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John Bamberg

Publications and source records attributed to John Bamberg.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2017

Simple groups, product actions, and generalised quadrangles

The classification of flag-transitive generalised quadrangles is a long-standing open problem at the interface of finite geometry and permutation group theory. Given that all known flag-transitive generalised quadrangles are also point-primitive (up to point-line duality), it is likewise natural to seek a classification of the point-primitive examples. Working towards this aim, we are led to investigate generalised quadrangles that admit a collineation group $G$ preserving a Cartesian product decomposition of the set of points. It is shown that, under a generic assumption on $G$, the number of factors of such a Cartesian product can be at most four. This result is then used to treat various types of primitive and quasiprimitive point actions. In particular, it is shown that $G$ cannot have holomorph compound O'Nan-Scott type. Our arguments also pose purely group-theoretic questions about conjugacy classes in non-Abelian finite simple groups, and about fixities of primitive permutation groups.

math.GR↗
arXiv2017

Bruck nets and partial Sherk planes

In Bachmann's Aufbau der Geometrie aus dem Spiegelungsbegriff (1959), it was shown that a finite metric plane is a Desarguesian affine plane of odd order equipped with a perpendicularity relation on lines, and conversely. Sherk (1967) generalised this result to characterise the finite affine planes of odd order by removing the 'three reflections axioms' from a metric plane. We show that one can obtain a larger class of natural finite geometries, the so-called Bruck nets of even degree, by weakening Sherk's axioms to allow non-collinear points.

math.CO↗
arXiv2016

The circular altitude of a graph

In this paper we investigate a parameter of graphs, called the circular altitude, introduced by Peter Cameron. We show that the circular altitude provides a lower bound on the circular chromatic number, and hence on the chromatic number, of a graph and investigate this parameter for the iterated Mycielskian of certain graphs.

math.CO↗
arXiv2016

A relative $m$-cover of a Hermitian surface is a relative hemisystem

An $m$-cover of the Hermitian surface $H(3,q^2)$ of $PG(3,q^2)$ is a set $\mathcal{S}$ of lines of $H(3,q^2)$ such that every point of $H(3,q^2)$ lies on exactly $m$ lines of $\mathcal{S}$, and $0<m<q+1$. Segre (1965) proved that if $q$ is odd, then $m=(q+1)/2$, and called such a set $\mathcal{S}$ of lines a hemisystem. Penttila and Williford (2011) introduced the notion of a relative hemisystem: a set of lines $\mathcal{R}$ of $H(3,q^2)$, $q$ even, disjoint from a symplectic subgeometry $W(3,q)$ such that every point of $H(3,q^2)\setminus W(3,q)$ lies on exactly $q/2$ elements of $\mathcal{R}$. In this paper, we provide an analogue of Segre's result by introducing relative $m$-covers of $H(3,q^2)$ with respect to a symplectic subgeometry and proving that $m$ must necessarily be $q/2$.

math.CO↗
arXiv2016

FinInG: a package for Finite Incidence Geometry

FinInG is a package for computation in Finite Incidence Geometry. It provides users with the basic tools to work in various areas of finite geometry from the realms of projective spaces to the flat lands of generalised polygons. The algebraic power of GAP is exploited, particularly in its facility with matrix and permutation groups.

math.CO↗
arXiv2016

Point-primitive, line-transitive generalised quadrangles of holomorph type

Let $G$ be a group of collineations of a finite thick generalised quadrangle $Γ$. Suppose that $G$ acts primitively on the point set $\mathcal{P}$ of $Γ$, and transitively on the lines of $Γ$. We show that the primitive action of $G$ on $\mathcal{P}$ cannot be of holomorph simple or holomorph compound type. In joint work with Glasby, we have previously classified the examples $Γ$ for which the action of $G$ on $\mathcal{P}$ is of affine type. The problem of classifying generalised quadrangles with a point-primitive, line-transitive collineation group is therefore reduced to the case where there is a unique minimal normal subgroup $M$ and $M$ is non-Abelian.

math.GR↗
arXiv2016

A New Infinite Family of Hemisystems of the Hermitian Surface

In this paper, we construct an infinite family of hemisystems of the Hermitian surface $\mathsf{H}(3,q^2)$. In particular, we show that for every odd prime power $q$ congruent to $3$ modulo $4$, there exists a hemisystem of $\mathsf{H}(3,q^2)$ admitting $C_{(q^3+1)/4} : C_3$.

math.CO↗
arXiv2015

A note on relative hemisystems of Hermitian generalised quadrangles

In this paper we introduce a set of sufficient criteria for the construction of relative hemisystems of the Hermitian space $\mathrm{H}(3,q^2)$, unifying all known infinite families. We use these conditions to provide new proofs of the existence of the known infinite families of relative hemisystems. Reproving these results has allowed us to find new relative hemisystems closely related to an infinite family of Cossidente's, and develop techniques that are likely to be useful in finding relative hemisystems in future.

math.CO↗
arXiv2015

Weighted Intriguing Sets in Finite Polar Spaces

We provide new proofs for the non-existence of ovoids in hyperbolic spaces of rank at least four in even characteristic, and for the Hermitian polar space $\mathsf{H}(5, 4)$. We also improve the results of A. Klein on the non-existence of ovoids of Hermitian spaces and hyperbolic quadrics.

