Related papers: Extremely primitive groups and linear spaces

A locally primitive 2-design is a 2-design admitting an automorphism group $G$ with primitive local actions. It is proved that $G$ is point-primitive, and either $G$ is an almost simple group, or $G$ acting on the points is an affine group.

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…

We use a recent result of Alexander and Nishinaka to show that if $G$ is a non-elementary torsion-free hyperbolic group and $R$ is a countable domain, then the group ring $RG$ is primitive. This implies that the group ring $KG$ of any…

Let $V$ be a finite-dimensional vector space over a finite field, and suppose $G \leq \Gamma \mathrm{L}(V)$ is a group with a unique subnormal quasisimple subgroup $E(G)$ that is absolutely irreducible on $V$. A base for $G$ is a set of…

We construct, for the first time, various types of specific non-special finite $p$-groups having abelian automorphism group. More specifically, we construct groups $G$ with abelian automorphism group such that $\gamma_2(G) < \mathrm{Z}(G) <…

Let $G$ be a permutation group on a finite set $\Omega$. The base size of $G$ is the minimal size of a subset of $\Omega$ with trivial pointwise stabiliser in $G$. In this paper, we extend earlier work of Fawcett by determining the precise…

Fixed point ratios for primitive permutation groups have been extensively studied. Relying on a recent work of Burness and Guralnick, we obtain further results in the area. For a prime $p$ and a finite group $G$, we use fixed point ratios…

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 $\Aut(G)$.…

We are interested in semigroups of the form $\langle G,a\rangle\setminus G$, where $G$ is a permutation group of degree $n$ and $a$ a non-permutation on the domain of $G$. A theorem of the first author, Mitchell and Schneider shows that, if…

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…

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…

To every involutive non-degenerate set-theoretic solution $(X,r)$ of the Yang-Baxter equation on a finite set $X$ there is a naturally associated finite solvable permutation group ${\mathcal G}(X,r)$ acting on $X$. We prove that every…

Suppose that an automorphism group $G$ acts flag-transitively on a finite generalized hexagon or octagon $\cS$, and suppose that the action on both the point and line set is primitive. We show that $G$ is an almost simple group of Lie type,…

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 $G$.

Problem 8.75 of the Kourovka Notebook [10], attributed to John G. Thompson, asks the following: Suppose $G$ is a finite primitive permutation group on $\Omega$, and $\alpha$, $\beta$ are distinct points of $\Omega$. Does there exist an…

We discuss recent progress on the problem of classifying point-primitive generalised polygons. In the case of generalised hexagons and generalised octagons, this has reduced the problem to primitive actions of almost simple groups of Lie…

The classification of flag-transitive generalised quadrangles is a long-standing open problem at the interface of finite geometry and permutation group theory. Given that all known flag-transitive generalised quadrangles are also…

Many open conjectures in the representation theory of finite groups can be studied by reducing them to related questions about quasi-simple groups. In such studies, $p$-radical subgroups typically play a critical role. To classify the…

Let $\Gamma$ be a connected $G$-vertex-transitive graph, let $v$ be a vertex of $\Gamma$ and let $L=G_v^{\Gamma(v)}$ be the permutation group induced by the action of the vertex-stabiliser $G_v$ on the neighbourhood $\Gamma(v)$. Then…

The synchronisation hierarchy of finite permutation groups consists of classes of groups lying between 2-transitive groups and primitive groups. This includes the class of spreading groups, which are defined in terms of sets and multisets…