Cherlin's conjecture for sporadic simple groups
We prove Cherlin's conjecture, concerning binary primitive permutation groups, for those groups with socle isomorphic to a sporadic simple group.
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arXiv subjects
Pablo Spiga
Publications and source records attributed to Pablo Spiga.
Lifting a prescribed group of automorphisms of graphs
In this paper we are interested in lifting a prescribed group of automorphisms of a finite graph via regular covering projections. Here we describe with an example the problems we address and refer to the introductory section for the correct statements of our results. Let $P$ be the Petersen graph, say, and let $\wp:\tilde{P}\to P$ be a regular covering projection. With the current covering machinery, it is straightforward to find $\wp$ with the property that every subgroup of $\Aut(P)$ lifts via $\wp$. However, for constructing peculiar examples and in applications, this is usually not enough. Sometimes it is important, given a subgroup $G$ of $\Aut(P)$, to find $\wp$ along which $G$ lifts but no further automorphism of $P$ does. For instance, in this concrete example, it is interesting to find a covering of the Petersen graph lifting the alternating group $A_5$ but not the whole symmetric group $S_5$. (Recall that $\Aut(P)\cong S_5$.) Some other time it is important, given a subgroup $G$ of $\Aut(P)$, to find $\wp$ with the property that $\Aut(\tilde{P})$ is the lift of $G$. Typically, it is desirable to find $\wp$ satisfying both conditions. In a very broad sense, this might remind wallpaper patterns on surfaces: the group of symmetries of the dodecahedron is $S_5$, and there is a nice colouring of the dodecahedron (found also by Escher) whose group of symmetries is just $A_5$. In this paper, we address this problem in full generality.
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Every finite non-solvable group admits an Oriented Regular Representation
In this paper we give a partial answer to a 1980 question of Lazslo Babai: "Which [finite] groups admit an oriented graph as a DRR?" That is, which finite groups admit an oriented regular representation (ORR)? We show that every finite non-solvable group admits an ORR, and provide a tool that may prove useful in showing that some families of finite solvable groups admit ORRs. We also completely characterize all finite groups that can be generated by at most three elements, according to whether or not they admit ORRs.
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Classification of finite groups that admit an oriented regular representation
This is the third, and last, of a series of papers dealing with oriented regular representations. Here we complete the classification of finite groups that admit an oriented regular representation (or ORR for short), and give a complete answer to a 1980 question of Laszlo Babai: "Which [finite] groups admit an oriented graph as a DRR?" It is easy to see and well-understood that generalised dihedral groups do not admit ORRs. We prove that, with 11 small exceptions (having orders ranging from 8 to 64), every finite group that is not generalised dihedral has an ORR.
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Vertex transitive graphs $G$ with $χ_D(G) > χ(G)$ and small automorphism group
For a graph $G$ and a positive integer $k$, a vertex labelling $f:V(G)\to\{1,2\ldots,k\}$ is said to be $k$-distinguishing if no non-trivial automorphism of $G$ preserves the sets $f^{-1}(i)$ for each $i\in\{1,\ldots,k\}$. The distinguishing chromatic number of a graph $G$, denoted $χ_D(G)$, is defined as the minimum $k$ such that there is a $k$-distinguishing labelling of $V(G)$ which is also a proper coloring of the vertices of $G$. In this paper, we prove the following theorem: Given $k\in\mathbb{N}$, there exists an infinite sequence of vertex-transitive graphs $G_{i}=(V_i,E_i)$ such that $χ_D(G_i)>χ(G_i)>k$ and $|\mathrm{Aut}(G_i)|=O_k(|V_i|)$, where $\mathrm{Aut}(G_i)$ denotes the full automorphism group of $G_i$. In particular, this answers a problem raised in the paper $χ_D(G)$, $|\mathrm{Aut}(G)|$ and a variant of the Motion lemma.
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Cherlin's conjecture for almost simple groups of Lie rank 1
We prove Cherlin's conjecture, concerning binary primitive permutation groups, for those groups with socle isomorphic to $\mathrm{PSL}_2(q)$, ${^2\mathrm{B}_2}(q)$, ${^2\mathrm{G}_2}(q)$ or $\mathrm{PSU}_3(q)$. Our method uses the notion of a "strongly non-binary action".
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Binary permutation groups: alternating and classical groups
We introduce a new approach to the study of finite binary permutation groups and, as an application of our method, we prove Cherlin's binary groups conjecture for groups with socle a finite alternating group, and for the $\mathcal{C}_1$-primitive actions of the finite classical groups. Our new approach involves the notion, defined with respect to a group action, of a `\emph{beautiful subset}'. We demonstrate how the presence of such subsets can be used to show that a given action is not binary. In particular, the study of such sets will lead to a resolution of many of the remaining open cases of Cherlin's binary groups conjecture.
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Cayley numbers with arbitrarily many distinct prime factors
A positive integer $n$ is a Cayley number if every vertex-transitive graph of order $n$ is a Cayley graph. In 1983, Dragan Marušič posed the problem of determining the Cayley numbers. In this paper we give an infinite set $S$ of primes such that every finite product of distinct elements from $S$ is a Cayley number. This answers a 1996 outstanding question of Brendan McKay and Cheryl Praeger, which they "believe to be the key unresolved question" on Cayley numbers. We also show that, for every finite product $n$ of distinct elements from $S$, every transitive group of degree $n$ contains a semiregular element.
