Automorphisms and opposition in spherical buildings of classical type (Q6583348)

Let \(\Delta\) be a thick spherical building of type \((W,S)\). Since \(\Delta\) is spherical, there exists a notion of two simplices \(\alpha, \beta\) of \(\Delta\) being ``opposite'' to each other. In the case that \(\alpha\) and \(\beta\) are chambers of \(\Delta\), \(\alpha\) and \(\beta\) are opposite if \(\delta(\alpha,\beta) = w_0\), where \(\delta\) is the \(W\)-metric function on the set of chambers of \(\Delta\) and \(w_0 \in W\) is the longest word in \(W\).\N\NIt is known that for every non-trivial (possibly non-type-preserving) automorphism \(\theta\) of \(\Delta\), there always exists at least one simplex of \(\Delta\) that is mapped to an opposite simplex. From the automorphism \(\theta\), one can then define the set \(\operatorname{Opp}(\theta)\), which consists of all the simplices of \(\Delta\) that are mapped to an opposite simplex. The set \(\operatorname{Opp}(\theta)\) is called the \textit{opposite geometry} of \(\theta\), and one can associate to this an \textit{opposition diagram}, \(\operatorname{Diag}(\theta)\), which describes this geometry in a certain way.\N\NIn a series of previous papers by the authors [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 162, 118--166 (2019; Zbl 1411.51006); Innov. Incidence Geom. 17, No. 2, 141--188 (2019; Zbl 1472.51005); Can. J. Math. 74, No. 6, 1517--1578 (2022; Zbl 1510.20031); Innov. Incidence Geom. 20, No. 2--3, 443--470 (2023; Zbl 1530.51004)], they have developed a theory for this opposite geometry and studied it in a broad context. The authors state ``The generic situation is that this geometry is rather large and typically contains many chambers of the building. A more delicate and interesting situation arises when the opposite geometry \(\operatorname{Opp}(\theta)\) contains no chamber, in which case \(\theta\) is called \textit{domestic}''.\N\NThe paper under review is a part of a series of papers dedicated to classifying the domestic automorphisms of thick spherical buildings, and this paper focuses on those buildings of classical type. Domestic automorphisms of large buildings of type \(A_n\) have been classified in previous work. This paper focuses on buildings of type \(B_n\), \(C_n\) and \(D_n\). The main methods of the paper rely on viewing buildings of these types as ``polar spaces'' and having a complete description and enumeration of the possible opposition diagrams.