Design theory and some forbidden configurations

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper we relate ‐designs to a forbidden configuration problem in extremal set theory. Let denote a column of 1's on top of 0's. Let denote the matrix consisting of rows of 1's and rows of 0's. We consider extremal problems for matrices avoiding certain submatrices. Let be a (0, 1)‐matrix forbidding any submatrix . Assume is ‐rowed and only columns of sum are allowed to be repeated. Assume that has the maximum number of columns subject to the given restrictions. Assume is sufficiently large. Then has each column of sum and exactly once and, given the appropriate divisibility condition, the columns of sum correspond to a ‐design with block size and parameter . The proof derives a basic upper bound on the number of columns of by a pigeonhole argument and then a careful argument, for large m, reduces the bound by a substantial amount down to the value given by design‐based constructions. We extend in a few directions.