On locally projective graphs of girth 5 (Q1386527)

Vertex-transitive graphs with large vertex-stabilizers play an important role within the study of highly transitive graphs. This is why locally projective graphs are of particular interest. A locally projective graph of type \((n,q)\) is a 2-arc transitive graph whose vertex-stabilizer \(G(x)\) of any vertex \(x\) contains in its action on the neighborhood of \(x\) a normal copy of \(\text{PSL}_n(q)\) in its natural doubly transitive action. As the general classification of all locally projective graphs seems to be not accessible yet, the research has focused on graphs with small girth. In particular, locally projective graphs of girth 3 and 4 as well as locally projective graphs of girth 5 and a non-trivial pointwise stabilizer \(G_1(x)\) of any vertex \(x\) together with its neighborhood have been fully classified. The article in consideration completes the classification of locally projective graphs of girth 5 by describing all the locally projective graphs of girth 5 possessing a trivial stabilizer \(G_1(x)= 1\). The main result of the paper characterizes the admissible parameters \((n,q)\) for such graphs to be either \((4,2)\) or of the form \((n,4)\) with \(n\geq 3\), with the graphs of type \((n,4)\) in existence if and only if a special finite Cayley graph \(W(n)\) introduced in the paper happens to be of girth 5. The unique locally projective graph of girth 5 and type \((4,2)\) is the graph \(\Gamma(M_{23})\) associated with the Steiner system \(S(5,8,24)\). All the locally projective graphs of types \((n,4)\), \(n\geq 3\), and girth 5 contain induced copies of the Wells graph and are quotients of the graph \(W(n)\).