Related papers: Reduction for flag-transitive symmetric designs wi…

A group G is sharply 2-transitive if it admits a faithful permutation representation that is transitive and free on pairs of distinct points. Conjecturally, for all such groups there exists a near-field N (i.e. a skew field that is…

This paper investigates block-transitive automorphism groups of t-(k^2,k,\lambda) designs. Let D be a non-trivial t-(k^2,k,\lambda) design, G \leq \Aut(D) be block-transitive with X\unlhd G\leq \Aut(X), where X = PSL(2,q)(q\geq4). Then q =…

A graph is edge-primitive if its automorphism group acts primitively on the edge set. In this short paper, we prove that a finite 2-arc-transitive edge-primitive graph has almost simple automorphism group if it is neither a cycle nor a…

As a consequence of the classification of the finite simple groups, it has been possible in recent years to characterize Steiner t-designs, that is t-(v,k,1) designs, mainly for t = 2, admitting groups of automorphisms with sufficiently…

Ostrom and Wagner (1959) proved that if the automorphism group $G$ of a finite projective plane $\pi$ acts $2$-transitively on the points of $\pi$, then $\pi$ is isomorphic to the Desarguesian projective plane and $G$ is isomorphic to…

Let $\mathcal{D}$ be a non-trivial $G$-block-transitive $3$-$(v,k,1)$ design, where $T\leq G \leq \mathrm{Aut}(T)$ for some finite non-abelian simple group $T$. It is proved that if $T$ is a simple exceptional group of Lie type, then $T$ is…

Let $n$ be a positive integer, $q$ be a prime power, and $V$ be a vector space of dimension $n$ over $\mathbb{F}_q$. Let $G := V \rtimes G_0$, where $G_0$ is an irreducible subgroup of ${\rm GL}(V)$ which is maximal by inclusion with…

Let $G$ be a collineation group of a thick finite generalised hexagon or generalised octagon $\Gamma$. If $G$ acts primitively on the points of $\Gamma$, then a recent result of Bamberg et al. shows that $G$ must be an almost simple group…

Let G be an automorphism group of a nontrivial t-(k^2,k,\lambda) design. In this paper, we prove that if G is block-transitive, then the socle of G cannot be a finite simple exceptional group of Lie type.

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.

Among the properties of homogeneity of incidence structures flag-transitivity obviously is a particularly important and natural one. Consequently, in the last decades also flag-transitive Steiner tdesigns (i.e. flag-transitive t-(v,k,1)…

We consider $2$-designs which admit a group of automorphisms that is flag-transitive and leaves invariant a chain of nontrivial point-partitions. We build on our recent work on $2$-designs which are block-transitive but not necessarily…

In this note, we give a precise construction of one of the families of $2$-designs arose from studying flag-transitive $2$-designs with parameters $(v,k,\lambda)$ whose replication numbers $r$ are coprime to $\lambda$. We show that for a…

A regular bipartite graph $\Gamma$ is called semisymmetric if its full automorphism group $\mathrm{Aut}(\Gamma)$ acts transitively on the edge set but not on the vertex set. For a subgroup $G$ of $\mathrm{Aut}(\Gamma)$ that stabilizes the…

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…

Let $G = Spec A$ be an affine $K$-group scheme and $\tilde{A} = \{w \in A*: dim_K A^* \cdot w \cdot A^* < \infty \}$. Let $< -,-> : A^* \times \tilde{A} \to K, (w,\tilde{w}) := tr(w \tilde{w})$, be the trace form. We prove that $G$ is…

A permutation group $(X,G)$ is said to be binary, or of relational complexity $2$, if for all $n$, the orbits of $G$ (acting diagonally) on $X^2$ determine the orbits of $G$ on $X^n$ in the following sense: for all $\bar{x},\bar{y} \in…

Let $k$ be a field, and $G$ be a $k$-group scheme of finite type. Let $G_{\mathrm{ad}}$ be the $k$-scheme $G$ with the adjoint action of $G$. We call $\lambda_{G,G}=H^0(\mathop{\mathrm{Spec}} k,e^*(\omega_{G_{\mathrm{ad}}}))$ the Knop…

In this paper, we construct new families of flag-transitive linear spaces with $q^{2n}$ points and $q^{2}$ points on each line that admit a one-dimensional affine automorphism group. We achieve this by building a natural connection with…

Suppose that $\tilde{G}$ is a connected reductive group defined over a field $k$, and $\Gamma$ is a finite group acting via $k$-automorphisms of $\tilde{G}$ satisfying a certain quasi-semisimplicity condition. Then the connected part of the…