Infinite permutation groups. II: Subgroups of small index (Q1117027)

It is proved in \textit{J. D. Dixon}, \textit{P. M. Neumann} and \textit{S. Thomas} [Bull. Lond. Math. Soc. 18, 580-586 (1986; Zbl 0607.20003)] that if \(\Omega\) is a countable set, and \(H\leq Sym(\Omega)\) has index less than \(2^{| \Omega |}\), then H contains the pointwise stabilizer of some finite subset of \(\Omega\) (the authors of that paper were unaware that the result had been previously announced by \textit{S. S. Semmes} [``Infinite symmetric groups, maximal subgroups, and filters. A preliminary report'', Abstr. Am. Math. Soc. 3, 38 (1982)]). Subsequently, \textit{D. Evans} [Bull. Lond. Math. Soc. 18, 587-590 (1986; Zbl 0603.20041)] proved an analogous theorem for subgroups of the general linear group of countable dimension over a finite or countable division ring. In the present paper the author considers the cases where \(G=Aut({\mathbb{Q}})\) or \(G=Aut({\mathbb{Q}},\leq)\) (the autohomeomorphisms of \({\mathbb{Q}}\) and the order preserving permutations of \({\mathbb{Q}}\), respectively). In each case he shows that if \(H\leq G\) has index less than \(2^{\aleph_ 0}\) then H contains the point stabilizer of a finite subset of \({\mathbb{Q}}\). He also proves results about subgroups of small index in \(G=Aut(\Omega)\) where \(\Omega\) is either the set Ir of irrationals or the Cantor set with the usual topology, and certain ``coloured'' versions of \({\mathbb{Q}}\). In particular, when \(G=Aut(Ir)\) there are no proper subgroups of index less than \(2^{\aleph_ 0}\). Proofs are rather technical and based on the author's earlier paper [Part I, cf. the preceding review Zbl 0666.20001)].