Almost covers of 2-arc transitive graphs (Q2567405)

Assume that \(\Gamma\) is a graph, \(G\) is a group acting transitively on the arcs, \({\mathcal B}\) is a nontrivial \(G\)-invariant partition of block size \(v\geq 3\) such that \(\Gamma_{\mathcal B}\) is connected and \(\Gamma_{\mathcal B}\not\simeq K_{v+1}\). Assume further that the edges of \(\Gamma\) between adjacent blocks of \({\mathcal B}\) form a matching of \(v-1\) edges, and the design \({\mathcal D}({B})\) (\(B\in{\mathcal B}\)) has no repeated blocks. Then, for some even \(n\geq 4\), \(\Gamma_{\mathcal B}\) is a (\(G,2\))-arc transitive near \(n\)-gonal graph with respect to a certain \(G\)-orbit on \(n\) cycles of \(\Gamma_{\mathcal B}\). This complements the case \(\Gamma_{\mathcal B}\simeq K_{v+1}\) classified by Gardiner and Praeger.