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Binzhou Xia

Publications and source records attributed to Binzhou Xia.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2025

Which maximal subgroups are perfect codes?

A perfect code in a graph $Γ=(V, E)$ is a subset $C$ of $V$ such that no two vertices in $C$ are adjacent and every vertex in $V \setminus C$ is adjacent to exactly one vertex in $C$. A subgroup $H$ of a group $G$ is called a subgroup perfect code of $G$ if it is a perfect code in some Cayley graph of $G$. In this paper, we undertake a systematic study of which maximal subgroups of a group can be perfect codes. Our approach highlights a characterization of subgroup perfect codes in terms of their ``local'' complements.

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arXiv2025

Determining the vertex stabilizers of 4-valent half-arc-transitive graphs

We say that a group is a $4$-HAT-stabilizer if it is the vertex stabilizer of some connected $4$-valent half-arc-transitive graph. In 2001, Marušič and Nedela proved that every $4$-HAT-stabilizer must be a concentric group. However, over the past two decades, only a very small proportion of concentric groups have been shown to be $4$-HAT-stabilizers. This paper develops a theory that provides a general framework for determining whether a concentric group is a $4$-HAT-stabilizer. With this approach, we significantly extend the known list of $4$-HAT-stabilizers. As a corollary, we confirm that $\mathcal{H}_7\times C_2^{m-7}$ are $4$-HAT-stabilizers for $m\geq 7$, achieving the goal of a conjecture posed by Spiga and Xia.

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arXiv2025

On subgroup perfect codes in vertex-transitive graphs

A subset $C$ of the vertex set $V$ of a graph $Γ$ is called a perfect code in $Γ$ if every vertex in $V\setminus C$ is adjacent to exactly one vertex in $C$. Given a group $G$ and a subgroup $H$ of $G$, a subgroup $A$ of $G$ containing $H$ is called a perfect code of the pair $(G,H)$ if there exists a coset graph $\mathrm{Cos}(G,H,U)$ such that the set of left cosets of $H$ in $A$ is a perfect code in $\mathrm{Cos}(G,H,U)$. In particular, $A$ is called a perfect code of $G$ if $A$ is a perfect code of the pair $(G,1)$. In this paper, we give a characterization of $A$ to be a perfect code of the pair $(G,H)$ under the assumption that $H$ is a perfect code of $G$. As a corollary, we derive an additional sufficient and necessary condition for $A$ to be a perfect code of $G$. Moreover, we establish conditions under which $A$ is not a perfect code of $(G,H)$, which is applied to construct infinitely many counterexamples to a question posed by Wang and Zhang [\emph{J.~Combin.~Theory~Ser.~A}, 196 (2023) 105737]. Furthermore, we initiate the study of determining which maximal subgroups of $S_n$ are perfect codes.

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arXiv2024

The Exact Factorizations of Almost Simple Groups

This paper presents a classification of exact factorizations of almost simple groups, which has been a long-standing open problem initiated around 1980 by the work of Wiegold-Williamson, and significantly progressed by Liebeck, Praeger and Saxl in 2010. The classification is then used to solve problems in bicrossproduct Hopf algebras and permutation groups.

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arXiv2024

On biprimitive semisymmetric graphs

A regular bipartite graph $Γ$ is called semisymmetric if its full automorphism group $\mathrm{Aut}(Γ)$ acts transitively on the edge set but not on the vertex set. For a subgroup $G$ of $\mathrm{Aut}(Γ)$ that stabilizes the biparts of $Γ$, we say that $Γ$ is $G$-biprimitive if $G$ acts primitively on each part. In this paper, we first provide a method to construct infinite families of biprimitive semisymmetric graphs admitting almost simple groups. With the aid of this result, a classification of $G$-biprimitive semisymmetric graphs is obtained for $G=\mathrm{A}_n$ or $\mathrm{S}_n$. In pursuit of this goal, we determine all pairs of maximal subgroups of $\mathrm{A}_n$ or $\mathrm{S}_n$ with the same order and all pairs of almost simple groups of the same order.

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arXiv2024

A complete classification of shuffle groups

For positive integers $k$ and $n$, the shuffle group $G_{k,kn}$ is generated by the $k!$ permutations of a deck of $kn$ cards performed by cutting the deck into $k$ piles with $n$ cards in each pile, and then perfectly interleaving these cards following a certain permutation of the $k$ piles. For $k=2$, the shuffle group $G_{2,2n}$ was determined by Diaconis, Graham and Kantor in 1983. The Shuffle Group Conjecture states that, for general $k$, the shuffle group $G_{k,kn}$ contains $\mathrm{A}_{kn}$ whenever $k\notin\{2,4\}$ and $n$ is not a power of $k$. In particular, the conjecture in the case $k=3$ was posed by Medvedoff and Morrison in 1987. The only values of $k$ for which the Shuffle Group Conjecture has been confirmed so far are powers of $2$, due to recent work of Amarra, Morgan and Praeger based on Classification of Finite Simple Groups. In this paper, we confirm the Shuffle Group Conjecture for all cases using results on $2$-transitive groups and elements of large fixed point ratio in primitive groups.

