Related papers: Block-transitive automorphism groups on 3-designs …

Let $G$ be a permutation group on a finite set $\Omega$. The $k$-closure $G^{(k)}$ of the group $G$ is the largest subgroup of $\operatorname{Sym}(\Omega)$ having the same orbits as $G$ on the $k$-th Cartesian power $\Omega^k$ of $\Omega$.…

A group divisible design $\mbox{GDD}(m,n;\lambda_1,\lambda_2)$, is an ordered pair $(V, \cal{B})$ where $V$ is an $(m+n)$-set of symbols while $\cal{B}$ is a collection of $3$-subsets (called blocks) of $V$ satisfying the following…

The two basic equations satisfied by the parameters of a block design define a three-dimensional affine variety $\mathcal{D}$ in $\mathbb{R}^{5}$. A point of $\mathcal{D}$ that is not in some sense trivial lies on four lines lying in…

A transitive permutation group is called elusive if it contains no semiregular element. We show that no group of automorphisms of a connected graph of valency at most four is elusive and determine all the elusive groups of automorphisms of…

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 $\Omega$ be a set equipped with an equivalence relation $\sim$; we refer to the equivalence classes as blocks of $\Omega$. A permutation group $G \le \mathrm{Sym}(\Omega)$ is $k$-by-block-transitive if $\sim$ is $G$-invariant, with at…

For any algebraically closed field $K$ and any endomorphism $f$ of $\mathbb{P}^1(K)$ of degree at least 2, the automorphisms of $f$ are the M\"obius transformations that commute with $f$, and these form a finite subgroup of…

It is known that there are precisely three transitive permutation groups of degree $6$ that admit an invariant partition with three parts of size $2$ such that the kernel of the action on the parts has order $4$; these groups are called…

We consider when the projective special linear group over a finite field defines a $3$-design with a cyclic starter block. We will show that the equivalences of the existence of such $3$-$(q+1,5,3)$ and $3$-$(q+1,10,18)$ designs for a prime…

The operation of switching a graph $\Gamma$ with respect to a subset $X$ of the vertex set interchanges edges and non-edges between $X$ and its complement, leaving the rest of the graph unchanged. This is an equivalence relation on the set…

This work is a continuation of Automorphisms of $K$-groups I, P. Flavell, preprint. The main object of study is a finite $K$-group $G$ that admits an elementary abelian group $A$ acting coprimely. For certain group theoretic properties…

A $t\text{-}(n,k,\lambda;q)$-design is a set of $k$-subspaces, called blocks, of an $n$-dimensional vector space $V$ over the finite field with $q$ elements such that each $t$-subspace is contained in exactly $\lambda$ blocks. A partition…

For each finite classical group $G$, we classify the subgroups of $G$ which act transitively on a $G$-invariant set of subspaces of the natural module, where the subspaces are either totally isotropic or nondegenerate. Our proof uses the…

In the paper the foundation of the $k$-orbit theory is developed. The theory opens a new simple way to the investigation of groups and multidimensional symmetries. The relations between combinatorial symmetry properties of a $k$-orbit and…

The dimension of a block design is the maximum positive integer $d$ such that any $d$ of its points are contained in a proper subdesign. Pairwise balanced designs PBD$(v,K)$ have dimension at least two as long as not all points are on the…

We prove that, if $\Gamma$ is a finite connected cubic vertex-transitive graph, then either there exists a semiregular automorphism of $\Gamma$ of order at least $6$, or the number of vertices of $\Gamma$ is bounded above by an absolute…

This paper contains the more significant part of the article with the same title that will appear in the Volume 12 of Journal of Group Theory (2009). In this paper we determine all algebraic transformation groups $G$, defined over an…

The structure of a certain subgroup $S$ of the automorphism group of a partially commutative group (RAAG) $G$ is described in detail: namely the subgroup generated by inversions and elementary transvections. We define admissible subsets of…

If $G$ is a finite group then there is an integer $M_G$ such that$,$ for $u\ge M_G$ and $u\equiv 1$ or $3$ (mod 6), there is a Steiner triple system $U$ on $u$ points for which ${\rm Aut} U \cong G. \ $ If $V$ is a Steiner triple system…

The minimal degree of a permutation group $G$ is the minimum number of points not fixed by non-identity elements of $G$. Lower bounds on the minimal degree have strong structural consequences on $G$. Babai conjectured that if a primitive…