For a permutation group $G$ acting on a set $V$, a subset $\mathcal{F}$ of $G$ is said to be an intersecting set if for every pair of elements $g,h\in \mathcal{F}$ there exists $v \in V$ such that $g(v) = h(v)$. The intersection density $ρ(G)$ of a transitive permutation group $G$ is the maximum value of the quotient $|\mathcal{F}|/|G_v|$ where $G_v$ is a stabilizer of a point $v\in V$ and $\mathcal{F}$ runs over all intersecting sets in $G$.
If $G_v$ is a largest intersecting set in $G$ then $G$ is said to have the Erdős-Ko-Rado (EKR)-property. This paper is devoted to the study of transitive permutation groups, with point stabilizers of prime order with a special emphasis given to orders 2 and 3, which do not have the EKR-property. Among other, constructions of infinite family of transitive permutation groups having point stabilizer of order $3$ with intersection density $4/3$ and of infinite families of transitive permutation groups having point stabilizer of order $3$ with arbitrarily large intersection density are given.
Half-arc-transitive graphs are a fascinating topic which connects graph theory, Riemann surfaces and group theory. Although fruitful results have been obtained over the last half a century, it is still challenging to construct half-arc-transitive graphs with prescribed vertex stabilizers. Until recently, there have been only six known connected tetravalent half-arc-transitive graphs with nonabelian vertex stabilizers, and the question whether there exists a connected tetravalent half-arc-transitive graph with nonabelian vertex stabilizer of order $2^s$ for every $s\geqslant3$ has been wide ope…
In this paper, we study arc-transitive Cayley graphs on non-abelian simple groups with soluble stabilizers and valency seven. Let $\Ga$ be such a Cayley graph on a non-abelian simple group $T$. It is proved that either $\Ga$ is a normal Cayley graph or $\Ga$ is $S$-arc-transitive, with $(S,T)=(\A_n,\A_{n-1})$ and $n=7,21,63$ or $84$; and, for each of these four values of $n$, there really exists arc-transitive $7$-valent non-normal Cayley graphs on $\A_{n-1}$ and specific examples are constructed.
A Cayley graph $\Ga=\Cay(G,S)$ is said to be normal if $G$ is normal in $\Aut\Ga$. The concept of normal Cayley graphs was first proposed by M.Y.Xu in [Discrete Math. 182, 309-319, 1998] and it plays an important role in determining the full automorphism groups of Cayley graphs. In this paper, we investigate the normality problem of the connected arc-transitive pentavalent Cayley graphs with soluble vertex stabilizer on finite nonabelian simple groups. We prove that all such graphs $\Ga$ are either normal or $G=\A_{39}$ or $\A_{79}$. Further, a connected arc-transitive pentavalent Cayley graph…
A graph $Γ$ is said to be symmetric if its automorphism group $\rm Aut(Γ)$ acts transitively on the arc set of $Γ$. In this paper, we show that if $Γ$ is a finite connected heptavalent symmetric graph with solvable stabilizer admitting a vertex-transitive non-abelian simple group $G$ of automorphisms, then either $G$ is normal in $\rm Aut(Γ)$, or $\rm Aut(Γ)$ contains a non-abelian simple normal subgroup $T$ such that $G\leq T$ and $(G,T)$ is explicitly given as one of $11$ possible exception pairs of non-abelian simple groups. Furthermore, if $G$ is regular on the vertex set of $Γ$ then the e…
We study groups acting vertex-transitively on connected, trivalent graphs such that stabilizers of vertices are infinite. If the action is edge-transitive, we prove that the graph has to be a tree. We analyze the case where the action is not edge-transitive and fully classify the possible $2$-ended graphs. We draw connections to Willis' scale function and re-prove a result by Trofimov.
Motivated by some questions in Euclidean Ramsey theory, our aim in this note is to show that there exists a cyclic quadrilateral that does not embed into any transitive set (in any dimension). We show that in fact this holds for almost all cyclic quadrilaterals, and we also give explicit examples of such cyclic quadrilaterals. These are the first explicit examples of spherical sets that do not embed into transitive sets.
