On homotopy nilpotency of the octonian plane $\mathbb{O}P^2$

Let $\mathbb{O}P^2_{(p)}$ be the $p$-localization of the Cayley projective plane $\mathbb{O}P^2$ for a prime $p$ or $p=0$. We show that the homotopy nilpotency class $\textrm{nil} \Omega(\mathbb{O}P^2_{(p)})<\infty $ for $p>2$ and $\textrm{nil} \Omega (\mathbb{O}P^2_{(p)})=1$ for $p>5$ or $p=0$. The homotopy nilpotency of remaining Rosenfeld projective planes are discussed as well.

Generalizing the Algebra of Throws to Rank-3 Matroids

<p>The algebra of throws is a geometric construction which reveals the underlying algebraic operations of addition and multiplication in a projective plane. In Desarguesian projective planes, the algebra of throws is a well-defined, commutative and associative binary operation. However, when we consider an analogous operation in a more general point-line configuration that comes from rank-3 matroids, none of these properties are guaranteed. We construct lists of forbidden configurations which give polynomial time checks for certain properties. Using these forbidden configurations, we can check whether a configuration has a group structure under this analogous operation. We look at the properties of configurations with such a group structure, and discuss their connection to the jointless Dowling geometries.</p>

Generalizing the Algebra of Throws to Rank-3 Matroids

<p>The algebra of throws is a geometric construction which reveals the underlying algebraic operations of addition and multiplication in a projective plane. In Desarguesian projective planes, the algebra of throws is a well-defined, commutative and associative binary operation. However, when we consider an analogous operation in a more general point-line configuration that comes from rank-3 matroids, none of these properties are guaranteed. We construct lists of forbidden configurations which give polynomial time checks for certain properties. Using these forbidden configurations, we can check whether a configuration has a group structure under this analogous operation. We look at the properties of configurations with such a group structure, and discuss their connection to the jointless Dowling geometries.</p>

Surfaces of Section for Seifert Fibrations

We classify global surfaces of section for flows on 3-manifolds defining Seifert fibrations. We discuss branched coverings—one way or the other—between surfaces of section for the Hopf flow and those for any other Seifert fibration of the 3-sphere, and we relate these surfaces of section to algebraic curves in weighted complex projective planes.

Mori dreamness of blowups of weighted projective planes

We consider the blowup X(a, b, c) of a weighted projective space $${\mathbb {P}}(a,b,c)$$ P ( a , b , c ) at a general nonsingular point. We give a sufficient condition for a curve to be a negative curve on X(a, b, c) in terms of $$\chi ({\mathcal {O}}_X(C))$$ χ ( O X ( C ) ) . This can be applied to find the effective cone of X(a, b, c) and can serve as a starting point to prove the Mori dreamness of blowups of many weighted projective planes. We confirm the Mori dreamness of some X(a, b, c) as examples of our method.

Combinatorial invariants for nets of conics in $$\mathrm {PG}(2,q)$$

The problem of classifying linear systems of conics in projective planes dates back at least to Jordan, who classified pencils (one-dimensional systems) of conics over $${\mathbb {C}}$$ C and $$\mathbb {R}$$ R in 1906–1907. The analogous problem for finite fields $$\mathbb {F}_q$$ F q with q odd was solved by Dickson in 1908. In 1914, Wilson attempted to classify nets (two-dimensional systems) of conics over finite fields of odd characteristic, but his classification was incomplete and contained some inaccuracies. In a recent article, we completed Wilson’s classification (for q odd) of nets of rank one, namely those containing a repeated line. The aim of the present paper is to introduce and calculate certain combinatorial invariants of these nets, which we expect will be of use in various applications. Our approach is geometric in the sense that we view a net of rank one as a plane in $$\mathrm {PG}(5,q)$$ PG ( 5 , q ) , q odd, that meets the quadric Veronesean in at least one point; two such nets are then equivalent if and only if the corresponding planes belong to the same orbit under the induced action of $$\mathrm {PGL}(3,q)$$ PGL ( 3 , q ) viewed as a subgroup of $$\mathrm {PGL}(6,q)$$ PGL ( 6 , q ) . Since q is odd, the orbits of lines in $$\mathrm {PG}(5,q)$$ PG ( 5 , q ) under this action correspond to the aforementioned pencils of conics in $$\mathrm {PG}(2,q)$$ PG ( 2 , q ) . The main contribution of this paper is to determine the line-orbit distribution of a plane $$\pi $$ π corresponding to a net of rank one, namely, the number of lines in $$\pi $$ π belonging to each line orbit. It turns out that this list of invariants completely determines the orbit of $$\pi $$ π , and we will use this fact in forthcoming work to develop an efficient algorithm for calculating the orbit of a given net of rank one. As a more immediate application, we also determine the stabilisers of nets of rank one in $$\mathrm {PGL}(3,q)$$ PGL ( 3 , q ) , and hence the orbit sizes.