Low rank groups of Lie type acting point- and line-primitively on finite generalised quadrangles (Q7007752)

A \textit{generalized \(n\)-gon} is an incidence structure whose incidence graph has diameter \(n\) and girth \(2n\). The \textit{order} of a generalized \(n\)-gon is the pair \((s,t)\) such that every line contains \(s+1\) points and every point is contained in \(t+1\) lines. The generalized \(n\)-gon is said to be \textit{thick} if neither parameter of its order is equal to \(1\) and by \textit{W. Feit} and \textit{G. Higman} [J. Algebra 1, 114--131 (1964; Zbl 0126.05303)] this is possible if and only if \(n \in \{3,4,6,8\}\).\N\NGeneralized \(n\)-gons were introduced by \textit{J. Tits} [Publ. Math., Inst. Hautes Étud. Sci. 2, 13--60 (1959; Zbl 0088.37204)] as geometric spaces whose automorphism group is isomorphic to a group of Lie type. Those generalized \(n\)-gons that arise from groups of Lie type through the construction proposed by Tits are called \textit{classical}. A substantial number of non-classical \(3\)-gons and \(4\)-gons have been found, while only classical examples are known for \(6\)-gons and \(8\)-gons. Many attempts have been made to construct new examples, typically by introducing various symmetry conditions on the automorphism group and restricting the search space for the corresponding possible groups (see [\textit{F. Buekenhout} and \textit{H. van Maldeghem}, Geom. Dedicata 52, No. 1, 41--51 (1994; Zbl 0809.51008); \textit{C. Schneider} and \textit{H. Van Maldeghem}, J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 115, No. 8, 1436--1455 (2008; Zbl 1202.20003); \textit{J. Bamberg} et al., ibid. 119, No. 7, 1479--1499 (2012; Zbl 1245.05014); ibid.147, 186--204 (2017; Zbl 1406.20003)]).\N\N\textit{L. Morgan} and \textit{T. Popiel} [Electron. J. Comb. 23, No. 1, Research Paper P1.34, 12 p. (2016; Zbl 1335.51007)] proved that if \(G\) is a point-primitive automorphism group of a generalized \(6\)-gon or \(8\)-gon \(\Gamma\) whose socle is isomorphic to a Suzuki or a Ree group, then \(\mathrm{soc}(G) = {}^2F_4(2^{2m+1})\) and \(\Gamma\) is the classical generalized \(8\)-gon or its dual. In a similar spirit, this paper extends the result to the setting of generalized \(4\)-gons, but without the possibility that the socle is isomorphic to \({}^2F_4(2^{2m+1})\): namely, it is shown that an almost simple group with socle isomorphic to \({}^2B_2(2^{2m+1})\) or \({}^2G_2(3^{2m+1})\) cannot act primitively on both the set of points and the set of lines of a generalized \(4\)-gon. The analysis used to prove this theorem is based on a systematic study of the possible pairs of maximal subgroups which are isomorphic to a point-stabilizer and a line-stabilizer, respectively.