A Theorem on Steiner Systems

Abstract

1. Definitions and notation. A generalized Steiner system (t-design, tactical configuration) with parameters t, λt, k, v is a system (T, B), where T is a set of v elements, B is a set of blocks each of which is a k-subset of T (but note that blocks bi and bj may be the same k-subset of T) and such that every set of t elements of T belongs to exactly λt of the blocks. If we put λt = u we denote by Su(t, k, v) the collection of all systems with these parameters. Thus Q ∈ Su(t, k, v) means Q = (T, B) is a system with the given parameters. If λt = u = 1, we write S(t, k, v) instead of S1(t, k, v) and refer to the system as a Steiner system. If t = 2, the system is called a balanced incomplete block design.