Related papers: On a conjecture of Peter Neumann on fixed points i…

Let $G$ be a nontrivial permutation group of degree $n$. If $G$ is transitive, then a theorem of Jordan states that $G$ has a derangement. Equivalently, a finite group is never the union of conjugates of a proper subgroup. If $G$ is…

In \cite{branko} Gr{\"u}nbaum asked if the set of all affine invariant points of a given convex body is equal to the set of all points invariant under every affine automorphism of the body. In \cite{ivan} we have proven the case of a body…

Let $G$ be a nontrivial transitive permutation group on a finite set $\Omega$. An element of $G$ is said to be a derangement if it has no fixed points on $\Omega$. From the orbit counting lemma, it follows that $G$ contains a derangement,…

We prove that if $G$ is a transitive permutation group of sufficiently large degree $n$, then either $G$ is primitive and Frobenius, or the proportion of derangements in $G$ is larger than $1/(2n^{1/2})$. This is sharp, generalizes…

Given a group $G$, we write $x^G$ for the conjugacy class of $G$ containing the element $x$. A famous theorem of B. H. Neumann states that if $G$ is a group in which all conjugacy classes are finite with bounded size, then the derived group…

It is shown that a fixed point of a completely positive map on a semi-finite von Neumann algebra must commute with the operators determining the map (the Lueders phenomenon) if the element is finite or has finite square.

A celebrated result of J. Thompson says that if a finite group $G$ has a fixed-point-free automorphism of prime order, then $G$ is nilpotent. The main purpose of this note is to extend this result to finite inverse semigroups. An earlier…

Consider the following property of a topological group G: every continuous affine G-action on a Hilbert space with a bounded orbit has a fixed point. We prove that this property characterizes amenability for locally compact sigma-compact…

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…

Let $G$ be a finite additive abelian group with exponent $n>1$, and let $a_1,\ldots,a_{n-1}\in G$. We show that there is a permutation $\sigma\in S_{n-1}$ such that all the elements $sa_{\sigma(s)}\ (s=1,\ldots,n-1)$ are nonzero if and only…

Let $S$ be a set of $n\geq 7$ points in the plane, no three of which are collinear. Suppose that $S$ determines $n+1$ directions. That is to say, the segments whose endpoints are in $S$ form $n+1$ distinct slopes. We prove that $S$ is, up…

In this note we prove a more general (and topological) version of Gr\"unbaum's conjecture about affine invariant points. As an application of our result we show that, if we consider the action of the group of similarities, Gr\"unbaum's…

The minimal degree of a permutation group $G$ is defined as the minimal number of non-fixed points of a non-trivial element of $G$. In this paper we show that if $G$ is a transitive permutation group of degree $n$ having no non-trivial…

Let $p$ be a prime number. A longstanding conjecture asserts that every finite non-abelian $p$-group has a non-inner automorphism of order $p$. In this paper, we prove that if $G$ is an odd order finite non-abelian monolithic $p$-group such…

For a finite group $G$, let $N(G)$ denote the set of conjugacy class sizes of $G$. We show that if every finite group $G$ with trivial center such that $N(G)$ equals to $N(Alt_n)$, where $n>1361$ and at least one of numbers $n$ or $n-1$ are…

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 prove a nontrivial energy bound for a finite set of affine transformations over a general field and discuss a number of implications. These include new bounds on growth in the affine group, a quantitative version of a theorem by Elekes…

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…

Gromov showed that for fixed, arbitrarily large C, any uniformly C-Lipschitz affine action of a random group in his graph model on a Hilbert space has a fixed point. We announce a theorem stating that more general affine actions of the same…

Every finite non-abelian group of order $n$ has a non-central element whose centralizer has order exceeding $n^{1/3}$. The proof does not rely on the classification of finite simple groups, yet it uses the Feit-Thompson theorem.