We provide a combinatorial characterization of LG(3,6)(${\mathbb{K}}$) using an axiom set which is the natural continuation of the Mazzocca–Melone set we used to characterize Severi varieties over arbitrary fields (Schillewaert and Van Maldeghem, Severi varieties over arbitrary fields, Preprint). This fits within a large project aiming at constructing and characterizing the varieties related to the Freudenthal–Tits magic square.

Let $\Delta$ be one of the dual polar spaces $DW(5,q)$ or $DH(5,q^2)$. We consider a class of subspaces of $\Delta$, each member of which carries the structure of a near hexagon, and classify all these subspaces. Using this classification, we determine all hyperplanes of $DW(5,q)$ without ovoidal quads.

New proofs are given of the fundamental results of Bader, Lunardon and Thas relating flocks of the quadratic cone in PG(3, q), q odd, and BLT-sets of Q(4, q). We also show that there is a unique BLT-set of H(3, 9). The model of Penttila for Q(4, q), q odd, is extended to Q(2m, q) to construct partial flocks of size qm/2+m/2 – 1 of the cone kin PG(2m – 1, q) with vertex a point and base Q(2m – 2, q), where q is congruent to 1 or 3 modulo 8 and m is even. These partial flocks are larger than the largest previously known for m > 2. Also, the example of O'Keefe and Thas of a partial flock of k in PG(5, 3) of size 6 is generalised to a partial flock of the cone k of PG(2pn – 1, p) of size 2pn, for any prime p congruent to 1 or 3 modulo 8, with the corresponding partial BLT-set of Q(2pn, p) admitting the symmetric group of degree 2pn + 1.

A reflection is an invertible linear transformation of a vector space fixing a given hyperplane, its axis, vectorwise and a given complement to this hyperplane, its center, setwise. A reflection torus is a one-dimensional group generated by all reflections with fixed axis and center.

In this paper we classify subgroups of general linear groups (in arbitrary dimension and defined over arbitrary fields) generated by reflection tori.