Computational Algebra Seminar: Taylor -- A survey of finite nearfields in Magma

Speaker: Don Taylor
Title: A survey of finite nearfields in Magma
Time & Place: 3:05-4pm, Thursday 24 May, Carslaw 535

Abstract:
A nearfield is an algebraic structure which satisfies all
the field axioms except perhaps the left distributive law
and commutativity of multiplication.

The finite sharply doubly transitive permutation groups
are in one-to-one correspondence with the finite nearfields
and several large classes of non-Desarguesian projective
planes can be constructed from nearfields.

User-defined types will be available in the next release
of Magma and in this talk I review some of the structure
theory of nearfields and report on their implementation
via user-defined types.