Related papers: Large dimensional classical groups and linear spac…
We say that a group G acts infinitely transitively on a set X if for every integer m the induced diagonal action of G is transitive on the cartesian mth power of X with the diagonals removed. We describe three classes of affine algebraic…
A group action H on X is called "telescopic" if for any finitely presented group G, there exists a subgroup H' in H such that G is isomorphic to the fundamental group of X/H'. We construct examples of telescopic actions on some CAT[-1]…
The elementary action of symplectic and orthogonal groups on unimodular rows of length $2n$ is transitive for $2n \geq \max(4, d+2)$ in the symplectic case, and $2n \geq \max(6, 2d+4)$ in the orthogonal case, over monoid rings $R[M]$, where…
Let $W$ be a vector space over an algebraically closed field $k$. Let $H$ be a quasisimple group of Lie type of characteristic $p\ne {\rm char}(k)$ acting irreducibly on $W$. Suppose also that $G$ is a classical group with natural module…
We investigate a family of groups acting on a regular tree, defined by prescribing the local action almost everywhere. We study lattices in these groups and give examples of compactly generated simple groups of finite asymptotic dimension…
Suppose that a group $G$ acts transitively on the points of a non-Desarguesian plane, $\mathcal{P}$. We prove first that the Sylow 2-subgroups of $G$ are cyclic or generalized quaternion. We also prove that $\mathcal{P}$ must admit an odd…
Let $V$ be a vector space of dimension $d$ over $F_q$, a finite field of $q$ elements, and let $G \le GL(V) \cong GL_d(q)$ be a linear group. A base of $G$ is a set of vectors whose pointwise stabiliser in $G$ is trivial. We prove that if…
We establish a sharp sufficient condition for groups acting on trees to be highly transitive when the action on the tree is minimal of general type. This gives new examples of highly transitive groups, including icc non-solvable…
We show that group actions on many treelike compact spaces are not too complicated dynamically. We first observe that an old argument of Seidler implies that every action of a topological group $G$ on a regular continuum is null and…
Let $G$ be a transitive permutation group on a finite set with solvable point stabiliser and assume that the solvable radical of $G$ is trivial. In 2010, Vdovin conjectured that the base size of $G$ is at most 5. Burness proved this…
By previous work of Giordano and the author, ergodic actions of $\Z$ (and other discrete groups) are completely classified measure-theoretically by their dimension space, a construction analogous to the dimension group used in C*-algebras…
We consider finite groups which admit a faithful, smooth action on an acyclic manifold of dimension three, four or five (e.g. euclidean space). Our first main result states that a finite group acting on an acyclic 3- or 4-manifold is…
Suppose that $X=G/K$ is the quotient of a locally compact group by a closed subgroup. If $X$ is locally contractible and connected, we prove that $X$ is a manifold. If the $G$-action is faithful, then $G$ is a Lie group.
We investigate continuous transitive actions of semitopological groups on spaces, as well as separately continuous transitive actions of topological groups.
Let G be a group acting faithfully on a set X. The distinguishing number of the action of G on X is the smallest number of colors such that there exists a coloring of X where no nontrivial group element induces a color-preserving…
We construct and classify all groups, given by triangular presentations associated to the smallest thick generalized quadrangle, that act simply transitively on the vertices of hyperbolic triangular buildings of the smallest non-trivial…
Fix a degree $d$ projective curve $X \subset \mathbb{P}^r$ over an algebraically closed field $K$. Let $U \subset (\mathbb{P}^r)^*$ be a dense open subvariety such that every hyperplane $H \in U$ intersects $X$ in $d$ smooth points. Varying…
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…
The purpose of this note is to extend the classical Aschbacher--O'Nan--Scott theorem for finite groups to the class of countable linear groups. This relies on the analysis of primitive actions carried out in a previous paper. Unlike the…
Let F be a non-archimedean local field of characteristic zero whose residue field has at least three elements. Let G be an almost simple linear algebraic group over F, with rank_F(G) >= 2. Let X be a simply connected symmetric space of…