Combinatorics of Finite Geometries [Paperback]

Thoroughly revised and updated, with an entirely new chapter on blocking sets in linear spaces.This book is an introductory text on the combinatorial theory of finite geometry. It assumes only a basic knowledge of set theory and analysis, but soon leads the student to results at the frontiers of research. The revised edition contains an entirely new chapter on blocking sets in linear spaces, which highlights some of the most important applications of blocking sets--from the initial game-theoretic setting to their very recent use in cryptography. Extensive exercises at the end of each chapter insure the usefulness of this book for senior undergraduate and beginning graduate students.This book is an introductory text on the combinatorial theory of finite geometry. It assumes only a basic knowledge of set theory and analysis, but soon leads the student to results at the frontiers of research. The revised edition contains an entirely new chapter on blocking sets in linear spaces, which highlights some of the most important applications of blocking sets--from the initial game-theoretic setting to their very recent use in cryptography. Extensive exercises at the end of each chapter insure the usefulness of this book for senior undergraduate and beginning graduate students.Combinatorics of Finite Geometries is an introductory text on the combinatorial theory of finite geometry. Assuming only a basic knowledge of set theory and analysis, it provides a thorough review of the topic and leads the student to results at the frontiers of research. This book begins with an elementary combinatorial approach to finite geometries based on finite sets of points and lines, and moves into the classical work on affine and projective planes. Later, it addresses polar spaces, partial geometries, and generalized quadrangles. The revised edition contains an entirely new chapter on blocking sets in linear spaces, which highlights some of the most important applications of blocking sló,