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arXiv2024

Graphical regular representations of $(2,p)$-generated groups

For groups $G$ that can be generated by an involution and an element of odd prime order, this paper gives a sufficient condition for a certain Cayley graph of $G$ to be a graphical regular representation (GRR), that is, for the Cayley graph to have full automorphism group isomorphic to $G$. This condition enables one to show the existence of GRRs of prescribed valency for a large class of groups, and in this paper, $k$-valent GRRs of finite nonabelian simple groups with $k\geq5$ are considered.

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arXiv2024

Asymptotic enumeration of Haar graphical representations

This paper represents a significant leap forward in the problem of enumerating vertex-transitive graphs. Recent breakthroughs on symmetry of Cayley (di)graphs show that almost all finite Cayley (di)graphs have the smallest possible automorphism group. Extending the scope of these results, we enumerate (di)graphs admitting a fixed semiregular group of automorphisms with m orbits. Moreover, we consider the more intricate inquiry of prohibiting arcs within each orbit, where the special case m = 2 is known as the problem of finding Haar graphical representations (HGRs). We significantly advance the understanding of HGRs by proving that the proportion of HGRs among Haar graphs of a finite nonabelian group approaches 1 as the group order grows. As a corollary, we obtain an improved bound on the proportion of DRRs among Cayley digraphs in the solution of Morris and the second author to the Babai-Godsil conjecture.

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arXiv2024

Bounding $s$ for vertex-primitive $s$-arc-transitive digraphs of alternating and symmetric groups

Determining an upper bound on $s$ for finite vertex-primitive $s$-arc-transitive digraphs has received considerable attention dating back to a question of Praeger in 1990. It was shown by Giudici and Xia that the smallest upper bound on $s$ is attained for some digraph admitting an almost simple $s$-arc-transitive group. In this paper, based on the work of Pan, Wu and Yin, we prove that $s\leqslant 2$ in the case where the group is an alternating or symmetric group.

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arXiv2024

Generalized quaternion groups with the m-DCI property

A Cayley digraph Cay(G,S) of a finite group $G$ with respect to a subset $S$ of $G$ is said to be a CI-digraph if for every Cayley digraph Cay(G,T) isomorphic to Cay(G,S), there exists an automorphism $σ$ of $G$ such that $S^σ=T$. A finite group $G$ is said to have the $m$-DCI property for some positive integer $m$ if all $m$-valent Cayley digraphs of $G$ are CI-digraphs, and is said to be a DCI-group if $G$ has the $m$-DCI property for all $1\leq m\leq |G|$. Let $\mathrm{Q}_{4n}$ be a generalized quaternion group of order $4n$ with an integer $n\geq 3$, and let $\mathrm{Q}_{4n}$ have the $m$-DCI property for some $1 \leq m\leq 2n-1$. It is shown in this paper that $n$ is odd, and $n$ is not divisible by $p^2$ for any prime $p\leq m-1$. Furthermore, if $n\geq 3$ is a power of a prime $p$, then $\mathrm{Q}_{4n}$ has the $m$-DCI property if and only if $p$ is odd, and either $n=p$ or $1\leq m\leq p$.

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arXiv2024

The second largest eigenvalue of some nonnormal Cayley graphs on symmetric groups

A Cayley graph on the symmetric group $S_n$ is said to have the Aldous property if its strictly second largest eigenvalue (that is, the largest eigenvalue strictly smaller than the degree) is attained by the standard representation of $S_n$. For $1\leq r < k < n$, let $C(n,k;r)$ be the set of $k$-cycles of $S_n$ moving every point in $\{1, \ldots, r\}$. Recently, Siemons and Zalesski [J. Algebraic Combin. 55 (2022) 989--1005] posed a conjecture which is equivalent to saying that for any $n \ge 5$ and $1\leq r<k<n$ the nonnormal Cayley graph $\mathrm{Cay}(S_n, C(n,k;r))$ on $S_n$ with connection set $C(n,k;r)$ has the Aldous property. Solving this conjecture, we prove that all these graphs have the Aldous property except when (i) $(n, k, r) = (6, 5, 1)$ or (ii) $n$ is odd, $k = n-1$, and $1 \le r < \frac{n}{2}$. Along the way we determine all irreducible representations of $S_n$ that can achieve the strictly second largest eigenvalue of $\mathrm{Cay}(S_n, C(n,n-1;r))$ as well as the smallest eigenvalue of this graph.