A graph is edge-primitive if its automorphism group acts primitively on the edge set, and 2-arc-transitive if its automorphism group acts transitively on the set of 2-arcs. In this paper, we present a classification for those edge-primitive graphs which are 2-arc-transitive and have soluble edge-stabilizers.
A regular cover of a connected graph is called {\em cyclic} or {\em dihedral} if its transformation group is cyclic or dihedral respectively, and {\em arc-transitive} (or {\em symmetric}) if the fibre-preserving automorphism subgroup acts arc-transitively on the regular cover. In this paper, we give a classification of arc-transitive cyclic and dihedral covers of a connected pentavalent symmetric graph of order twice a prime. All those covers are explicitly constructed as Cayley graphs on some groups, and their full automorphism groups are determined.
We prove that, given a finite graph $Σ$ satisfying some mild conditions, there exist infinitely many tetravalent half-arc-transitive normal covers of $Σ$. Applying this result, we establish the existence of infinite families of finite tetravalent half-arc-transitive graphs with certain vertex stabilizers, and classify the vertex stabilizers up to order $2^8$ of finite connected tetravalent half-arc-transitive graphs. This sheds some new light on the longstanding problem of classifying the vertex stabilizers of finite tetravalent half-arc-transitive graphs.
In this paper we introduce the definition of transitivity for oriented 3-hypergraphs in order to study partial and complete cyclic orders. This definition allow us to give sufficient conditions on a partial cyclic order to be totally extendable. Furthermore, we introduce the 3-hypergraph associated to a cyclic permutation and characterize it in terms of cyclic comparability 3-hypergraphs.
We show that there is no 1-ended, planar, hyperbolic graph such that the stabilizer of one of its hyperbolic boundary points acts transitively on the vertices of the graph. This gives a partial answer to a question by Kaimanovich and Woess.
A graph is edge-primitive if its automorphism group acts primitively on the edge set. In this short paper, we prove that a finite 2-arc-transitive edge-primitive graph has almost simple automorphism group if it is neither a cycle nor a complete bipartite graph. We also present two examples of such graphs, which are 3-arc-transitive and have faithful vertex-stabilizers.
We study finite four-valent graphs Gamma admitting an edge-transitive group G of automorphisms such that G determines and preserves an edge-orientation on Gamma, and such that at least one G-normal quotient is a cycle (a quotient modulo the orbits of a normal subgroup of G). We show on the one hand that the number of distinct cyclic G-normal quotients can be unboundedly large. On the other hand existence of independent cyclic G-normal quotients (that is, they are not extendable to a common cyclic G-normal quotient) places severe restrictions on the graph Gamma and we classify all examples. We …
In this article we give combinatorial criteria to decide whether a transitive cyclic combinatorial d-manifold can be generalized to an infinite family of such complexes, together with an explicit construction in the case that such a family exists. In addition, we substantially extend the classification of combinatorial 3-manifolds with transitive cyclic symmetry up to 22 vertices. Finally, a combination of these results is used to describe new infinite families of transitive cyclic combinatorial manifolds and in particular a family of neighborly combinatorial lens spaces of infinitely many dis…
We prove that every 2-transitive group has a property called the EKR-module property. This property gives a characterization of the maximum intersecting sets of permutations in the group. Specifically, the characteristic vector of any maximum intersecting set in a 2-transitive group is the linear combination of the characteristic vectors of the stabilizers of a points and their cosets. We also consider when the derangement graph of a 2-transitive group is connected and when a maximum intersecting set is a subgroup or a coset of a subgroup.
