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11 votes
1 answer
866 views

Which Steiner systems come from algebraic geometry?

This question is motivated by the ongoing discussion under my answer to this question. I wrote the following there: A $(p, q, r)$ Steiner system is a collection of $q$-element subsets $A$ (called ...
Daniel Litt's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
549 views

Pfaffian representation of the Fermat quintic

It is known (see for instance Beauville - Determinantal hypersurfaces) that a generic homogeneous polynomial in $5$ variables of degree $5$ with complex coefficients can be written as the Pfaffian of ...
Libli's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
1k views

Solving a Diophantine equation related to Algebraic Geometry, Steiner systems and $q$-binomials?

The short version of my question is: 1)For which positive integers $k, n$ is there a solution to the equation $$k(6k+1)=1+q+q^2+\cdots+q^n$$ with $q$ a prime power? 2) For which positive ...
Daniel Litt's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
267 views

A graphic representation of classical unitals on 28 points

I would like to understand the geometry of the classical unitals. They are block designs containing $q^3+1$ points and whose blocks have cardinality $q+1$, where $q$ is a prime power. For $q=2$ (if I ...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
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