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arXiv2023

A solution to Babai's problem on digraphs with non-diagonalizable adjacency matrix

The fact that the adjacency matrix of every finite graph is diagonalizable plays a fundamental role in spectral graph theory. Since this fact does not hold in general for digraphs, it is natural to ask whether it holds for digraphs with certain level of symmetry. Interest on this question dates back to early 1980s, when P.~J.~Cameron asked for the existence of arc-transitive digraphs with non-diagonalizable adjacency matrix. This was answered in the affirmative by L.~Babai in 1985. Then Babai posed the open problem of constructing a 2-arc-transitive digraph and a vertex-primitive digraph whose adjacency matrices are not diagonalizable. In this paper, we solve Babai's problem by constructing an infinite family of $s$-arc-transitive digraphs for each integer $s\geq2$, and an infinite family of vertex-primitive digraphs, respectively, both of whose adjacency matrices are non-diagonalizable.

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arXiv2023

Asymptotic enumeration of graphical regular representations

We estimate the number of graphical regular representations (GRRs) of a given group with large enough order. As a consequence, we show that almost all finite Cayley graphs have full automorphism groups 'as small as possible'. This confirms a conjecture of Babai-Godsil-Imrich-Lovasz on the proportion of GRRs, as well as a conjecture of Xu on the proportion of normal Cayley graphs, among Cayley graphs of a given finite group.

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arXiv2023

The smallest vertex-primitive $2$-arc-transitive digraph

In 2017, Giudici, Li and the third author constructed the first known family of vertex-primitive $2$-arc-transitive digraphs of valency at least $2$. The smallest digraph in this family admits $\mathrm{PSL}_3(49)$ acting $2$-arc-transitively with vertex-stabilizer $\mathrm{A}_6$ and hence has $30758154560$ vertices. In this paper, we prove that this digraph is the vertex-primitive $2$-arc-transitive digraph of valency at least $2$ with fewest vertices.

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arXiv2023

The second largest eigenvalue of normal Cayley graphs on symmetric groups generated by cycles

We study the normal Cayley graphs $\mathrm{Cay}(S_n, C(n,I))$ on the symmetric group $S_n$, where $I\subseteq \{2,3,\ldots,n\}$ and $C(n,I)$ is the set of all cycles in $S_n$ with length in $I$. We prove that the strictly second largest eigenvalue of $\mathrm{Cay}(S_n,C(n,I))$ can only be achieved by at most four irreducible representations of $S_n$, and we determine further the multiplicity of this eigenvalue in several special cases. As a corollary, in the case when $I$ contains neither $n-1$ nor $n$ we know exactly when $\mathrm{Cay}(S_n, C(n,I))$ has the Aldous property, namely the strictly second largest eigenvalue is attained by the standard representation of $S_n$, and we obtain that $\mathrm{Cay}(S_n, C(n,I))$ does not have the Aldous property whenever $n \in I$. As another corollary of our main results, we prove a recent conjecture on the second largest eigenvalue of $\mathrm{Cay}(S_n, C(n,\{k\}))$ where $2 \le k \le n-2$.

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arXiv2022

Aldous' spectral gap property for normal Cayley graphs on symmetric groups

Aldous' spectral gap conjecture states that the second largest eigenvalue of any connected Cayley graph on the symmetric group Sn with respect to a set of transpositions is achieved by the standard representation of Sn. This celebrated conjecture, which was proved in its general form in 2010, has inspired much interest in searching for other families of Cayley graphs on Sn with the property that the largest eigenvalue strictly smaller than the degree is attained by the standard representation of Sn. In this paper, we prove three results on normal Cayley graphs on Sn possessing this property for sufficiently large n, one of which can be viewed as a generalization of the "normal" case of Aldous' spectral gap conjecture.

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arXiv2022

Regular sets in Cayley graphs

In a graph $Γ$ with vertex set $V$, a subset $C$ of $V$ is called an $(a,b)$-perfect set if every vertex in $C$ has exactly $a$ neighbors in $C$ and every vertex in $V\setminus C$ has exactly $b$ neighbors in $C$, where $a$ and $b$ are nonnegative integers. In the literature $(0,1)$-perfect sets are known as perfect codes and $(1,1)$-perfect sets are known as total perfect codes. In this paper we prove that, for any finite group $G$, if a non-trivial normal subgroup $H$ of $G$ is a perfect code in some Cayley graph of $G$, then it is also an $(a,b)$-perfect set in some Cayley graph of $G$ for any pair of integers $a$ and $b$ with $0\leqslant a\leqslant|H|-1$ and $0\leqslant b\leqslant |H|$ such that $\gcd(2,|H|-1)$ divides $a$. A similar result involving total perfect codes is also proved in the paper.

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