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16 votes
1 answer
3k views

How do I see the equality $57 = 3 \times 19$ geometrically?

Consider the finite field ${\bf F}_p$ and its cubic extension ${\bf F}_{p^3}$. The multiplicative group ${\bf G}_m({\bf F}_{p^3})$ contains the multiplicative group ${\bf G}_m({\bf F}_p) \cong {\bf Z}/...
gulag57's user avatar
  • 364
11 votes
2 answers
788 views

Blocking sets in three dimensional finite affine spaces

What is the smallest possible size of a set of points in $\mathbb{F}_q^3$ which intersects (blocks) every line? Clearly the union of three affine hyperplanes that intersect in a singleton, say $x = 0,...
Anurag's user avatar
  • 1,197
10 votes
1 answer
561 views

How many rich directions does a set in $\mathbb F_p^2$ determine?

$\newcommand{\F}{\mathbb F}$ A subset $P$ of the affine plane $\F_p^2$ is said to determine a direction if there is a line in this direction containing at least two points of $P$. A set of size $|P|&...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
9 votes
0 answers
245 views

Almost blocking sets in $\mathbb F_q^2$

$\newcommand{\F}{{\mathbb F}}$ Let $q$ be an odd prime power. A blocking set in the affine plane $\F_q^2$ is a set blocking (meeting) every line. A union of two non-parallel lines is a blocking set ...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
7 votes
0 answers
300 views

Arrangement of subspaces over finite fields

I'm trying to find out what is already known about the following setup. Let $V$ be an $n$-dimensional vector space over a finite field $F_q$ (I'm mostly interested in the case where $q$ is prime), and ...
user38495's user avatar
  • 1,062
6 votes
1 answer
303 views

Maximum number of elements in union of subspaces

Let $V$ be a $m$-dimensional vector space over $\mathbb{F}_q$ and $1<\ell<m-1$. Let $r$ be a positive integer such that $r\ell\leq m$. QUESTION. What is the maximum number of elements in the ...
user100393's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
297 views

Covering the finite plane with lines

This is, essentially, a geometrically rendered version of the question I asked a week ago, with the emphases slightly shifted; it seems more natural and appealing (to me, at least) in this form. Let ...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
6 votes
1 answer
458 views

Applications of small Kakeya sets over finite fields

It was proved by Dvir that a Kakeya set in $\mathbb{F}_q^n$ has size at least $q^n/n!$, a bound which was later improved to $q^n/2^n$. For $n = 2$ and $q$ odd the exact bound is $q(q+1)/2 + (q-1)/2$ ...
Anurag's user avatar
  • 1,197
5 votes
1 answer
343 views

Large gaps in Singer planar difference sets?

By a classical result of Singer (1938), for a prime number $p$ the cyclic group $C_n$ of order $n=1+p+p^2$ contains a subset $D$ of cardinality $|D|=1+p$ such that $DD^{-1}=C_n$. Such set $D$ is ...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
  • 41.9k
5 votes
2 answers
139 views

Sets blocking every $2$-flat in $AG(n,2)$

The following may be well-known $-$ but not known to me: What is the smallest possible size of a set in ${\mathbb F}_2^n$ that blocks every $2$-flat? Here "blocks" means "have a non-empty ...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
5 votes
1 answer
459 views

$(n-2)$-blocking sets in $AG(n,2)$

Let's define $k$-blocking set in affine space $AG(n,q)$ a set that meets every coset (translate of subspace) of dimension $k$. I have seen a lot work related to minimal $(n-1)$-blockings set. ...
Ashot's user avatar
  • 337
4 votes
1 answer
271 views

Square-free sets in $\mathbb F_2^n\oplus\mathbb F_2^n$

A square in $\mathbb F_2^n\oplus\mathbb F_2^n$ is a quadruple of the form $$ (u,v)+\{(0,0),(0,d),(d,0),(d,d)\},\quad u,v,d\in\mathbb F_2^n,\ d\ne 0. $$ A set $A\subset\mathbb F_2^n\oplus\mathbb F_2^...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
4 votes
1 answer
463 views

Covering all, but $k$ points with affine subspaces

For non-negative integer $d\le n$ and $k\le 2^n$, how many affine subspaces of co-dimension $d$ are needed to cover all, but exactly $k$ elements of the vector space ${\mathbb F}_2^n$, and what are ...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
3 votes
3 answers
611 views

On MDS code property

Is there a code that is Maximum Distance Separable and not isomorphic to Reed Solomon Codes? When is a MDS code isomorphic to Reed Solomon Code? Is there an easy test? If so, could someone provide ...
Turbo's user avatar
  • 13.9k
3 votes
1 answer
245 views

An upper bound on the number of sets of parallel lines covering points in a finite plane?

Let $\mathbb{F}$ be a finite field of characteristic $2$. Let $L_m$ denote the set of lines in $\mathbb{F}^2$ with slope $m\in\mathbb{F}$, that is, all parallel lines of the form $y=mx+b$. Consider a ...
pxdnr's user avatar
  • 133
3 votes
0 answers
167 views

Intersection of two trace equations over finite fields

Let $F_q$ be a finite field with $q$ elements. Let $n$ be an integer and $Tr:F_{q^n} \rightarrow F_q$ the trace function. My question is: For which integer $k$, $$\{x: Tr(x)=0\}\cap\{x: Tr(x^k)=0\}=\{...
Joe Zhou's user avatar
  • 123
2 votes
0 answers
35 views

Different powers of a primitive root simultaneously lying in a subspace

Let $p$ be a large prime and let $\alpha$ be a root of a primitive quadratic polynomial over $\mathbb{F}_p$. Let $N$ be an integer parameter of size proportional to $p$ and $$V = \{\alpha + b : b \in \...
George Shakan's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
337 views

Enumerating certain types of permutation polynomials

Given a prime power $q$, I would like to enumerate (preferably up to isomorphism*) all the permutation polynomials $f(x)$ on $K = GF(q^3)$ satisfying the following conditions: $f(ax) = af(x)$ for all ...
Anurag's user avatar
  • 1,197
1 vote
1 answer
145 views

Finding a set of disjoint affine subspaces such that their union is equal to a given subset of $\mathbb{F}_2^n$

Suppose I'm given a set of point $S = \{x_1, \dots, x_m \} \subseteq \mathbb{F}_2^n$, and the following task. Find a set of disjoint affine subspaces of $\mathbb{F}_2^n$, $A_1, \dots, A_k$ satisfying ...
Kal's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote
1 answer
64 views

Dual of blocking sets in finite geometry

Let $V$ be an $n$-dimensional vector space over the finite field of cardinality $q$ and let $W_1,\ldots,W_m$ be hyperplanes of $V$ such that $$V=\bigcup_{i=1}^mW_i \,\,\hbox{ and }\,\,0=\bigcap_{i=...
Pablo Spiga's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
771 views

Elliptic Curve, characteristic equation of Frobenius endomorphism relation to isogeny

Let E be an elliptic curve over $F_p$. Suppose that its j invarient is not supersingular and that $j\neq 0 $ or 1728. Then the modular polynomial $\Phi_l(j,T)$ has a zero $\tilde{\jmath} \in \...
user111264's user avatar