English

Fixed-point-free elements in two-orbit permutation groups

Group Theory 2026-07-13 v1 Combinatorics

Abstract

Let GG be a two-orbit permutation group on n>2n > 2 points. We show that GG contains either a derangement or an element of prime-power order with a unique fixed point. As a corollary, if the orbits of GG have length n1n_1 and n2n_2 and gcd(n1,n21)=gcd(n11,n2)=1\gcd(n_1, n_2-1) = \gcd(n_1-1, n_2) = 1, then GG contains a derangement. The special case n1=n2n_1 = n_2 was recently conjectured by Ellis and Harper and proved under various restrictive hypotheses. We prove our result by reducing to the case of simple groups and leveraging the classification of normal 22-coverings of simple groups due to Bubboloni, Spiga, and Weigel.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.11543,
  title  = {Fixed-point-free elements in two-orbit permutation groups},
  author = {Jessica Anzanello and Sean Eberhard},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.11543},
  year   = {2026}
}

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9 pages