On three families of extended tilde geometries (Q2462313)

The paper contributes to the classification of flag-transitive extended tilde geometries and is based and elaborates on unpublished work of C. Wiedorn. It focuses on flag-transitive extended tilde geometries \(\Gamma\) of rank \(n\geq 3\) that satisfy assumption (*): There exists a 1-covering \(\gamma:\Gamma\to\Phi\) where \(\Phi\) is a \(c . C_{n-1}\)-geometry with orders \( 1, 2, \dots, n\) such that the fibers of \(\gamma\) are the orbits of the deck group \(D(\gamma)\) of \(\gamma\) and \(D(\gamma)\) is normalized by a flag-transitive subgroup \(G\) of \(\text{Aut}(\Gamma)\). The author proves that, under these hypotheses, only three possibilities \(\widetilde \Gamma_n^{(sg)}\), \(\widetilde \Gamma_n^{(+)}\) and \(\widetilde \Gamma_n^{(-)}\) exist for the universal cover of \(\Gamma\). The geometries \(\widetilde \Gamma_n^{(\pm)}\) are described by \textit{G. Stroth} and \textit{C. Wiedorn} [\(c\)-extensions of \(P\)- and \(T\)-geometries -- a survey of known examples. Topics in diagram geometry. Rome: Aracne. Quaderni di Matematica 12, 197--226 (2003; Zbl 1065.51011)] and the geometry \(\widetilde \Gamma_n^{(sg)}\) is obtained in a similar fashion. By (*) the group \(G\) is projected by \(\gamma\) onto a flag-transitive automorphism group \(F\cong G/(D(\gamma)\cap G)\) of \(\Phi\) and \(\Phi\) is a standard quotient of an affine polar space so that \(\Phi\) is a projection of \(W(2n-1,2)\setminus H\), where \(H\) is a hyperplane, by a (possibly improper) \((n-1)\)-covering \(\varphi:\widetilde\Phi\to\Phi\). Furthermore \(F\) lifts through \(\varphi\) to a flag-transitive subgroup \(\widetilde F\) of \(\Aut(\widetilde\Phi)\). There are only three possibilities for \(H\), \(\widetilde F\) and \(\varphi\). In singular type (sg), \(H = x^\perp\) for a given point \(x\in H\) and in (\(\pm\))-type \(H\) is isomorphic to the hyperbolic or elliptic quadric \(Q^\pm_{2n-1}(2)\) of \(\text{PG}(2n-1, 2)\). The isomorphism types of \(\widetilde F\) are known and no proper quotients exist in \((\pm)\)-types so that \(\Phi=\widetilde\Phi\) and \(F=\widetilde F\) whereas in the singular type also one proper quotient is possible, obtained by factorizing \(\widetilde\Phi\) over the center \(Z(\widetilde F)\cong Z_2\) of \(\widetilde F\). To complete the proof the author considers for a chamber \(C_0 = \{x_1, x_2,\dots, x_n\}\) of \(\Gamma\) the stabilizer \(G_i\) of \(x_i\) in \(G\) and the elementwise stabilizer \(K_i\) of \(\text{Res}(x_i)\) in \(G_i\) and analyses the structure of \(K_i\) and \(G_i\) and of amalgams formed from certain \(G_i\)s. It is shown that \(K_1\leq Z_2\) and that by passing over to a smaller group \(G\) one can assume that \(K_1=1\). Then \(K_2\) is elementary abelian of order \(2^{2n-3}\). For every choice of \(\widetilde F\) there is at most one amalgam \({\mathcal A} = (G_1, G_2, G_n; G_{1,2}, G_{1,n}, G_{2,n}; G_{1,2,n})\) that fits with that choice of \(\widetilde F\) and \({\mathcal A}\) uniquely determines the complete amalgam formed with all \(G_i\)s. As a corollary the author further obtains that in the singular case the geometry \(\widetilde \Gamma^{(sg)}_n\) is isomorphic to the affine extension of \(T_{\text{Sp}}(n-1)\) by its universal representation.