Small Blocking Sets in Higher Dimensions

Abstract

We show that small blocking sets in PG(n, q) with respect to hyperplanes intersect every hyperplane in 1 modulo p points, where q=ph. The result is then extended to blocking sets with respect to k-dimensional subspaces and, at least when p>2, to intersections with arbitrary subspaces not just hyperplanes. This can also be used to characterize certain non-degenerate blocking sets in higher dimensions. Furthermore we determine the possible sizes of small minimal blocking sets with respect to k-dimensional subspaces.