On the Linearity of Higher-Dimensional Blocking Sets

A small minimal $k$-blocking set $B$ in $\mathrm{PG}(n,q)$, $q=p^t$, $p$ prime, is a set of less than $3(q^k+1)/2$ points in $\mathrm{PG}(n,q)$, such that every $(n-k)$-dimensional space contains at least one point of $B$ and such that no proper subset of $B$ satisfies this property. The linearity conjecture states that all small minimal $k$-blocking sets in $\mathrm{PG}(n,q)$ are linear over a subfield $\mathbb{F}_{p^e}$ of $\mathbb{F}_q$. Apart from a few cases, this conjecture is still open. In this paper, we show that to prove the linearity conjecture for $k$-blocking sets in $\mathrm{PG}(n,p^t)$, with exponent $e$ and $p^e\geq 7$, it is sufficient to prove it for one value of $n$ that is at least $2k$. Furthermore, we show that the linearity of small minimal blocking sets in $\mathrm{PG}(2,q)$ implies the linearity of small minimal $k$-blocking sets in $\mathrm{PG}(n,p^t)$, with exponent $e$, with $p^e\geq t/e+11$.

Groupes géométriques de rang de Morley fini

We consider a new subgroup In(G) in any group G of finite Morley rank. This definably characteristic subgroup is the smallest normal subgroup of G from which we can hope to build a geometry over the quotient group G/ In(G). We say that G is a geometric group if In(G) is trivial.This paper is a discussion of a conjecture which states that every geometric group G of finite Morley rank is definably linear over a ring K1 ⊕…⊕ Kn where K1,…,Kn are some interpretable fields. This linearity conjecture seems to generalize the Cherlin–Zil'ber conjecture in a very large class of groups of finite Morley rank.We show that, if this linearity conjecture is true, then there is a Rosenlicht theorem for groups of finite Morley rank, in the sense that the quotient group of any connected group of finite Morley rank by its hypercentre is definably linear.