Related papers: On primitivity and reduction for half-flag-transit…
A graph $\Gamma$ is called $G$-symmetric if it admits $G$ as a group of automorphisms acting transitively on the set of ordered pairs of adjacent vertices. We give a classification of $G$-symmetric graphs $\Gamma$ with $V(\Gamma)$ admitting…
Let $G$ be a transitive permutation group of degree $n$ with point stabiliser $H$ and let $r$ be a prime divisor of $n$. We say that $G$ is $r$-elusive if it does not contain a derangement of order $r$. The problem of determining the…
This paper begins the classification of all edge-primitive 3-arc-transitive graphs by classifying all such graphs where the automorphism group is an almost simple group with socle an alternating or sporadic group, and all such graphs where…
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 $G$ be a group of collineations of a finite thick generalised quadrangle $\Gamma$. Suppose that $G$ acts primitively on the point set $\mathcal{P}$ of $\Gamma$, and transitively on the lines of $\Gamma$. We show that the primitive…
The first main result of this paper is that a finite transitive nonabelian characteristically simple subgroup of a wreath product in product action must lie in the base group of the wreath product. This allows us to characterize nonabelian…
The Hall--Paige conjecture asserts that a finite group has a complete mapping if and only if its Sylow subgroups are not cyclic. The conjecture is now proved, and one aim of this paper is to document the final step in the proof (for the…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Let $\lambda=(\lambda_1,\lambda_2,...)$ be a \emph{partition} of $n$, a sequence of positive integers in non-increasing order with sum $n$. Let $\Omega:=\{1,...,n\}$. An ordered partition $P=(A_1,A_2,...)$ of $\Omega$ has \emph{type}…
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…
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…
We explore the topological full group [[G]] of an essentially principal etale groupoid G on a Cantor set. When G is minimal, we show that [[G]] (and its certain normal subgroup) is a complete invariant for the isomorphism class of the etale…
We study complex projective plane curves with a given group of automorphisms. Let $G$ be a simple primitive subgroup of $PGL(3, \mathbb{C})$, which is isomorphic to $A_{6}$, $A_{5}$ or $PSL(2, \mathbb{F}_{7})$. We obtain a necessary and…
A graph $\Gamma$ is $G$-symmetric if $G$ is a group of automorphisms of $\Gamma$ which is transitive on the set of ordered pairs of adjacent vertices of $\Gamma$. If $V(\Gamma)$ admits a nontrivial $G$-invariant partition ${\cal B}$ such…
Let $k$ be a nonperfect field of characteristic $2$. Let $G$ be a $k$-split simple algebraic group of type $E_6$ (or $G_2$) defined over $k$. In this paper, we present the first examples of nonabelian non-$G$-completely reducible…