Related papers: Block-transitive $3$-$(v,k,1)$ designs associated …
In this paper we develop several general methods for analysing flag-transitive point-imprimitive $2$-designs, which give restrictions on both the automorphisms and parameters of such designs. These constitute a tool-kit for analysing these…
Combinatorial $t$-designs have nice applications in coding theory, finite geometries and several engineering areas. The objective of this paper is to study how to obtain $3$-designs with $2$-transitive permutation groups. The incidence…
A combinatorial block design $D$ is called $3$-pyramidal if there exists a subgroup $G$ of $\mbox{Aut}(D)$ fixing $3$ points and acting regularly on the other points. If this happens, we say that the design is $3$-pyramidal under $G$. In…
For any finite group $G$, and any positive integer $n$, we construct an association scheme which admits the diagonal group $D_n(G)$ as a group of automorphisms. The rank of the association scheme is the number of partitions of $n$ into at…
Let $D=(V(D), A(D))$ be a digraph and $k \ge 2$ an integer. We say that $D$ is $k$-quasi-transitive if for every directed path $(v_0, v_1,..., v_k)$ in $D$, then $(v_0, v_k) \in A(D)$ or $(v_k, v_0) \in A(D)$. Clearly, a 2-quasi-transitive…
A $2$-$(v,k,\lambda)$ design is additive (or strongly additive) if it is possible to embed it in a suitable abelian group $G$ in such a way that its block set is contained in (or coincides with) the set of all the zero-sum $k$-subsets of…
Recent classification of $\frac{3}{2}$-transitive permutation groups leaves us with three infinite families of groups which are neither $2$-transitive, nor Frobenius, nor one-dimensional affine. The groups of the first two families…
This paper takes a significant step towards confirming a long-standing and far-reaching conjecture of Peter J. Cameron and Cheryl E. Praeger. They conjectured in 1993 that there are no non-trivial block-transitive 6-designs. We prove that…
Let $G(X,Y)$ be a connected, non-complete bipartite graph with $|X|\leq |Y|$. An independent set $A$ of $G(X,Y)$ is said to be trivial if $A\subseteq X$ or $A\subseteq Y$. Otherwise, $A$ is nontrivial. By $\alpha(X,Y)$ we denote the size of…
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…
Recent classification of $\frac{3}{2}$-transitive permutation groups leaves us with six families of groups which are $2$-transitive, or Frobenius, or one-dimensional affine, or the affine solvable subgroups of $ \mathrm{AGL}(2, q)$, or…
Let $\Gamma(G)$ be the prime graph associated with a finite group $G$ and $D(G)$ be the degree pattern of $G$. A finite group $G$ is said to be $k$-fold OD-characterizable if there exist exactly $k$ non-isomorphic groups $H$ such that…
We consider a finite, connected and simple graph $\Gamma$ that admits a vertex-transitive group of automorphisms $G$. Under the assumption that, for all $x \in V(\Gamma)$, the local action $G_x^{\Gamma(x)}$ is the action of…
In this paper, we present a method for constructing point primitive block transitive $t$-designs invariant under finite groups. Furthermore, we demonstrate that every point and block primitive $G$-invariant design can be generated using…
In 1987, Huw Davies proved that, for a flag-transitive point-imprimitive $2$-$(v,k,\lambda)$ design, both the block-size $k$ and the number $v$ of points are bounded by functions of $\lambda$, but he did not make these bounds explicit. In…
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…
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…
The Gruenberg-Kegel graph ${\rm GK}(G)=(V_G, E_G)$ of a finite group $G$ is a simple graph with vertex set $V_G=\pi(G)$, the set of all primes dividing the order of $G$, and such that two distinct vertices $p$ and $q$ are joined by an edge,…
A graph \Gamma is said to be {\em symmetric} if its automorphism group \Aut(\Gamma) is transitive on the arc set of \Gamma. Let $G$ be a finite non-abelian simple group and let \Gamma be a connected pentavalent symmetric graph such that…
We present a partial classification of those finite linear spaces $\mathcal{S}$ on which an almost simple group $G$ with socle $PSL(3,q)$ acts line-transitively.