Collineation group as a subgroup of the symmetric group. (Q1935080)

Let \(\Psi\) be a set, and let \(\mathfrak S_\Psi\) the set of all self-bijections of \(\Psi\). We regard \(\mathfrak S_\Psi\) as a topological group under the pointwise convergence topology. The main result of this paper is the following theorem, which gives a sufficient condition for a subgroup to be dense in \(\mathfrak S_\Psi\). Theorem: Let \(V\) be a vector space of dimension \(>2\) over a field \(k\), and let \(\Psi=\mathbb P_k(V)\) be the projectivization of \(V\). Suppose that \(H\) is a subgroup of \(\mathfrak S_\Psi\) containing \(\mathrm{PGL}(V)\) and an arbitrary self-bijection of \(\Psi\) which is not a collineation, i.e. which transforms some triple of collinear points to a triple of non-collinear points. If \(\Psi\) is infinite, then \(H\) is dense in \(\mathfrak S_\Psi\). This theorem implies, in particular that \(\mathrm{PGL}(V)\) is maximal among proper closed subgroups of \(\mathfrak S_\Psi\). It is an analogue of a result of \textit{W. M. Kantor} and \textit{T. P. McDonough} [J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 8, 426 (1974; Zbl 0299.20010)] who, under the same suppositions, conclude that, if \(\Psi\) is \textit{finite}, then \(H\) contains the alternating subgroup \(\mathfrak{A}_\Psi\). The theorem is proved by exploiting a connection between dense subgroups of \(\mathfrak S_\Psi\) and highly transitive actions, as follows. Let \(G\) be a subgroup of \(\mathfrak S_\Psi\). The action of \(G\) on \(\Psi\) is called \textit{highly transitive} if, for all integers \(N\geq 1\), \(G\) acts transitively on the set of all subsets of \(\Psi\) of cardinality \(N\). It turns out that the action of \(G\) on \(\Psi\) is highly transitive if and only if \(G\) is dense in \(\mathfrak S_\Psi\) in the pointwise convergence topology. The authors prove their main result by showing that any subgroup of \(\mathfrak S_\Psi\) which satisfies the suppositions of the theorem must act highly transitively on \(\Psi\).