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Design theory. (English) Zbl 0561.05009

Cambridge etc.: Cambridge University Press. VIII, 240 p. £25.00; $ 39.50 (1985).
Design theory has grown to be a subject of considerable interest in mathematics, not only in itself, but for its connections to other fields such as geometry, group theory, graph theory and coding theory. This textbook is intended to be an accessible introduction for advanced undergraduates and beginning students and to prepare them for research in design theory and its applications. The first four chapters (Basic concepts, Symmetric designs, Some families of symmetric designs, 3- designs) are designed to be the core of any course in the subject, while the remaining chapters (Resolutions, Other 2-designs (Steiner systems, unitals, etc.), Some 1-designs (semilinear spaces, generalized quadrangles, semisymmetric designs), The large Mathieu designs) can be utilized in more advanced or longer courses. The authors assume some knowledge of linear algebra for the first half of the book, but for the second half, students need further background in algebra.
Reviewer: G.Stanilov

MSC:

05Bxx Designs and configurations
05-01 Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to combinatorics