Primitive \(k\)-free permutation groups. (Q873885)

A finite permutation group \(G\) acting on the set \(\Omega\) is called `\(k\)-free' (\(1\leq k\leq|\Omega|\)) if for every \(k\)-subset of \(\Omega\) its setwise stabiliser in \(G\) is trivial. In other words, all the \(G\)-orbits on \(k\)-subsets are regular. The authors investigate primitive \(k\)-free groups. They need this for another paper where they study the ratio of the number of orbits of a primitive permutation group on \(k\)-subsets to the number of orbits on \((k+1)\)-subsets. The first easy result is that a point stabiliser has odd order, which means that every involution acts fixed-point-freely. Using a result of Liebeck and Saxl about such finite primitive permutation groups, the authors divide finite primitive \(k\)-free groups in three families. 1) \(G\) is soluble and every Sylow \(p\)-subgroup of a point stabiliser is cyclic. 2) The socle of \(G\) is isomorphic to \(\text{PSL}(2,q)\) with \(|\Omega|=q+1\), where \(q\) is an odd power of a prime. More details on possible \(q\)'s and \(k\)'s are given. 3) \(G\) is isomorphic to \(M_{23}\), \(|\Omega|=40320\) and \(k\) satisfies some modular conditions (3824 possible \(k\)'s). Moreover, there are examples of \(k\)-free groups in each family described.