The Classification of Primitive Sharp Permutation Groups of Type {0, k}

The purpose in this paper is to complete the classification of primitive sharp permutation groups of type ({0, k}, n) by proving that no such group can be almost simple.     

The Primitive Sharp Permutation Groups of Twisted Wreath Type

A permutation group G ≤ Sym(X) on a finite set X is sharp if |G|=∏ _l?L(G)(|X| ? l), where L(G) = {|fix(g)| | 1 ≠ g ? G}. We show that no finite primitive permutation groups of twisted wreath type are sharp.     

A Note on Point Stabilizers in Sharp Permutation Groups of Type {0, k}

We study sharp permutation groups of type {0, k} and observe that, once the isomorphism type of a point stabilizer is fixed, there are only finitely many possibilities for such a permutation group. We then show that a sharp permutation group of type {0, k} in which a point stabilizer is isomorphic to the alternating group on 5 letters must be a geometric group. There is, up to permutation isomorphism, one such permutation group.     

On the Finite Group with the Index of Maximal Subgroups of the Monster

Abstract

We study the problem concerning the influence of the index of maximal subgroup or the degree of primitive permutation representation of the finite simple groups on the structure of a group. Let G be a finite group and s be the index of maximal subgroup of the Monster M. In this paper, we prove that there exists an epimorphism from G to M or A _s if G has the primitive permutation representation of degree s, and as a consequence we prove that the Monster is determined by every s.     

The Primitive Permutation Groups of Squarefree Degree

The paper gives lists of all the primitive permutation groupsof squarefree degree. All such groups are either solvable andact on a prime number of points, or are almost simple. Amongthe almost simple examples, the groups of Lie type have rankat most 2, or the point stabilizer is a parabolic subgroup.2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 20B15.     

Primitive permutation groups with a regular subgroup

This paper starts the classification of the primitive permutation groups (G,Ω) such that G contains a regular subgroup X. We determine all the triples (G,Ω,X) with soc(G) an alternating, or a sporadic or an exceptional group of Lie type. Further, we construct all the examples (G,Ω,X) with G a classical group which are known to us. Our particular interest is in the 8-dimensional orthogonal groups of Witt index 4. We determine all the triples (G,Ω,X) with . In order to obtain all these triples, we also study the almost simple groups G with GPΩ_2n+1(q). The case GU_n(q) is started in this paper and finished in [B. Baumeister, Primitive permutation groups of unitary type with a regular subgroup, Bull. Belg. Math. Soc. 112 (5) (2006) 657–673]. A group X is called a Burnside-group (or short a B-group) if each primitive permutation group which contains a regular subgroup isomorphic to X is necessarily 2-transitive. In the end of the paper we discuss B-groups.     

Distance-transitive representations of the sporadic groups

A permutation representation of a finite group is multiplicity-free if all the irreducible constituents in the permutation character are distinct. There are three main reasons why these representations are interesting: it has been checked that all finite simple groups have such permutation representations, these are often of geometric interest, and the actions on vertices of distance-transitive graphs are multiplicity-free.

In this paper we classify the primitive multiplicity-free representations of the sporadic simple groups and their automorphism groups. We determine all the distance-transitive graphs arising from these representations. Moreover, we obtain intersection matrices for most of these actions, which are of further interest and should be useful in future investigations of the sporadic simple groups.     

Blowing up solutions for Neumann problem with critical nonlinearity on the boundary

Let G be a transitive permutation group on a finite set of size at least 2. By a well known theorem of Fein, Kantor and Schacher, G contains a derangement of prime power order. In this paper, we study the finite primitive permutation groups with the extremal property that the order of every derangement is an r-power, for some fixed prime r. First we show that these groups are either almost simple or affine, and we determine all the almost simple groups with this property. We also prove that an affine group G has this property if and only if every two-point stabilizer is an r-group. Here the structure of G has been extensively studied in work of Guralnick and Wiegand on the multiplicative structure of Galois field extensions, and in later work of Fleischmann, Lempken and Tiep on \({r'}\)-semiregular pairs.     

On an optimal flow in a class of nilpotent convex problems

This is the first in a series of papers whose results imply the validity of a strengthened version of the Sims conjecture on finite primitive permutation groups from the authors’ article “Stabilizers of graph’s vertices and a strengthened version of the Sims conjecture”, Dokl. Math. 59 (1), 113–115 (1999). In this paper, the case of not almost simple primitive groups and the case of primitive groups with alternating socle are considered.     

