On two non-existence results for Cameron-Liebler $k$-sets in $\mathrm{PG}(n,q)$

Abstract

This paper focuses on non-existence results for Cameron-Liebler $k$-sets. A Cameron-Liebler $k$-set is a collection of $k$-spaces in $\mathrm{PG}(n,q)$ or $\mathrm{AG}(n,q)$ admitting a certain parameter $x$, which is dependent on the size of this collection. One of the main research questions remains the (non-)existence of Cameron-Liebler $k$-sets with parameter $x$. This paper improves two non-existence results. First we show that the parameter of a non-trivial Cameron-Liebler $k$-set in $\mathrm{PG}(n,q)$ should be larger than $q^{n-\frac{5k}{2}-1}$, which is an improvement of an earlier known lower bound. Secondly, we prove a modular equality on the parameter $x$ of Cameron-Liebler $k$-sets in $\mathrm{PG}(n,q)$ with $x<\frac{q^{n-k}-1}{q^{k+1}-1}$, $n\ge 2k+1$, $n-k+1\ge 7$ and $n-k$ even. In the affine case we show a similar result for $n-k+1\ge 3$ and $n-k$ even. This is a generalization of earlier known modular equalities in the projective and affine case.