Let X be a coherent configuration associated with a transitive group G. In terms of the intersection numbers of X, a necessary condition for the point stabilizer of G to be a TI-subgroup, is established. Furthermore, under this condition, X is determined up to isomorphism by the intersection numbers. It is also proved that asymptotically, this condition is also sufficient. More precisely, an arbitrary homogeneous coherent configuration satisfying this condition is associated with a transitive group, the point stabilizer of which is a TI-subgroup. As a byproduct of the developed theory, recent …
In combinatorial topology we aim to triangulate manifolds such that their topological properties are reflected in the combinatorial structure of their description. Here, we give a combinatorial criterion on when exactly triangulations of 3-manifolds with transitive cyclic symmetry can be generalised to an infinite family of such triangulations with similarly strong combinatorial properties. In particular, we construct triangulations of Seifert fibred spaces with transitive cyclic symmetry where the symmetry preserves the fibres and acts non-trivially on the homology of the spaces. The triangul…
A subset of a group G of Sym(n) is intersecting if for any pair of permutations $π,σ\in G$ there is an $i$ in {1,2,...,n} such that $π(i) = σ(i)$. It has been shown, using an algebraic approach, that the largest intersecting sets in each of Sym(n), Alt(n) and PGL(2,q) are exactly the cosets of the point-stabilizers. In this paper, we show how this method can be applied more generally to many 2-transitive groups. We then apply this method to the Mathieu groups and to all 2-transtive groups with degree no more than 20.
In order to complete (and generalize) results of Gardiner and Praeger on 4-valent symmetric graphs (European J. Combin, 15 (1994)) we apply the method of lifting automorphisms in the context of elementary-abelian covering projections. In particular, the vertex- and edge-transitive graphs whose quotient by a normal $p$-elementary abelian group of automorphisms, for $p$ an odd prime, is a cycle, are described in terms of cyclic and negacyclic codes. Specifically, the symmetry properties of such graphs are derived from certain properties of the generating polynomials of cyclic and negacyclic code…
A connected graph whose automorphism group acts transitively on the edges and vertices, but not on the set of ordered pairs of adjacent vertices of the graph is called half-arc-transitive. It is well known that the valence of a half-arc-transitive graph is even and at least four. Several infinite families of half-arc-transitive graphs of valence four are known, however, in all except four of the known specimens, the vertex-stabiliser in the automorphism group is abelian. The first example of a half-arc-transitive graph of valence four and with a non-abelian vertex-stabiliser was described in […
Two elements $g$ and $h$ of a permutation group $G$ acting on a set $V$ are said to be intersecting if $g(v) = h(v)$ for some $v \in V$. More generally, a subset ${\cal F}$ of $G$ is an intersecting set if every pair of elements of ${\cal F}$ is intersecting. The intersection density $ρ(G)$ of a transitive permutation group $G$ is the maximum value of the quotient $|{\cal F}|/|G_v|$ where ${\cal F}$ runs over all intersecting sets in $G$ and $G_v$ is a stabilizer of $v\in V$. In this paper the intersection density of transitive groups of degree twice a prime is determined, and proved to be eit…
Let $Γ$ be a finite, undirected, connected, simple graph. We say that a matching $\mathcal{M}$ is a \textit{permutable $m$-matching} if $\mathcal{M}$ contains $m$ edges and the subgroup of $\text{Aut}(Γ)$ that fixes the matching $\mathcal{M}$ setwise allows the edges of $\mathcal{M}$ to be permuted in any fashion. A matching $\mathcal{M}$ is \textit{2-transitive} if the setwise stabilizer of $\mathcal{M}$ in $\text{Aut}(Γ)$ can map any ordered pair of distinct edges of $\mathcal{M}$ to any other ordered pair of distinct edges of $\mathcal{M}$. We provide constructions of graphs with a permutab…
Given a finite transitive permutation group $G\leq \operatorname{Sym}(Ω)$, with $|Ω|\geq 2$, the derangement graph $Γ_G$ of $G$ is the Cayley graph $\operatorname{Cay}(G,\operatorname{Der}(G))$, where $\operatorname{Der}(G)$ is the set of all derangements of $G$. Meagher et al. [On triangles in derangement graphs, {\it J. Combin. Theory Ser. A}, 180:105390, 2021] recently proved that $\operatorname{Sym}(2)$ acting on $\{1,2\}$ is the only transitive group whose derangement graph is bipartite and any transitive group of degree at least three has a triangle in its derangement graph. They also sh…
A finite graph is called a tricirculant if admits a cyclic group of automorphism which has precisely three orbits on the vertex-set of the graph, all of equal size. We classify all finite connected cubic vertex-transitive tricirculants. We show that except for some small exceptions of order less than 54, each of these graphs is either a prism of order 6k with k odd, a Möbius ladder, or it falls into one of two infinite families, each family containing one graph for every order of the form 6k with k odd.
