Geometries for sporadic groups related to the Petersen graph. II (Q921114)

The paper deals with a very interesting subject, namely with geometries of sporadic groups. The declared goal of this activity is construction of such a geometry which would be similar to the famous theory of buildings for the finite simple groups of Lie type. The paper under review contains a uniform construction of a class of geometries including geometries for five sporadic simple groups: the Mathieu groups \(M_{22}\) and \(M_{23}\), the Conway group \(Co_ 2\), the Janko group \(J_ 4\) and the Baby Monster \(F_ 2.\) A few words about the methods used in this paper. The geometries for the Mathieu groups \(M_{22}\) and \(M_{23}\) are constructed in purely geometric terms, more precisely in terms of the Steiner system S(5,8,24). For the larger groups an approach relying on the notion of representation of a geometry plays a crucial role. The \(Co_ 2\)-geometry is constructed in its ordinary representation of the Leech lattice \(\Lambda\) modulo \(2\Lambda\). The geometries for the groups \(J_ 4\) and \(F_ 2\) are constructed in ``nonabelian'' representations inside themselves. In addition the description problem for the universal representations of the constructed geometries is posed. This problem is solved for the examples related to the Mathieu groups. It should be mentioned that this paper is the second one in a series of papers [part I: the authors, Commun. Algebra 16, No.5, 925-953 (1988; Zbl 0639.20011)]. The aim of this series is to characterize the constructed geometries in terms of their diagrams. The authors have informed that they are close to the complete solution of the problem.