Related papers: Small transitive homogeneous $3$-$(v,\{4,6\},1)$ d…
We provide a method to construct $t$-designs from weighing matrices and association schemes. One instance of our method can produce a $3$-design from any (symmetric or skew-symmetric) conference matrix, thereby providing a partial answer to…
Block designs are combinatorial structures in which each pair of a set of varieties appears together in a fixed number of blocks. Complete graphs are graphs in which every pair of vertices are adjacent. We present some new constructions of…
We consider when the projective special linear group over a finite field defines a $3$-design with a cyclic starter block. We will show that the equivalences of the existence of such $3$-$(q+1,5,3)$ and $3$-$(q+1,10,18)$ designs for a prime…
We say that a linear space is harmonious if it is resolvable and admits an automorphism group acting sharply transitively on the points and transitively on the parallel classes. Generalizing old results by the first author et al. we present…
In this paper we construct two new symmetric designs with parameters 2-(176,50,14) as designs invariant under certain subgroups of the full automorphism group of the Higman design. One is self-dual and has the full automorphism group of…
We give some new explicit examples of putatively optimal projective spherical designs. i.e., ones for which there is numerical evidence that they are of minimal size. These form continuous families, and so have little apparent symmetry in…
A design is said to be $f$-pyramidal when it has an automorphism group which fixes $f$ points and acts sharply transitively on all the others. The problem of establishing the set of values of $v$ for which there exists an $f$-pyramidal…
The largest prime p that can be the order of an automorphism of a 2-(35,17,8) design is p=17, and all 2-(35,17,8) designs with an automorphism of order 17 were classified by Tonchev. The symmetric 2-(35,17,8) designs with automorphisms of…
A ${\rm{TS}}(v,\lambda)$ is a pair $(V,\mathcal{B})$ where $V$ contains $v$ points and $\mathcal{B}$ contains $3$-element subsets of $V$ so that each pair in $V$ appears in exactly $\lambda$ blocks. A $2$-block intersection graph ($2$-BIG)…
The dual codes of the ternary linear codes of the residual designs of biplanes on 56 points are used to prove the nonexistence of quasi-symmetric 2-$(56,12,9)$ and 2-$(57,12,11)$ designs with intersection numbers 0 and 3, and the…
Kirkman triple systems (KTSs) are among the most popular combinatorial designs and their existence has been settled a long time ago. Yet, in comparison with Steiner triple systems, little is known about their automorphism groups. In…
Optimal block designs in small blocks are explored when the treatments have a natural ordering and interest lies in comparing consecutive pairs of treatments. We first develop an approximate theory which leads to a convenient multiplicative…
In this paper, we first study biplanes $\mathcal{D}$ with parameters $(v,k,2)$, where the block size $k\in\{13,16\}$. These are the smallest parameter values for which a classification is not available. We show that if $k=13$, then either…
The regular polyhedra have the highest order of 3D symmetries and are exceptionally at- tractive templates for (self)-assembly using minimal types of building blocks, from nano-cages and virus capsids to large scale constructions like glass…
We solve the long-standing open problem of classifying all 3-(v,k,1) designs with a flag-transitive group of automorphisms (cf. A. Delandtsheer, Geom. Dedicata 41 (1992), p. 147; and in: "Handbook of Incidence Geometry", ed. by F.…
This paper presents a classification of locally $2$-homogeneous designs, extending Kantor's classification of 2-transitive symmetric designs (1985).
Let $\mathcal D=(\Omega, \mathcal B)$ be a pair of $v$ point set $\Omega$ and a set $\mathcal B$ consists of $k$ point subsets of $\Omega$ which are called blocks. Let $d$ be the maximal cardinality of the intersections between the distinct…
To each supersimple $2-(n,4,\lambda)$ design $\mathcal{D}$ one associates a `Conway groupoid,' which may be thought of as a natural generalisation of Conway's Mathieu groupoid associated to $M_{13}$ which is constructed from $\mathbb{P}_3$.…
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…
A design is $G$-additive with $G$ an abelian group, if its points are in $G$ and each block is zero-sum in $G$. All the few known ``manageable" additive Steiner 2-designs are $\mathrm{EA}(q)$-additive for a suitable $q$, where…