Probabilistic generation of finite simple groups. II. (Q947479)

For many computational purposes one wants to estimate the probability of generating a group by elements of certain types, or satisfying certain properties. In the present paper, the aim is to pick a conjugacy class \(C\) in \(G\) in order to maximise the probability that \(G\) is generated by an element of \(C\) and a random element of \(G\). It is already known that if \(G\) is a simple group, then this probability \(p\) can be made bigger than \(1/10\) [for part I cf. \textit{R. M. Guralnick, W. M. Kantor}, J. Algebra 234, No. 2, 743-792 (2000; Zbl 0973.20012)]. This is now improved to \(p\geq 13/42\), and apart from an explicit list of exceptions, \(p\geq 2/3\). Similar results are proved for almost simple groups. The methods are often intricate, as they involve detailed knowledge about maximal subgroups of \(G\), and for many cases computer calculations are required. CFSG is used implicitly in various places in the proof.