Ealy's conjecture in odd characteristic

Abstract

We solve Ealy's conjecture from 1977 by showing that for each odd prime $p$, a finite generalized quadrangle each point of which admits a central symmetry of order $p$, is either a classical symplectic quadrangle in dimension $3$, or a Hermitian quadrangle in dimension $3$ or $4$. As a byproduct, we vastly generalize the aforementioned result by determining the finite generalized quadrangles whose every point admits at least one nontrivial central symmetry.