Root graded groups of rank 2 (Q2418864)

Tits polygons as defined in [ \textit{B. Mühlherr}, \textit{R. M. Weiss}, \textit{H. P. Petersson}, ``Tits polygons'', Mem. Amer. Math. Soc. (to appear)] generalize Moufang polygons, which have been classified by [\textit{J. Tits} and \textit{R. M. Weiss}, Moufang polygons. Berlin: Springer (2002; Zbl 1010.20017)]. Now the authors introduce groups with stable root gradings of rank 1 or 2; this generalizes the notion of root datum due to [\textit{J. Tits}, in: Centre Belge Rech. Math., Colloque Théor. Groupes algébr., Bruxelles 137--147 (1962; Zbl 0154.02601)]. By Theorem 3.9, such gradings of rank 1 are equivalent to Tits sets, which generalize Moufang sets. By the main result (Theorems 5.1 and 5.3), such gradings of rank 2 are essentially equivalent to Tits polygons. As an application, the authors characterize a large class of Tits hexagons associated with exceptional groups in arbitrary characteristic.