Related papers: Small 3-fold blocking sets in $\mathrm{PG}(2,p^n)$
In this paper, we study the cardinality of the smallest set of lines of the finite projective spaces $\operatorname{PG}(n,q)$ such that every plane is incident with at least one line of the set. This is the first main open problem…
We prove that a minimal $t$-fold blocking set in a finite projective plane of order $n$ has cardinality at most \[\frac{1}{2} n\sqrt{4tn - (3t + 1)(t - 1)} + \frac{1}{2} (t - 1)n + t.\] This is the first general upper bound on the size of…
In this paper we prove that a set of points $B$ of PG(n,2) is a minimal blocking set if and only if $<B>=PG(d,2)$ with $d$ odd and $B$ is a set of $d+2$ points of $PG(d,2)$ no $d+1$ of them in the same hyperplane. As a corollary to the…
Let PG$(r, q)$ be the $r$-dimensional projective space over the finite field ${\rm GF}(q)$. A set $\cal X$ of points of PG$(r, q)$ is a cutting blocking set if for each hyperplane $\Pi$ of PG$(r, q)$ the set $\Pi \cap \cal X$ spans $\Pi$.…
In this paper, we show that a small minimal blocking set with exponent e in PG(n,p^t), p prime, spanning a (t/e-1)-dimensional space, is an F_p^e-linear set, provided that p>5(t/e)-11. As a corollary, we get that all small minimal blocking…
The main purpose of this paper is to find double blocking sets in $\mathrm{PG}(2,q)$ of size less than $3q$, in particular when $q$ is prime. To this end, we study double blocking sets in $\mathrm{PG}(2,q)$ of size $3q-1$ admitting at least…
Bishnoi conjectured that if a minimal t-fold blocking set in a projective plane of prime power order has maximal size then it is either a projective plane minus one point, the complement of a Baer subplane or a unital. In this note we prove…
A small minimal k-blocking set B in PG(n, q), q = pt, p prime, is a set of less than 3(qk + 1)/2 points in PG(n, q), such that every (n - k)-dimensional space contains at least one point of B and such that no proper subset of B satisfies…
A blocking set in an affine plane is a set of points $B$ such that every line contains at least one point of $B$. The best known lower bound for blocking sets in arbitrary (non-desarguesian) affine planes was derived in the 1980's by Bruen…
In this paper, we show that a small minimal k-blocking set in PG(n, q3), q = p^h, h >= 1, p prime, p >=7, intersecting every (n-k)-space in 1 (mod q) points, is linear. As a corollary, this result shows that all small minimal k-blocking…
A blocking semioval is a set of points in a projective plane that is both a blocking set (i.e., every line meets the set, but the set contains no line) and a semioval (i.e., there is a unique tangent line at each point). The smallest size…
Let $n$ be a positive integer. Denote by $\mathrm{PG}(n,q)$ the $n$-dimensional projective space over the finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$ of order $q$. A blocking set in $\mathrm{PG}(n,q)$ is a set of points that has non-empty intersection with…
We describe small dominating sets of the incidence graphs of finite projective planes by establishing a stability result which shows that dominating sets are strongly related to blocking and covering sets. Our main result states that if a…
A $3$-partition of an $n$-element set $V$ is a triple of pairwise disjoint nonempty subsets $X,Y,Z$ such that $V=X\cup Y\cup Z$. We determine the minimum size $\varphi_3(n)$ of a set $\mathcal{E}$ of triples such that for every 3-partition…
This paper studies {\em strong blocking sets} in the $N$-dimensional finite projective space $\mathrm{PG}(N,q)$. We first show that certain unions of blocking sets cannot form strong blocking sets, which leads to a new lower bound on the…
We prove new upper bounds on the smallest size of affine blocking sets, that is, sets of points in a finite affine space that intersect every affine subspace of a fixed codimension. We show an equivalence between affine blocking sets with…
Blocking sets and minimal codes have been studied for many years in projective geometry and coding theory. In this paper, we provide a new lower bound on the size of $t$-fold $s$-blocking sets without the condition $t \leq q$, which is…
In a 2022, Bartoli, Cossidente, Marino, and Pavese proved that in the projective space ${\rm PG}(3,q^3)$, one can find three $\mathbb F_q$-subgeometries such that the union of their point sets is a strong blocking set. This proves the…
We show that the metric dimension of a finite projective plane of order $q\geq 23$ is $4q-4$, and describe all resolving sets of that size. Let $\tau_2$ denote the size of the smallest double blocking set in $\mathrm{PG}(2,q)$, the…
An untouchable set in a projective plane is a set of points such that no line of the plane meets the set in exactly one point. Recently, H\'eger and Nagy (Avoiding Secants of Given Size in Finite Projective Planes, J. Combin. Des.…