Divisible Designs, Laguerre Geometry, and Beyond

Abstract

In these notes we aim at bringing together design theory and projective geometry over a ring. Both disciplines are well established, but the results on the interaction between them seem to be rare and scattered over the literature. Thus our main goal is to present the basics from either side, to develop, or at least sketch, the principal connections between them, and to make recommendations for further reading. There is no attempt to provide encyclopedic coverage with expansive notes and references.