In 2011, Fang et al. in (J. Combin. Theory A 118 (2011) 1039-1051) posed the following problem: Classify non-normal locally primitive Cayley graphs of finite simple groups of valency $d$, where either $d\leq 20$ or $d$ is a prime number. The only case for which the complete solution of this problem is known is of $d=3$. Except this, a lot of efforts have been made to attack this problem by considering the following problem: Characterize finite nonabelian simple groups which admit non-normal locally primitive Cayley graphs of certain valency $d\geq4$. Even for this problem, it was only solved f…
A graph $Γ$ is called $G$-symmetric if it admits $G$ as a group of automorphisms acting transitively on the set of ordered pairs of adjacent vertices. We give a classification of $G$-symmetric graphs $Γ$ with $V(Γ)$ admitting a nontrivial $G$-invariant partition $\mathcal{B}$ such that there is exactly one edge of $Γ$ between any two distinct blocks of $\mathcal{B}$. This is achieved by giving a classification of $(G, 2)$-point-transitive and $G$-block-transitive designs $\mathcal{D}$ together with $G$-orbits $Ω$ on the flag set of $\mathcal{D}$ such that $G_{σ, L}$ is transitive on $L \setmin…
For a graph $Γ$, a positive integer $s$ and a subgroup $G\leq \Aut(Γ)$, we prove that $G$ is transitive on the set of $s$-arcs of $Γ$ if and only if $Γ$ has girth at least $2(s-1)$ and $G$ is transitive on the set of $(s-1)$-geodesics of its line graph. As applications, we first prove that the only non-complete locally cyclic $2$-geodesic transitive graphs are the complete multipartite graph $K_{3[2]}$ and the icosahedron. Secondly we classify 2-geodesic transitive graphs of valency 4 and girth 3, and determine which of them are geodesic transitive.
Two elements $g$ and $h$ of a permutation group $G$ acting on a set $V$ are said to be intersecting if $g(v) = h(v)$ for some $v \in V$. More generally, a subset ${\cal F}$ of $G$ is an intersecting set if every pair of elements of ${\cal F}$ is intersecting. The intersection density $ρ(G)$ of a transitive permutation group $G$ is the maximum value of the quotient $|{\cal F}|/|G_v|$ where $G_v$ is a stabilizer of $v\in V$ and ${\cal F}$ runs over all intersecting sets in $G$. Intersection densities of transitive groups of degree $pq$, where $p>q$ are odd primes, is considered. In particular, t…
For $q=p^r$ with a prime $p\ge 7$ such that $q \equiv 1$ or $19\pmod {30},$ the desarguesian projective plane $PG(2,q)$ of order $q$ has a unique conjugacy class of projectivity groups isomorphic to the alternating group $A_6$ of degree 6. For a projectivity group $Γ\cong A_6$ of $PG(2,q)$, we investigate the geometric properties of the (unique) $Γ$-orbit $\mathcal{O}$ of size 90 such that the 1-point stabilizer of $Γ$ in $\mathcal O$ is a cyclic group of order 4. Here $\mathcal O$ lies either in $PG(2,q)$ or in $PG(2,q^2)$ according as 3 is a square or a non-square element in $GF(q)$. We show…
This paper considers flag-transitive $4$-$(q+1,k,λ)$ designs with $λ\geq5$ and $q+1>k>4$. Let the automorphism group of a design $\cal D$ be a simple group $G=PSL(2,q)$. Depend on the fact that the setwise stabilizer $G_B$ must be one of twelve kinds of subgroups, up to isomorphism we get the following two results. (i) If $10\geq λ\geq 5$, then except $(G,G_x,G_B,k,λ)=(PSL(2,761),{E_{761}}\rtimes {C_{380}},S_4,24,7)$ or $(PSL(2,512),{E_{512}}\rtimes {C_{511}},{D_{18}},18,8)$ undecided, $\cal D$ is a $4$-$(24,8,5)$, $4$-$(9,8,5)$, $4$-$(8,6,6)$, $4$-$(10,9,6)$, $4$-$(9,6,10)$, $4$-$(9,7,10)$, $…
