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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
The covering problem. Let S i(i = 1, 2,…,n) be given sets containing mi elements respectively and let
1
be their cartesian product. The elements of S (n) will be called vectors. The vector (x1 x2,…, xn) covers (y1 y2,…, yn) if xi =yi for at least n—1 values of i. A subset M of S (n) is said to be a covering (perfect covering) of S (n) if each member of S (n) is covered by at least (exactly) one member of M. A covering M is said to be linear if the sets Si are groups Gi and M is a subgroup of G (n) = S (n) Denote by σ(n; m1 m2,…, mn) the value of min |M| when M runs through all coverings of S(n) and by σ(n; m1 m2,…, mn) the value of min |M| when the sets Si are given groups Gi and M runs through all linear coverings of G (n).