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Let $G$ be a finite group with Sylow $2$-subgroup $P \leqslant G$. Navarro-Tiep-Vallejo have conjectured that the principal $2$-block of $N_G(P)$ contains exactly one irreducible Brauer character if and only if all odd-degree ordinary…
A parabolic representation of the free group $F_2$ is one in which the images of both generators are parabolic elements of $PSL(2,\IC)$. The Riley slice is a closed subset ${\cal R}\subset \IC$ which is a model for the parabolic, discrete…
We determine which quasi-simple groups have a non-principal $2$-block that is stable under complex conjugation. As a corollary, we determine that the Mathieu group $M_{22}$ is the only simple group not possessing a nontrivial irreducible…
A complete mapping of a group $G$ is a permutation $\phi:G\rightarrow G$ such that $g\mapsto g\phi(g)$ is also a permutation. Complete mappings of $G$ are equivalent to tranversals of the Cayley table of $G$, considered as a latin square.…
We study some special systems of generators on finite groups, introduced in previous work by the first author and called "diagonal double Kodaira structures", in order to investigate non-abelian, finite quotients of the pure braid group on…
We describe a class of compact $G_2$ orbifolds constructed from non-symplectic involutions of K3 surfaces. Within this class, we identify a model for which there are infinitely many associative submanifolds contributing to the effective…
This is an introduction to finite simple groups, in particular sporadic groups, intended for physicists. After a short review of group theory, we enumerate the $1+1+16=18$ families of finite simple groups, as an introduction to the sporadic…
We study automaton structures, i.e. groups, monoids and semigroups generated by an automaton, which, in this context, means a deterministic finite-state letter-to-letter transducer. Instead of considering only complete automata, we…
The study of finite subgroups of a simple algebraic group $G$ reduces in a sense to those which are almost simple. If an almost simple subgroup of $G$ has a socle which is not isomorphic to a group of Lie type in the underlying…
We study the intersection lattice of the arrangement $\mathcal{A}^G$ of subspaces fixed by subgroups of a finite linear group $G$. When $G$ is a reflection group, this arrangement is precisely the hyperplane reflection arrangement of $G$.…
The prime graph of a finite group $G$ is the labelled graph $\Gamma(G)$ with vertices the prime divisors of $|G|$ and edges the pairs $\{p,q\}$ for which $G$ contains an element of order $pq$. A group $G$ is recognisable by its prime graph…
Riordan arrays, denoted by pairs of generating functions (g(z), f(z)), are infinite lower-triangular matrices that are used as combinatorial tools. In this paper, we present Riordan and stochastic Riordan arrays that have connections to the…
We prove structure theorems for the moduli stack of elliptic curves equipped with $G$-structures, where $G$ is a finite 2-generated metabelian group. In particular, we show that if $G$ has exponent $e$, then there is a subgroup $H\le…
When K is an arbitrary field, we study the affine automorphisms of M_n(K) that stabilize GL_n(K). Using a theorem of Dieudonn\'e on maximal affine subspaces of singular matrices, this is easily reduced to the known case of linear preservers…
We identify the sporadic simple group $\mathrm{M}_{12}$ and the simple group $\mathrm{SL}_3(3)$ from some part of their 3-local structure and give a graph theoretic analogue of the resulting theorem.
We prove that if $L=\mbox{}^2F_4(2^{2n+1})'$ and $x$ is a nonidentity automorphism of $L$ then $G=\langle L,x\rangle$ has four elements conjugate to $x$ that generate $G$. This result is used to study the following conjecture about the…
In earlier work, Katz exhibited some very simple one parameter families of exponential sums which gave rigid local systems on the affine line in characteristic p whose geometric (and usually, arithmetic) monodromy groups were SL(2,q), and…
We construct explicit finite generating sets for the stabilizers in Thompson's group $F$ of rational points of a unit interval or a Cantor set. Our technique is based on the Reidemeister-Schreier procedure in the context of Schreier graphs…
This article produces a complete list of all maximal subgroups of the finite simple groups of type $F_4$, $E_6$, and twisted $E_6$ over all finite fields. Along the way, we determine the collection of Lie primitive almost simple subgroups…
The factorization number $F_2(G)$ of a finite group $G$ is the number of all possible factorizations of $G=HK$ as product of its subgroups $H$ and $K$, while the subgroup commutativity degree $\mathrm{sd}(G)$ of $G$ is the probability of…