can find so-called `sparse' Steiner triple systems. Roughly speaking, the…
The intersection of two Steiner triple systems (X,A) and (X,B) is the set A intersect B. The fine intersection problem for Steiner triple systems is to determine for each v, the set I(v), consisting of all possible pairs (m,n) such that…