Polytopes of high rank for the symmetric groups

In the Atlas of abstract regular polytopes for small almost simple groups by Leemans and Vauthier, the polytopes whose automorphism group is a symmetric group Sn of degree 5?n?9 are available. Two observations arise when we look at the results: (1) for n?5, the (n−1)-simplex is, up to isomorphism, the unique regular (n−1)-polytope having Sn as automorphism group and, (2) for n?7, there exists, up to isomorphism and duality, a unique regular (n−2)-polytope whose automorphism group is Sn. We prove that (1) is true for n≠4 and (2) is true for n?7. Finally, we also prove that Sn acts regularly on at least one abstract polytope of rank r for every 3?r?n−1.     

Sign conjugacy classes of the alternating groups

A conjugacy class C of a finite group G is a sign conjugacy class if every irreducible character of G takes value 0,1 or ?1 on C. In this paper, we classify the sign conjugacy classes of alternating groups.     

Covering the alternating groups by products of cycle classes

Given integers k,l?2, where either l is odd or k is even, we denote by n=n(k,l) the largest integer such that each element of An is a product of k cycles of length l. For an odd l, k is the diameter of the undirected Cayley graph Cay(An,Cl), where Cl is the set of all l-cycles in An. We prove that if k?2 and l?9 is odd and divisible by 3, then . This extends earlier results by Bertram [E. Bertram, Even permutations as a product of two conjugate cycles, J. Combin. Theory 12 (1972) 368-380] and Bertram and Herzog [E. Bertram, M. Herzog, Powers of cycle-classes in symmetric groups, J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 94 (2001) 87-99].     

Arbitrary groups as two-point stabilisers of symmetric groups acting on partitions

We give a short, direct proof that given any finite group G there exist positive integers k and l and partitions α₁and α₂ of {1, …, kl } into l subsets of size k such that (S _kl ) _{α 1}, _{α 2}≅ G.The method used will also show that given any finite group G there exists a regular bipartite graph whose automorphism group is isomorphic to G     

Extendible elements of the alternating groups

An element?σ?of A_n , the Alternating group of degree n, is extendible in S_n , the Symmetric group of degree n, if there exists a subgroup H of S_n but not A_n whose intersection with A_n is the cyclic group generated by σ. A simple number-theoretic criterion, in terms of the cycle-decomposition, for an element of A_n to be extendible in S_n is given here.     

Partition graphs for finite symmetric groups

This paper outlines an investigation of a class of arc-transitive graphs admitting a finite symmetric group S_n acting primitively on vertices, with vertex-stabilizer isomorphic to the wreath product S_m wr S_r (preserving a partition of {1,2,…n} into r parts of equal size m). Several properties of these graphs are considered, including their correspondence with r × r matrices with constant row- and column-sums equal to m, their girth, and the local action of the vertex-stabilizer. Also, it is shown that the only instance where S_n acts transitively on 2-arcs occurs in the case m = r = 2. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 25: 107–117, 1997     

Normal coverings of finite symmetric and alternating groups

In this paper we investigate the minimum number of maximal subgroups Hi, i=1,…,k of the symmetric group Sn (or the alternating group An) such that each element in the group Sn (respectively An) lies in some conjugate of one of the Hi. We prove that this number lies between a?(n) and bn for certain constants a,b, where ?(n) is the Euler phi-function, and we show that the number depends on the arithmetical complexity of n. Moreover in the case where n is divisible by at most two primes, we obtain an upper bound of 2+?(n)/2, and we determine the exact value for Sn when n is odd and for An when n is even.     

Affine distance-transitive graphs and classical groups

This paper finishes the classification of the finite primitive affine distance-transitive graphs by dealing with the only case left open, namely where the generalized Fitting subgroup of the stabilizer of a vertex is modulo scalars a simple group of classical Lie type defined over the characteristic dividing the number of vertices of the graph. All graphs that are found to occur are known.     

QUASI-PERMUTATION REPRESENTATIONS OF ALTERNATING AND SYMMETRIC GROUPS

The quantities c(G), q(G) and p(G) for finite groups were defined by H. Behravesh. In this article, these quantities for the alternating group An and the symmetric group Sn are calculated. It is shown that c(G) = q(G)=p(G) = n, when G = An or Sn.     

Normal subgroups of nonstandard symmetric and alternating groups

Let be a nonstandard model of Peano Arithmetic with domain M and let be nonstandard. We study the symmetric and alternating groups S _n and A _n of permutations of the set internal to , and classify all their normal subgroups, identifying many externally defined such normal subgroups in the process. We provide evidence that A _n and S _n are not split extensions by these normal subgroups, by showing that any such complement if it exists, cannot be a limit of definable sets. We conclude by identifying an -valued metric on and (where B _S , B _A are the maximal normal subgroups of S _n and A _n identified earlier) making these groups into topological groups, and by showing that if is -saturated then and are complete with respect to this metric.      

Free groups and ends of graphs

Let X be a connected graph. An automorphism of X is said to be parabolic if it leaves no finite subset of vertices in X invariant and fixes precisely one end of X and hyperbolic if it leaves no finite subset of vertices in X invariant and fixes precisely two ends of X. Various questions concerning dynamics of parabolic and hyperbolic automorphisms are discussed.The set of ends which are fixed by some hyperbolic element of a group G acting on X is denoted by ?(G). If G contains a hyperbolic automorphism of X and G fixes no end of X, then G contains a free subgroup F such that ?(F) is dense in ?(G) with respect to the natural topology on the ends of X.As an application we obtain the following: A group which acts transitively on a connected graph and fixes no end has a free subgroup whose directions are dense in the end boundary.     

Restrictions on the structure of subgroup lattices of finite alternating and symmetric groups

Let G be a finite alternating or symmetric group. We describe an infinite class of finite lattices, none of which is isomorphic to any interval [H,G] in the subgroup lattice of G.     

Broué's abelian defect group conjecture for alternating groups

We establish Broué's abelian defect group conjecture for the alternating groups, using the Chuang-Rouquier theorem (proving this for the symmetric groups) and a descent result.

     

Valuations and rank of ordered abelian groups

It is shown that there exists an ordered abelian group that has no smallest positive element and that has no sequence of nonzero elements converging to zero. Some formulae for the rank of ordered abelian groups have been derived and a necessary condition for an order type to be rank of an ordered abelian group has been discussed. These facts have been translated to the spectrum of a valuation ring using some well-known results in valuation theory.

     

Isomorphic Cayley graphs on nonisomorphic groups

The issue of when two Cayley digraphs on different abelian groups of prime power order can be isomorphic is examined. This had previously been determined by Anne Joseph for squares of primes; her results are extended. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 3: 345–362, 1999     

Rewriting systems in alternating knot groups with the Dehn presentation

Every tame, prime and alternating knot is equivalent to a tame, prime and alternating knot in regular position, with a common projection. In this work, we show that the Dehn presentation of the knot group of a tame, prime, alternating knot, with a regular and common projection has a finite and complete rewriting system. Although there are rules in the rewriting system with left-hand side a generator and which increase the length of the words we show that the system is terminating.