On basic 2-arc-transitive graphs (Q6185341)

In [J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 47, No. 2, 227--239 (1992; Zbl 0738.05046); Australas. J. Comb. 7, 21--36 (1993; Zbl 0776.05050)], \textit{C. E. Praeger} introduced the ``normal quotient method'' for analysing highly transitive graphs, and applied the method to 2-arc-transitive graphs. The idea of the method as applied to this setting is that every 2-arc-transitive graph is a normal cover of some ``basic'' 2-arc-transitive graph: those for which every minimal normal subgroup of some 2-arc-transitive group has at most two orbits on the vertex set of the graph. She left open the classification of ``basic'' 2-arc transitive graphs, and extensive work on this question has followed. In this paper, from a 2-arc-transitive group \(G\), the authors consider the group \(G^\ast\) generated by the two subgroups of \(G\) that fix either of a pair of adjacent vertices. More precisely, they determine extensive information about the socle (the group generated by the minimal normal subgroups) of \(G^\ast\). Among other things, they show that unless a basic 2-arc-transitive graph is a complete bipartite graph, then the socle of \(G\) and the socle of \(G^\ast\) are the same.