Related papers: A note on extremely primitive affine groups
Let $G$ be a group of collineations of a finite thick generalised quadrangle $\Gamma$. Suppose that $G$ acts primitively on the point set $\mathcal{P}$ of $\Gamma$, and transitively on the lines of $\Gamma$. We show that the primitive…
Let $G$ be a finite permutation group acting on $\Omega$. A base for $G$ is a subset $B \subseteq \Omega$ such that the pointwise stabilizer $G_{(B)}$ is the identity. The base size of $G$, denoted by $b(G)$, is the cardinality of the…
Suppose that a finite solvable group $G$ acts faithfully, irreducibly and quasi-primitively on a finite vector space $V$, and $G$ is not metacyclic. Then $G$ always has a regular orbit on $V$ except for a few "small" cases. We completely…
We prove that if $G$ is a finite primitive permutation group and if $g$ is an element of $G$, then either $g$ has a cycle of length equal to its order, or for some $r$, $m$ and $k$, the group $G \leq \mathrm{Sym}(m) \textrm{wr}…
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…
Various descending chains of subgroups of a finite permutation group can be used to define a sequence of `basic' permutation groups that are analogues of composition factors for abstract finite groups. Primitive groups have been the…
Working in a theory with an integer-valued dimension on interpretable sets, we classify pseudofinite definably primitive permutation groups acting on one-dimensional sets which satisfy a version of chain condition on centralizers and on…
For a set $\Omega$ an unordered relation on $\Omega$ is a family R of subsets of $\Omega.$ If R is such a relation we let G(R) be the group of all permutations on $\Omega$ that preserves R, that is g belongs to G(R) if and only if x in R…
We prove a conjecture of Peter Neumann from 1966, predicting that every finite non-regular primitive permutation group of degree $n$ contains an element fixing at least one point and at most $n^{1/2}$ points. In fact, we prove a stronger…
In this paper, we study intersecting sets in primitive and quasiprimitive permutation groups. Let $G \leqslant \mathrm{Sym}(\Omega)$ be a transitive permutation group, and ${S}$ an intersecting set. Previous results show that if $G$ is…
By a classical theorem of Jordan, every faithful transitive action of a nontrivial finite group has a derangement (an element with no fixed points). The existence of derangements with additional properties has attracted much attention,…
Let $\Omega$ be a set of cardinality $n$, $G$ a permutation group on $\Omega$, and $f:\Omega\to\Omega$ a map which is not a permutation. We say that $G$ synchronizes $f$ if the semigroup $\langle G,f\rangle$ contains a constant map. The…
Let G be a permutation group, acting on a set \Omega of size n. A subset B of \Omega is a base for G if the pointwise stabilizer G_(B) is trivial. Let b(G) be the minimal size of a base for G. A subgroup G of Sym(n) is large base if there…
If $G$ is a group acting on a set $\Omega$ and $\alpha, \beta \in \Omega$, the digraph whose vertex set is $\Omega$ and whose arc set is the orbit $(\alpha, \beta)^G$ is called an {\em orbital digraph} of $G$. Each orbit of the stabiliser…
We characterise the primitive 2-closed groups $G$ of rank at most four that are not the automorphism group of a graph or digraph and show that if the degree is at least 2402 then there are just two infinite families or $G\leqslant…
Let $G \leqslant {\rm Sym}(\Omega)$ be a finite permutation group and recall that the base size of $G$ is the minimal size of a subset of $\Omega$ with trivial pointwise stabiliser. There is an extensive literature on base sizes for…
The distinguishing number of $G \leqslant \sym(\Omega)$ is the smallest size of a partition of $\Omega$ such that only the identity of $G$ fixes all the parts of the partition. Extending earlier results of Cameron, Neumann, Saxl and Seress…
In this short note, it is proved that both the number of primitive characters and the number of quasi-primitive characters in a finite group $G$ is divisible by $|G:G'|$, where $G'$ is the derived subgroup of $G$.
In this paper we classify all maximal subgroups M of a nearly simple primitive rank 3 group G of type L=Omega_{2m+1}(3), m > 3; acting on an L-orbit E of non-singular points of the natural module for L such that 1_P^G <=1_M^G where P is a…
A group $G$ is said to have restricted centralizers if for each $g \in G$ the centralizer $C_G(g)$ either is finite or has finite index in $G$. Shalev showed that a profinite group with restricted centralizers is virtually abelian. We take…