The theory of voltage graphs has become a standard tool in the study graphs admitting a semiregular group of automorphisms. We introduce the notion of a cyclic generalised voltage graph to extend the scope of this theory to graphs admitting a cyclic group of automorphism that may not be semiregular. We use this new tool to classify all cubic graphs admitting a cyclic group of automorphisms with at most three vertex-orbits and we characterise vertextransitivity for each of these classes. In particular, we show that a cubic vertex-transitive graph admitting a cyclic group of automorphisms with a…
A matroid is a combinatorial structure that captures and generalizes the algebraic concept of linear independence under a broader and more abstract framework. Matroids are closely related with many other topics in discrete mathematics, such as graphs, matrices, codes and projective geometries. In this work, we define cyclic matroids as matroids over a ground set of size $n$ whose automorphism group contains an $n$-cycle. We study the properties of such matroids, with special focus on the minimum size of their basis sets. For this, we broadly employ two different approaches: the multiple basis …
Let $G$ be a permutation group on a finite set $Ω$. The $k$-closure $G^{(k)}$ of the group $G$ is the largest subgroup of $\operatorname{Sym}(Ω)$ having the same orbits as $G$ on the $k$-th Cartesian power $Ω^k$ of $Ω$. A group $G$ is called $\frac{3}{2}$-transitive if its transitive and the orbits of a point stabilizer $G_α$ on the set $Ω\setminus\{α\}$ are of the same size greater than one. We prove that the $2$-closure $G^{(2)}$ of a $\frac{3}{2}$-transitive permutation group $G$ can be found in polynomial time in size of $Ω$. In addition, if the group $G$ is not $2$-transitive, then for ev…
Some remarks on the orbit dimension of transitive groups and on the metric dimension of Johnson graphs
Scuola Galileiana di Studi Superiori, Università di Padova（高等研究伽利略学院，帕多瓦大学）；Dipartimento di Matematica “Tullio Levi-Civita”, Università di Padova（帕多瓦大学，“图利奥·莱维-奇维塔”数学系）；University of Milano-Bicocca（米兰比可卡大学）
Let $G$ be a finite transitive group on a set $Ω$, let $α\in Ω$ and let $G_α$ be the stabilizer of the point $α$ in $G$. In this paper, we are interested in the proportion $$\frac{|\{ω\in Ω\mid ω\textrm{ lies in a }G_α\textrm{-orbit of cardinality at most two}\}|}{|Ω|},$$ that is, the proportion of elements of $Ω$ lying in a suborbit of cardinality at most two. We show that, if this proportion is greater than $5/6$, then each element of $Ω$ lies in a suborbit of cardinality at most two and hence $G$ is classified by a result of Bergman and Lenstra. We also classify the permutation groups attai…
Given a permutation group $G$, the derangement graph $Γ_G$ of $G$ is the Cayley graph with connection set the set of all derangements of $G$. We prove that, when $G$ is transitive of degree at least $3$, $Γ_G$ contains a triangle. The motivation for this work is the question of how large can be the ratio of the independence number of $Γ_G$ to the size of the stabilizer of a point in $G$. We give examples of transitive groups where this ratio is maximum.
