Related papers: Block-transitive, point-primitive Steiner 3-design…

Given an integer $k\ge3$ and a group $G$ of odd order, if there exists a $2$-$(v,k,1)$-design and if $v$ is sufficiently large, then there is such a design whose automorphism group has a subgroup isomorphic to $G$. A weaker result is proved…

In this article, we prove that if $\mathcal{D}$ is a $2$-design with $k=7$ admitting flag-transitive almost simple automorphism group with socle an alternating group, then $\mathcal{D}$ is $PG_{2}(3,2)$ with parameter set $(15,7,3)$ and…

Suppose that all nontrivial subsections of a $p$-block $B$ are conjugate (where $p$ is a prime). By using the classification of the finite simple groups, we prove that the defect groups of $B$ are either extraspecial of order $p^3$ with $p…

In this paper, we completely classify the non-trivial 2-(v,k,3) designs admitting an almost simple, flag-transitive automorphism group with socle PSL(2,q).

Let $q$ be a prime power and $V\cong{\mathbb F}_q^n$. A $t$-$(n,k,\lambda)_q$ design, or simply a subspace design, is a pair ${\mathcal D}=(V,{\mathcal B})$, where ${\mathcal B}$ is a subset of the set of all $k$-dimensional subspaces of…

In this article, we study $2$-$(v,k,\lambda)$ designs $\mathcal{D}$ with $\lambda$ prime admitting flag-transitive and point-primitive almost simple automorphism groups $G$ with socle $T$ a finite exceptional simple group or a sporadic…

We classify the regular maps $\mathcal M$ which have automorphism groups $G$ acting faithfully and primitively on their vertices. As a permutation group $G$ must be of almost simple or affine type, with dihedral point stabilisers. We show…

In this article, we study $2$-designs with $\lambda=2$ admitting a flag-transitive almost simple automorphism group with socle a finite simple exceptional group of Lie type, and we prove that such a $2$-design does not exist. In conclusion,…

The pairs $(\mathcal{D},G)$, where $\mathcal{D}$ is a non-trivial $2$-$(k^{2},k,\lambda )$ design, with $\lambda \mid k$, and $G$ is a flag-transitive automorphism group of $\mathcal{D}$ of affine type such that $G \nleq A \Gamma…

One of the most central and long-standing open questions in combinatorial design theory concerns the existence of Steiner t-designs for large values of t. Although in his classical 1987 paper, L. Teirlinck has shown that non-trivial…

We study a class of finite groups $G$ which behave similarly to elementary abelian $p$-groups with $p$ prime, that is, there exists a subgroup $N$ such that all elements of $G\setminus N$ are conjugate or inverse-conjugate under $\Aut(G)$.…

Let $G$ be a finite primitive permutation group on a set $\Omega$ with nontrivial point stabilizer $G_{\alpha}$. We say that $G$ is extremely primitive if $G_{\alpha}$ acts primitively on each of its orbits in $\Omega \setminus \{\alpha\}$.…

We classify the pairwise transitive 2-designs, that is, 2-designs such that a group of automorphisms is transitive on the following five sets of ordered pairs: point-pairs, incident point-block pairs, non-incident point-block pairs,…

This is one of a series of papers which aims towards a classification of imprimitive affine groups of rank $3$. In this paper, a complete classification is given of such groups of characteristic $p$ such that the point stabilizer is not…

For a finite group G of Lie type and a prime p, we compare the automorphism groups of the fusion and linking systems of G at p with the automorphism group of G itself. When p is the defining characteristic of G, they are all isomorphic,…

A transitive permutation group is said to be semiprimitive if each of its normal subgroups is either semiregular or transitive.The class of semiprimitive groups properly contains primitive groups, quasiprimitive groups and innately…

In this paper, we provide a complete classification of $2$-$(v,k,2)$ design admitting a flag-transitive automorphism group of affine type with the only exception of the semilinear $1$-dimensional group. Alongside this analysis we provide a…

We classify the dessins $\mathcal D$ for which the automorphism group $G$ acts primitively and faithfully on the points over one of the three critical values (without loss of generality the black vertices in the usual bipartite map…

Let $G$ be an affine group over a field of characteristic not two. A $G$-torsor is called isotropic if it admits reduction of structure to a proper parabolic subgroup of $G$. This definition generalizes isotropy of affine groups and…

Given a transitive permutation group G of degree n , we seek to determine whether or not G is primitive, and to find a system of blocks of imprimitivity in the case that G is imprimitive. An algorithm of Atkinson solves this problem in time…