Automorphism groups of \(k\)-arc transitive covers. (Q1422432)

Let \(\Gamma=\text{ Cay\,}(G,S)\) be a (strongly connected) Cayley digraph and \((\text{Aut\,} G)_S\) the set of automorphisms \(\alpha\) of \(G\) such that \(S^\alpha=S\). The semidirect product \(G\rtimes (\text{Aut\,} G)_S\) acts on \(G\) in a natural way (\(g^{(h,\alpha)}=hg^\alpha\)) and \(G\rtimes (\text{Aut\,} G)_S\) is a subgroup of \(\text{Aut\,}\Gamma\). The Cayley digraph \(\Gamma\) is said to be normal if \(\text{Aut\,}\Gamma=G\rtimes (\text{Aut\,} G)_S\). Let \(\Gamma=\text{Cay\,}(G,S)\) be \(k\)-arc transitive of degree 2. In the first result of the paper the structure of \(\text{Aut\,}\Gamma\) is described and it is shown that \(\Gamma\) is exactly \(k\)-regular. Moreover, if \(k\leq 1\), then \(\Gamma\) is normal (which is not true for larger values of \(k\)). A \(r\)-regular digraph \(\Gamma=(V,A)\) admits a (\(1\)-)factorization \(\{F_1,\ldots,F_r\}\). Each \(F_i\) corresponds to a permutation \(f_i\) of \(V\). The permutation group generated by \(F=\{f_1,\dots,f_r\}\) is denoted by \(G(\Gamma,F)\). If \(G=G(\Gamma,F)\), the digraph \(\text{ Cay}(G,F)\) is called a Cayley cover of \(\Gamma\). A factorization \(F\) of a \(k\)-line digraph \(\Gamma=L^k\Gamma_0\) such that the resulting Cayley cover is also a \(k\)-line digraph is said to be a \(k\)-uniform factorization. It is shown that every factorization of a connected \(k\)-line digraph of degree 2 with \(k\leq 2\) is uniform. In \textit{S. P. Mansilla} and \textit{O. Serra} [Discrete Math. 231, 337--349 (2001; Zbl 0981.05051)] the authors gave a technique to construct \(k\)-arc transitive covers of the complete symmetric digraph with loops \(K_r^+\) and without loops \(K_r\). Here, they have computed all the 2-arc transitive covers of \(K_2^+\) and \(K_3\) which can be obtained using their technique. They give the structure of the group and a number of parameters. Families of Cayley covers of \(K_{r+1}\) and of the Kautz digraph \(K(r,k+1)\) (with \(r+1\) a prime number) are also studied. Finally, they characterize Cayley digraphs which are \(m\)-generalized cycles (i.e. such that there exists a graph homomorphism from \(\Gamma\) onto the cyle of length \(m\)). This result is considered in the context of finding \(k\)-arc transitive digraphs which are not homomorphic to cycles or paths.