Non-abelian sharp permutation<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-groups

A permutation groupG of finite degreed is called a sharp permutation group of type {k},k a non-negative integer, if every non-identity element ofG hask fixed points and |G|=d−k. We characterize sharp non-abelianp-groups of type {k} for allk.     

The primitive permutation groups of degree 2 a ·3 b

In this paper, we give a complete classification of all finite simple groups with maximal subgroups of index n, where n = 2^a·3^b for a, b≧ 1. As a consequence, for such n, all primitive permutation groups of degree n are given. The motivation of this work comes also from a study of Cayley graphs of certain valency on a finite simple group. Received: 9 March 2005     

(Almost) primitivity of Hecke L -functions

Let f be a cusp form of the Hecke space \frak M₀(l,k,e){\frak M}_0(\lambda,k,\epsilon) and let L _f be the normalized L-function associated to f. Recently it has been proved that L _f belongs to an axiomatically defined class of functions [`(S)]<sup>\sharp</sup>\bar{\cal S}^\sharp . We prove that when λ ≤ 2, L <sub>f</sub> is always almost primitive, i.e., that if L <sub>f</sub> is written as product of functions in [`(S)]^\sharp\bar{\cal S}^\sharp , then one factor, at least, has degree zeros and hence is a Dirichlet polynomial. Moreover, we prove that if l ? {?2,?3,2}\lambda\notin\{\sqrt{2},\sqrt{3},2\} then L _f is also primitive, i.e., that if L _f = F ₁ F ₂ then F ₁ (or F ₂) is constant; for l ? {?2,?3,2}\lambda\in\{\sqrt{2},\sqrt{3},2\} the factorization of non-primitive functions is studied and examples of non-primitive functions are given. At last, the subset of functions f for which L _f belongs to the more familiar extended Selberg class S^\sharp{\cal S}^\sharp is characterized and for these functions we obtain analogous conclusions about their (almost) primitivity in S^\sharp{\cal S}^\sharp .     

Simple groups, permutation groups, and probability

We derive a new bound for the minimal degree of an almost simple primitive permutation group, and settle a conjecture of Cameron and Kantor concerning the base size of such a group. Additional results concern random generation of simple groups, and the so-called genus conjecture of Guralnick and Thompson. Our proofs are based on probabilistic arguments, together with a new result concerning the size of the intersection of a maximal subgroup of a classical group with a conjugacy class of elements.

     

Primitive <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-free permutation groups

For a finite permutation group G acting on a set Ω, we say that G is k-free if the set-wise stabilizer of every k-subset of Ω is trivial. The purpose of this article is to describe, for all k, the primitive k-free permutation groups. Received: 20 February 2006     

Base sizes for sporadic simple groups

Let G be a permutation group acting on a set Ω. A subset of Ω is a base for G if its pointwise stabilizer in G is trivial. We write b(G) for the minimal size of a base for G. We determine the precise value of b(G) for every primitive almost simple sporadic group G, with the exception of two cases involving the Baby Monster group. As a corollary, we deduce that b(G) ⩽ 7, with equality if and only if G is the Mathieu group M24 in its natural action on 24 points. This settles a conjecture of Cameron.     

On the length of subgroup chains in the symmetric group

We prove that for n≥2, the length of every subgroup chain in S_n is at most 2n-3. The proof rests on an upper bound for the order of primitive permutation groups, due to Praeger and Saxl. The result has applications to worst case complexity estimates for permutation group algorithms.     

Permutation groups,simple groups,and sieve methods

We show that the number of integersn≤x which occur as indices of subgroups of nonabelian finite simple groups, excluding that ofA _n−1 inA _n , is ∼hx/logx, for some given constanth. This might be regarded as a noncommutative analogue of the Prime Number Theorem (which counts indicesn≤x of subgroups of abelian simple groups). We conclude that for most positive integersn, the only quasiprimitive permutation groups of degreen areS _n andA _n in their natural action. This extends a similar result for primitive permutation groups obtained by Cameron, Neumann and Teague in 1982. Our proof combines group-theoretic and number-theoretic methods. In particular, we use the classification of finite simple groups, and we also apply sieve methods to estimate the size of some interesting sets of primes. Research partially supported by the Australian Research Council for C.E.P. and by the Bi-National Science Foundation United States-Israel Grant 2000-053 for A.S.     

Maximal Sections and Primitive Permutation Groups of Twisted Wreath Type

A primitive permutation group is said to be of twisted wreathtype if its socle is both non-abelian and regular. We reducethe study of such primitive permutation groups to the studyof ‘maximal non-abelian simple sections’ of non-abeliansimple groups.