Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Pablo Spiga

Publications and source records attributed to Pablo Spiga.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
arXiv2014

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.

math.GR↗
arXiv2014

Cayley graphs on abelian groups

Let $A$ be an abelian group and let $ι$ be the automorphism of $A$ defined by $i:a\mapsto a^{-1}$. A Cayley graph $Γ=\mathrm{Cay}(A,S)$ is said to have an automorphism group \emph{as small as possible} if $\mathrm{Aut}(Γ)= A\rtimes\langle i\rangle$. In this paper, we show that almost all Cayley graphs on abelian groups have automorphism group as small as possible, proving a conjecture of Babai and Godsil.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

Rationality conditions for the eigenvalues of normal finite Cayley graphs

Given a finite group G, we say that a subset C of G is power-closed if, for every x in C and y in with = , we have that y lies in C. In this paper we are interested in finite Cayley digraphs Cay(G,C) over G with connection set C, where C is a union of conjugacy classes of G. We show that each eigenvalue of Cay(G,C) is integral if and only if C is power-closed. This result will follow from a discussion of some more general rationality conditions on the eigenvalues of Cay(G,C).

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

Twisted Permutation Codes

We introduce twisted permutation codes, which are frequency permutation arrays analogous to repetition permutation codes, namely, codes obtained from the repetition construction applied to a permutation code. In particular, we show that a lower bound for the minimum distance of a twisted permutation code is the minimum distance of a repetition permutation code. We give examples where this bound is tight, but more importantly, we give examples of twisted permutation codes with minimum distance strictly greater than this lower bound.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

A comment on: "Further restrictions on the structure of finite DCI-groups"

A finite group R is a CI-group if, whenever S and T are subsets of R with the Cayley graphs Cay(R,S) and Cay(R,T) isomorphic, there exists an automorphism x of R with S^x=T. The classification of CI-groups is an open problem in the theory of Cayley graphs and is closely related to the isomorphism problem for graphs. This paper is a contribution towards this classification, as we show that every dihedral group of order 6p, with p>3 prime, is a CI-group.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

Semiregular automorphisms of cubic vertex-transitive graphs

We characterise connected cubic graphs admitting a vertex- transitive group of automorphisms with an abelian normal subgroup that is not semiregular. We illustrate the utility of this result by using it to prove that the order of a semiregular subgroup of maximum order in a vertex-transitive group of automorphisms of a connected cubic graph grows with the order of the graph.

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

On the order of vertex-stabilisers in vertex-transitive graphs with local group $C_p\times C_p$ or $C_p \wr C_2$

Let $p$ be a prime and let $L$ be either the intransitive permutation group $C_p\times C_p$ of degree $2p$ or the transitive permutation group $C_p \wr C_2$ of degree $2p$. Let $Γ$ be a connected $G$-vertex-transitive and $G$-edge-transitive graph and let $v$ be a vertex of $Γ$. We show that if the permutation group induced by the vertex-stabiliser $G_v$ on the neighbourhood $Γ(v)$ is isomorphic to $L$ then either $|V(Γ)|\geq p|G_v|\log_p\left(|G_v|/2\right)$, or $|V(Γ)|$ is bounded by a constant depending only on $p$, or $Γ$ is a very-well understood graph. This generalises a few recent results.

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

On the Fitting height of soluble groups admitting a coprime factorisation

In this paper we are concerned with finite soluble groups $G$ admitting a factorisation $G=AB$, with $A$ and $B$ proper subgroups having coprime order. We are interested in bounding the Fitting height of $G$ in terms of some group-invariants of $A$ and $B$: including the Fitting heights and the derived lengths.

math.GR↗
arXiv2013

Finite primitive permutation groups and regular cycles of their elements

We conjecture that if $G$ is a finite primitive group and if $g$ is an element of $G$, then either the element $g$ has a cycle of length equal to its order, or for some $r,m$ and $k$, the group $G\leq S_m\wr S_r$, preserving a product structure of $r$ direct copies of the natural action of $S_m$ or $A_m$ on $k$-sets. In this paper we reduce this conjecture to the case that $G$ is an almost simple group with socle a classical group.

math.GR↗
arXiv2013

A census of 4-valent half-arc-transitive graphs and arc-transitive digraphs of valence two

A complete list of all connected arc-transitive asymmetric digraphs of in-valence and out-valence 2 on up to 1000 vertices is presented. As a byproduct, a complete list of all connected 4-valent graphs admitting a half-arc-transitive group of automorphisms on up to 1000 vertices is obtained. Several graph-theoretical properties of the elements of our census are calculated and discussed.

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

Conjectures on the normal covering number of the finite symmetric and alternating groups

Let $γ(S_n)$ be the minimum number of proper subgroups $H_i$ of the symmetric group $S_n$ such that each element in $S_n$ lies in some conjugate of one of the $H_i.$ In this paper we conjecture that $$γ(S_n)=\frac{n}{2}\left(1-\frac{1}{p_1}\right) \left(1-\frac{1}{p_2}\right)+2,$$ where $p_1,p_2$ are the two smallest primes in the factorization of $n$ and $n$ is neither a prime power nor a product of two primes. Support for the conjecture is given by a previous result for $n=p_1^{α_1}p_2^{α_2},$ with $(α_1,α_2)\neq (1,1)$. We give further evidence by confirming the conjecture for integers of the form $n=15q$ for an infinite set of primes $q$, and by reporting on a Magma computation. We make a similar conjecture for $γ(A_n)$, when $n$ is even, and provide a similar amount of evidence.

math.GR↗
arXiv2013

Automorphisms of Cayley graphs on generalised dicyclic groups

A graph is called a GRR if its automorphism group acts regularly on its vertex-set. Such a graph is necessarily a Cayley graph. Godsil has shown that there are only two infinite families of finite groups that do not admit GRRs : abelian groups and generalised dicyclic groups. Indeed, any Cayley graph on such a group admits specific additional graph automorphisms that depend only on the group. Recently, Dobson and the last two authors showed that almost all Cayley graphs on abelian groups admit no automorphisms other than these obvious necessary ones. In this paper, we prove the analogous result for Cayley graphs on the remaining family of exceptional groups: generalised dicyclic groups.

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

Groups having complete bipartite divisor graphs for their conjugacy class sizes

Given a finite group G, the bipartite divisor graph for its conjugacy class sizes is the bipartite graph with bipartition consisting of the set of conjugacy class sizes of G-Z (where Z denotes the centre of G) and the set of prime numbers that divide these conjugacy class sizes, and with {p,n} being an edge if gcd(p,n)\neq 1. In this paper we construct infinitely many groups whose bipartite divisor graph for their conjugacy class sizes is the complete bipartite graph K_{2,5}, giving a solution to a question of Taeri.

math.GR↗
arXiv2013

Affine transformations of finite vector spaces with large orders or few cycles

Let V be a d-dimensional vector space over a field of prime order p. We classify the affine transformations of V of order at least p^d/4, and apply this classification to determine the finite primitive permutation groups of affine type, and of degree n, that contain a permutation of order at least n/4. Using this result we obtain a classification of finite primitive permutation groups of affine type containing a permutation with at most four cycles.

math.GR↗