On distance-transitive graphs and involutions (Q1180677)

In the classification of primitive distance-transitive graphs one is confronted with the question if for a finite group \(G\) there is a suitable maximal subgroup \(H\) and a suitable suborbit leading to a distance-transitive graph. In this paper we present a result concerning the case where there is a suborbit on which \(H\) acts unfaithfully. As an immediate consequence one gets strong restrictions on the special case where \(H\) is the centralizer of an involution. As an application we determine all primitive distance-transitive graphs with automorphism group \(G\) such that \(S\trianglelefteq G\leq\text{Aut}(S)\), where \(S\) is a sporadic simple group, that is, one of the 26 groups mentioned as such in the \textit{Atlas} [J. H. Conway; R. T. Curtis; S. P. Norton; R. A. Parker; R. A. Wilson, Atlas of finite groups. Maximal subgroups and ordinary characters for simple groups (1985; Zbl 0568.20001)], and \(H\) the centralizer of some involution.