Directed Covering with Block Size 5 and \(v\) and \(\lambda\) Odd

Omar A. AbuGhneim1, Hasan A. Al- Halees2, Ahmed M. Assaf3
1Department of Mathematics, Jordan University, Amman, Jordan
2Department of Mathematical Sciences, Saginaw Valley State University, University Center, MI 48710, USA
3Department of Mathematics, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859, USA

Abstract

A directed covering design, \( DC(v, k, \lambda) \), is a \( (v, k, 2\lambda) \) covering design in which the blocks are regarded as ordered \( k \)-tuples and in which each ordered pair of elements occurs in at least \( \lambda \) blocks. Let \( DE(v, k, \lambda) \) denote the minimum number of blocks in a \( DC(v, k, \lambda) \). In this paper, the values of the function \( DE(v, k, \lambda) \) are determined for all odd integers \( v \geq 5 \) and \( \lambda \) odd, with the exception of \( (v, \lambda) = (53, 1), (63, 1), (73, 1), (83, 1) \). Further, we provide an example of a covering design that cannot be directed.