Related papers: Primitive permutation IBIS groups
Let $G$ be a finite non-regular primitive permutation group on a set $\Omega$ with point stabiliser $G_{\alpha}$. Then $G$ is said to be extremely primitive if $G_{\alpha}$ acts primitively on each of its orbits in $\Omega \setminus…
Let G,H be closed permutation groups on an infinite set X, with H a subgroup of G. It is shown that if G and H are orbit-equivalent, that is, have the same orbits on the collection of finite subsets of X, and G is primitive but not…
We show that the minimal base size $b(G)$ of a finite primitive permutation group $G$ of degree $n$ is at most $2 (\log |G|/\log n) + 24$. This bound is asymptotically best possible since there exists a sequence of primitive permutation…
Let $\Delta$ be a finite set and $G$ be a subgroup of $\operatorname{Sym}(\Delta)$. An irredundant base for $G$ is a sequence of points of $\Delta$ yielding a strictly descending chain of pointwise stabilisers, terminating with the trivial…
This article began as a study of the structure of infinite permutation groups G in which point stabilisers are finite and all infinite normal subgroups are transitive. That led to two variations. One is the generalisation in which point…
Let $G$ be a transitive permutation group on a finite set with solvable point stabiliser and assume that the solvable radical of $G$ is trivial. In 2010, Vdovin conjectured that the base size of $G$ is at most 5. Burness proved this…
A permutation group is {\it binary} if its orbits on $k$-tuples, for any integer $k\geq 2$, can be deduced from its orbits on $2$-tuples. Cherlin conjectured that a finite primitive binary permutation group $G$ must lie in one of three…
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…
The classification of the finite primitive permutation groups of rank $3$ was completed in the 1980s and this landmark achievement has found a wide range of applications. In the general transitive setting, a classical result of Higman shows…
Every synchronising permutation group is primitive and of one of three types: affine, almost simple, or diagonal. We exhibit the first known example of a synchronising diagonal type group. More precisely, we show that…
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…
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…
Fix a positive integer $d$ and let $\Gamma_d$ be the class of finite groups without sections isomorphic to the alternating group $A_d$. The groups in $\Gamma_d$ were studied by Babai, Cameron and P\'{a}lfy in the 1980s and they determined…
Let $G$ be a transitive normal subgroup of a permutation group $A$ of finite degree $n$. The factor group $A/G$ can be considered as a certain Galois group and one would like to bound its size. One of the results of the paper is that $|A/G|…
A classification is given of rank 3 group actions which are quasiprimitive but not primitive. There are two infinite families and a finite number of individual imprimitive examples. When combined with earlier work of Bannai, Kantor,…
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) =…
We prove that there exists a universal constant $c$ such that any finite primitive permutation group of degree $n$ with a non-trivial point stabilizer is a product of no more than $c\log n$ point stabilizers.
A permutation group $G\le\operatorname{Sym}(\Omega)$ is said to be $2$-closed if no group $H$ such that $G<H\le\operatorname{Sym}(\Omega)$ has the same orbits on $\Omega\times\Omega$ as $G$. A simple and efficient inductive criterion for…
A permutation group is called semiprimitive if each of its normal subgroups is either transitive or semiregular. Given nontrivial finite transitive permutation groups $L_1$ and $L_2$ with $L_1$ not semiprimitive, we construct an infinite…
The primitive finite permutation groups containing a cycle are classified. Of these, only the alternating and symmetric groups contain a cycle fixing at least three points. The contributions of Jordan and Marggraff to this topic are briefly…