Sporadic groups and automorphisms of linear spaces

This article is a contribution to the study of the automorphism groups of finite linear spaces. In particular we look at almost simple groups and prove the following theorem: Let G be an almost simple group and let 𝒮 be a finite linear space on which G acts as a line‐transitive automorphism group. Then the socle of G is not a sporadic group. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 8: 353–362, 2000