Related papers: Finite primitive groups and regular orbits of grou…

We prove two theorems in the ergodic theory of infinite permutation groups. First, generalizing a theorem of Nessonov for the infinite symmetric group, we show that every non-singular action of a non-archimedean, Roelcke precompact, Polish…

Let $G$ be a permutation group on a set $\Omega$. A subset of $\Omega$ is a base for $G$ if its pointwise stabiliser in $G$ is trivial. In this paper we introduce and study an associated graph $\Sigma(G)$, which we call the Saxl graph of…

Let $G$ be a transitive permutation group acting on a finite set $\Omega$ with $|\Omega|\geqslant 2$. An element of $G$ is said to be a derangement if it has no fixed points on $\Omega$, and by a theorem of Jordan from 1872, $G$ always…

Let $G$ be a nontrivial permutation group of degree $n$. If $G$ is transitive, then a theorem of Jordan states that $G$ has a derangement. Equivalently, a finite group is never the union of conjugates of a proper subgroup. If $G$ is…

Let $G$ be a permutation group on the finite set $\Omega$. We prove various results about partitions of $\Omega$ whose stabilizers have good properties. In particular, in every solvable permutation group there is a set-stabilizer whose…

For a finite group $G$ let $\sigma(G)$ (the "sum" of $G$) be the least number of proper subgroups of $G$ whose set-theoretical union is equal to $G$, and $\sigma(G)=\infty$ if $G$ is cyclic. We say that a group $G$ is $\sigma$-elementary if…

Let $G$ be an abelian group of order $n$ and let $R$ be a commutative ring which admits a homomorphism ${\Bbb Z}[\zeta_{n}]\ra R$, where $\zeta_{n}$ is a (complex) primitive $n$-th root of unity. Given a finite $R[G\e]$-module $M$, we…

We establish new characterizations of primitive elements and free factors in free groups, which are based on the distributions they induce on finite groups. For every finite group $G$, a word $w$ in the free group on $k$ generators induces…

We show that certain factor rings of the group algebra of a symmetric group have natural bases of group elements. We also give generators for the annihilator of certain permutation modules for symmetric groups.

Let $K$ be a subgroup of a finite group $G$. The probability that an element of $G$ commutes with an element of $K$ is denoted by $Pr(K,G)$. Assume that $Pr(K,G)\geq\epsilon$ for some fixed $\epsilon>0$. We show that there is a normal…

Let $G \leqslant {\rm Sym}(\Omega)$ be a finite transitive permutation group and recall that an element in $G$ is a derangement if it has no fixed points on $\Omega$. Let $\Delta(G)$ be the set of derangements in $G$ and define $\delta(G) =…

For a positive integer $k$, a group $G$ is said to be totally $k$-closed if in each of its faithful permutation representations, say on a set $\Omega$, $G$ is the largest subgroup of $\operatorname{Sym}(\Omega)$ which leaves invariant each…

A primary covering of a finite group $G$ is a family of proper subgroups of $G$ whose union contains the set of elements of $G$ having order a prime power. We denote with $\sigma_0(G)$ the smallest size of a primary covering of $G$, and…

We study finite groups $G$ such that the maximum length of an orbit of the natural action of the automorphism group $\operatorname{Aut}(G)$ on $G$ is bounded from above by a constant. Our main results are the following: Firstly, a finite…

We determine upper bounds for the maximum order of an element of a finite almost simple group with socle T in terms of the minimum index m(T) of a maximal subgroup of T: for T not an alternating group we prove that, with finitely many…

A finite group $G$ is called a Schur group, if any Schur ring over $G$ is the transitivity module of a permutation group on the set $G$ containing the regular subgroup of all right translations. It was proved by R. P\"oschel (1974) that…

Let $G\leqslant {\rm Sym}(\Omega)$ be a finite transitive permutation group with point stabiliser $H$. A base for $G$ is a subset of $\Omega$ whose pointwise stabiliser is trivial, and the minimal cardinality of a base is called the base…

Let $m$ be a positive integer and let $\Omega$ be a finite set. The $m$-closure of $G\leq\operatorname{Sym}(\Omega)$ is the largest permutation group on $\Omega$ having the same orbits as $G$ in its induced action on the Cartesian product…

The cycle polynomial of a finite permutation group $G$ is the generating function for the number of elements of $G$ with a given number of cycles: \[F_G(x) = \sum_{g\in G}x^{c(g)},\] where $c(g)$ is the number of cycles of $g$ on $\Omega$.…

Let $G\leqslant\mathrm{Sym}(\Omega)$ be a finite transitive permutation group with point stabiliser $H$. We say that a subgroup $K$ of $G$ is a fixer if every element of $K$ has fixed points, and we say that $K$ is large if $|K| \geqslant…