Combinatorics of Symmetric Designs

The aim of this book is to provide a unified exposition of the theory of symmetric designs with emphasis on recent developments. The authors cover the combinatorial aspects of the theory giving particular attention to the construction of symmetric designs and related objects. The last five chapters of the book are devoted to balanced generalized weighing matrices, decomposable symmetric designs, subdesigns of symmetric designs, non-embeddable quasi-residual designs, and Ryser designs. Most results in these chapters have never previously appeared in book form. The book concludes with a comprehensive bibliography of over 400 entries. Researchers in all areas of combinatorial designs, including coding theory and finite geometries, will find much of interest here. Detailed proofs and a large number of exercises make this book suitable as a text for an advanced course in combinatorial designs.

• The book contains many recent results and developments that have never appeared in book form, and an extensive bibliography contains more than 400 cited entries
• Self-contained and accessible to researchers and graduate students alike
• As there are a large number of exercises, and detailed proofs of important results, it can serve as a text for a graduate course in Combinatorial Designs