On The Possible Automorphisms of a \(3\)-\((16,7,5)\) Design

Abstract

The existence question for a \(3\)-\((16,7,5)\) design is open, In this paper, we examine possible automorphisms of this design. We consider a minimum subset of basic permutations consisting of cycles of prime length \(p\) and prove that if a \(3\)-\((16,7,5)\) design exists, then it is either rigid or admits basic automorphisms with cycles of length \(2\) or \(3\).