New constructions for disjoint partial difference families and external partial difference families

Abstract

Recently, new combinatorial structures called disjoint partial difference families (DPDFs) and external partial difference families (EPDFs) were introduced, which simultaneously generalize partial difference sets, disjoint difference families and external difference families, and have applications in information security. So far, all known construction methods have used cyclotomy in finite fields. We present the first noncyclotomic infinite families of DPDFs which are also EPDFs, in structures other than finite fields (in particular cyclic groups and nonabelian groups). As well as direct constructions, we present an approach to constructing DPDFs/EPDFs using relative difference sets (RDSs); as part of this, we demonstrate how the well‐known RDS result of Bose extends to a very natural construction for DPDFs and EPDFs.