Non-abelian simple groups act with almost all signatures (Q2207262)

A finite group \(G\) acts conformally on a compact Riemann surface \(S\) of genus \(\sigma\) if \(G\) is isomorphic to a subgroup of the group of conformal automorphisms of \(S\), Aut(\(S\)). In that case, a tuple \((h;m_1, \dots, m_s)\) is a signature of \(G\) acting on \(S\) if the quotient surface \(S/G\) has genus \(h\) and the quotient map \(\pi : S \rightarrow S/G\) is branched over \(s\) points with ramification indices \(m_1, \dots, m_s\). From Riemann's Existence Theorem, there are arithmetic and group-theoretic conditions which determine whether a given tuple is or not a signature of \(G\) acting on \(S\). Given a group \(G\) for which the list of orders of the elements of \(G\), Ord(\(G\)), is known, it is easy to compute all tuples satisfying the arithmetic conditions. These tuples are called by the authors \textit{potential signatures}, and they form an infinite set. To determine whether a potential signature satisfies the group-theoretic conditions is much harder. Tuples satisfying them are called \textit{actual signatures}. The paper under review is devoted to study the groups \(G\) such that all potential signatures but a finite number are in fact actual signatures. If \(G\) has that property, the authors say that \(G\) acts with almost all signatures, or \(G\) is AAS. Necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained in Corollary 4.5, according to which a finite group \(G\) is AAS if and only if for every \(n_i \in\) Ord(\(G\)), the commutator subgroup \([G,G]\) contains an element of order \(n_i\), and \(G\) is generated by elements of order \(n_i\). As a consequence of the necessary part of Corollary 4.5, all AAS groups are non-abelian (Corollary 4.2), and from the sufficient part, all non-abelian finite simple groups are AAS (Theorem 4.6). In the final Section 5 of the paper, the authors prove that all AAS groups lie in two categories: if \(G\) is an AAS group, it is either a non-abelian \(p\)-group or a perfect group (Proposition 5.1). For \(p\)-groups, examples are shown of infinite families of AAS groups, and of infinite families of non-AAS groups (Subsection 5.1). In Subsection 5.2, also infinite families of AAS perfect non-simple groups are exhibited, but for instance \(SL(2,q)\) is not AAS for \(q\) odd. Two immediate open problems are the limit of the ratio of AAS groups among \(p\)-groups and perfect groups as the order grows.