Permutation groups of minimal movement. (Q2572939)

A permutation group \(G\) acting on a (finite) set \(\Omega\) is said to have bounded movement \(m\) if for any subset \(\Gamma\) of \(\Omega\) and any \(g\in G\) we have \(|\Gamma^g\setminus\Gamma|\leq m\). The movement of \(G\), denoted by \(\text{move}(G)\), is by definition the smallest integer \(m\) such that \(G\) has bounded movement \(m\). In the present paper some known estimates for \(|\Omega|\) in terms of \(\text{move}(G)=m\) are improved under some extra conditions. It is shown that if \(G\) is not a \(2\)-group and \(5\leq p\) is the least odd prime divisor of \(|G|\) then \(|\Omega|\leq 4m-p\) or \(|\Omega|=4m-p+2\). Also the groups attaining the maximum bound are classified in Theorem 1.1. (Remark: There, in the statement of (3), ``\(G\) is a union'' should read ``\(\Omega\) is a union''.) Many examples illustrating and explaining the results are discussed.