math.CO↗
arXiv2015

A classification of finite antiflag-transitive generalized quadrangles

A generalized quadrangle is a point-line incidence geometry $\mathcal{Q}$ such that: (i) any two points lie on at most one line, and (ii) given a line $\ell$ and a point $P$ not incident with $\ell$, there is a unique point of $\ell$ collinear with $P$. The finite Moufang generalized quadrangles were classified by Fong and Seitz (1973), and we study a larger class of generalized quadrangles: the \emph{antiflag-transitive} quadrangles. An antiflag of a generalized quadrangle is a non-incident point-line pair $(P, \ell)$, and we say that the generalized quadrangle $\mathcal{Q}$ is antiflag-transitive if the group of collineations is transitive on the set of all antiflags. We prove that if a finite thick generalized quadrangle $\mathcal{Q}$ is antiflag-transitive, then $\mathcal{Q}$ is either a classical generalized quadrangle or is the unique generalized quadrangle of order $(3,5)$ or its dual.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

Point-primitive generalised hexagons and octagons

In 2008, Schneider and Van Maldeghem proved that if a group acts flag-transitively, point-primitively, and line-primitively on a generalised hexagon or generalised octagon, then it is an almost simple group of Lie type. We show that point-primitivity is sufficient for the same conclusion, regardless of the action on lines or flags. This result narrows the search for generalised hexagons or octagons with point- or line-primitive collineation groups beyond the classical examples, namely the two generalised hexagons and one generalised octagon admitting the Lie type groups $\mathsf{G}_2(q)$, $\,^3\mathsf{D}_4(q)$, and $\,^2\mathsf{F}_4(q)$, respectively.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

Locally triangular graphs and rectagraphs with symmetry

Locally triangular graphs are known to be halved graphs of bipartite rectagraphs, which are connected triangle-free graphs in which every $2$-arc lies in a unique quadrangle. A graph $Γ$ is locally rank 3 if there exists $G\leq \mathrm{Aut}(Γ)$ such that for each vertex $u$, the permutation group induced by the vertex stabiliser $G_u$ on the neighbourhood $Γ(u)$ is transitive of rank 3. One natural place to seek locally rank 3 graphs is among the locally triangular graphs, where every induced neighbourhood graph is isomorphic to a triangular graph $T_n$. This is because the graph $T_n$, which has vertex set the $2$-subsets of $\{1,\ldots,n\}$ and edge set the pairs of $2$-subsets intersecting at one point, admits a rank 3 group of automorphisms. In this paper, we classify the locally $4$-homogeneous rectagraphs under some additional structural assumptions. We then use this result to classify the connected locally triangular graphs that are also locally rank 3.

math.GR↗
arXiv2014

AS-configurations and skew-translation generalised quadrangles

The only known skew-translation generalised quadrangles (STGQ) having order $(q,q)$, with $q$ even, are translation generalised quadrangles. Equivalently, the only known groups $G$ of order $q^3$, $q$ even, admitting an Ahrens-Szekeres (AS-)configuration are elementary abelian. In this paper we prove results in the theory of STGQ giving (i) new structural information for a group $G$ admitting an AS-configuration, (ii) a classification of the STGQ of order $(8,8)$, and (iii) a classification of the STGQ of order $(q,q)$ for odd $q$ (using work of Ghinelli and Yoshiara).

math.GR↗
arXiv2014

Generalised quadrangles and transitive pseudo-hyperovals

A pseudo-hyperoval of a projective space $\PG(3n-1,q)$, $q$ even, is a set of $q^n+2$ subspaces of dimension $n-1$ such that any three span the whole space. We prove that a pseudo-hyperoval with an irreducible transitive stabiliser is elementary. We then deduce from this result a classification of the thick generalised quadrangles $\mathcal{Q}$ that admit a point-primitive, line-transitive automorphism group with a point-regular abelian normal subgroup. Specifically, we show that $\mathcal{Q}$ is flag-transitive and isomorphic to $T_2^*(\mathcal{H})$, where $\mathcal{H}$ is either the regular hyperoval of $\PG(2,4)$ or the Lunelli--Sce hyperoval of $\PG(2,16)$.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

On m-ovoids of dual twisted triality hexagons

A generalised hexagon of order $(s,t)$ is said to be \emph{extremal} if $t$ meets the Haemers-Roos bound, that is, $t=s^3$. The \emph{dual twisted triality hexagons} associated to the exceptional Lie type groups $\,^3D_4(s)$ have these parameters, and are the only known such examples. It was shown in the work of De Bruyn and Vanhove that an extremal generalised hexagon has no 1-ovoids. In this note, we prove that a dual twisted triality hexagon has no $m$-ovoids for every possible (nontrivial) value of $m$, except for the isolated case where $s=3$ and $m=2$.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

Triple factorisations of the general linear group and their associated geometries

Triple factorisations of finite groups $G$ of the form $G=PQP$ are essential in the study of Lie theory as well as in geometry. Geometrically, each triple factorisation $G=PQP$ corresponds to a $G$-flag transitive point/line geometry such that `each pair of points is incident with at least one line'. We call such a geometry \emph{collinearly complete}, and duality (interchanging the roles of points and lines) gives rise to the notion of \emph{concurrently complete} geometries. In this paper, we study triple factorisations of the general linear group $\mathrm{GL}(V)$ as $PQP$ where the subgroups $P$ and $Q$ either fix a subspace or fix a decomposition of $V$ as $V_1\oplus V_2$ with $\dim(V_{1})=\dim(V_{2})$.

math.GR↗
arXiv2012

Bounds on the diameter of Cayley graphs of the symmetric group

In this paper we are concerned with the conjecture that, for any set of generators S of the symmetric group of degree n, the word length in terms of S of every permutation is bounded above by a polynomial of n. We prove this conjecture for sets of generators containing a permutation fixing at least 37% of the points.

math.GR↗