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An application of the Local C(G,T) Theorem to a conjecture of Weiss
Let $Γ$ be a connected $G$-vertex-transitive graph, let $v$ be a vertex of $Γ$ and let $G_v^{Γ(v)}$ be the permutation group induced by the action of the vertex-stabiliser $G_v$ on the neighbourhood $Γ(v)$. The graph $Γ$ is said to be $G$-\emph{locally primitive} if $G_v^{Γ(v)}$ is primitive. Richard Weiss conjectured in $1978$ that, there exists a function $f:\mathbb{N}\to \mathbb{N}$ such that, if $Γ$ is a connected $G$-vertex-transitive locally primitive graph of valency $d$ and $v$ is a vertex of $Γ$ with $|G_v|$ finite, then $|G_v|\leq f(d)$. As an application of the Local $C(G,T)$ Theorem, we prove this conjecture when $G_v^{Γ(v)}$ contains an abelian regular subgroup. In fact, we show that the point-wise stabiliser in $G$ of a ball of $Γ$ of radius $4$ is the identity subgroup.
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An Erdős-Ko-Rado theorem for finite 2-transitive groups
We prove an analogue of the classical Erdős-Ko-Rado theorem for intersecting sets of permutations in finite 2-transitive groups. Given a finite group G acting faithfully and 2-transitively on the set X, we show that an intersecting set of maximal size in G has cardinality |G|/|X|. This generalises and gives a unifying proof of some similar recent results in the literature.
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Finite edge-transitive oriented graphs of valency four: a global approach
We develop a new framework for analysing finite connected, oriented graphs of valency 4, which admit a vertex-transitive and edge-transitive group of automorphisms preserving the edge orientation. We identify a sub-family of "basic" graphs such that each graph of this type is a normal cover of at least one basic graph. The basic graphs either admit an edge-transitive group of automorphisms that is quasiprimitive or biquasiprimitive on vertices, or admit an (oriented or unoriented) cycle as a normal quotient. We anticipate that each of these additional properties will facilitate effective further analysis, and we demonstrate that this is so for the quasiprimitive basic graphs. Here we obtain strong restirictions on the group involved, and construct several infinite families of such graphs which, to our knowledge, are different from any recorded in the literature so far. Several open problems are posed in the paper.
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Groups of order at most 6 000 generated by two elements, one of which is an involution, and related structures
A (2,*)-group is a group that can be generated by two elements, one of which is an involution. We describe the method we have used to produce a census of all (2,*)-groups of order at most 6 000. Various well-known combinatorial structures are closely related to (2,*)-groups and we also obtain censuses of these as a corollary.
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Most switching classes with primitive automorphism groups contain graphs with trivial groups
The operation of switching a graph $Γ$ with respect to a subset $X$ of the vertex set interchanges edges and non-edges between $X$ and its complement, leaving the rest of the graph unchanged. This is an equivalence relation on the set of graphs on a given vertex set, so we can talk about the automorphism group of a switching class of graphs. It might be thought that switching classes with many automorphisms would have the property that all their graphs also have many automorphisms. However the main theorem of this paper shows a different picture: with finitely many exceptions, if a non-trivial switching class $\mathcal{S}$ has primitive automorphism group, then it contains a graph whose automorphism group is trivial. We also find all the exceptional switching classes; up to complementation, there are just six.
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On the order of Borel subgroups of group amalgams and an application to locally-transitive graphs
A permutation group is called semiprimitive if each of its normal subgroups is either transitive or semiregular. Given nontrivial finite transitive permutation groups $L_1$ and $L_2$ with $L_1$ not semiprimitive, we construct an infinite family of rank two amalgams of permutation type $[L_1,L_2]$ and Borel subgroups of strictly increasing order. As an application, we show that there is no bound on the order of edge-stabilisers in locally $[L_1,L_2]$ graphs. We also consider the corresponding question for amalgams of rank $k\geq 3$. We completely resolve this by showing that the order of the Borel subgroup is bounded by the permutation type $[L_1,...,L_k]$ only in the trivial case where each of $L_1,...,L_k$ is regular.
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Vertex-primitive digraphs having vertices with almost equal neighbourhoods
We consider vertex-primitive digraphs having two vertices with almost equal neighbourhoods (that is, the set of vertices that are neighbours of one but not the other is small). We prove a structural result about such digraphs and then apply it to answer a question of Araújo and Cameron about synchronising groups.
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Finite primitive groups and edge-transitive hypergraphs
We determine all finite primitive groups that are automorphism groups of edge-transitive hypergraphs. This gives an answer to a problem proposed by Babai and Cameron
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$\wedge$-transitive digraphs preserving a cartesian decomposition
In this paper, we combine group-theoretic and combinatorial techniques to study $\wedge$-transitive digraphs admitting a cartesian decomposition of their vertex set. In particular, our approach uncovers a new family of digraphs that may be of considerable interest.
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Finite primitive groups and regular orbits of group elements
We prove that if $G$ is a finite primitive permutation group and if $g$ is an element of $G$, then either $g$ has a cycle of length equal to its order, or for some $r$, $m$ and $k$, the group $G \leq \mathrm{Sym}(m) \textrm{wr} \mathrm{Sym}(r)$ preserves the product structure of $r$ direct copies of the natural action of $\mathrm{Sym}(m)$ on $k$-sets. This gives an answer to a question of Siemons and Zalesski and a solution to a conjecture of Giudici, Praeger and the second author.
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