Smallest cyclically covering subspaces of ${\mathbb{F}}_q^n$, and lower bounds in Isbell's conjecture

For a prime power $q$ and a positive integer $n$, we say a subspace $U$ of ${\mathbb{F}}_q^n$ is {\em cyclically covering} if the union of the cyclic shifts of $U$ is equal to ${\mathbb{F}}_q^n$. We investigate the problem of determining the minimum possible dimension of a cyclically covering subspace of ${\mathbb{F}}_q^n$. (This is a natural generalisation of a problem posed in 1991 by the first author.) We prove several upper and lower bounds, and for each fixed $q$, we answer the question completely for infinitely many values of $n$ (which take the form of certain geometric series). Our results imply lower bounds for a well-known conjecture of Isbell, and a generalisation theoreof, supplementing lower bounds due to Spiga. We also consider the analogous problem for general representations of groups. We use arguments from combinatorics, representation theory and finite field theory.