On the classification of extremely primitive affine groups

Abstract: Let

G

be a finite non-regular primitive permutation group on a set

O m e g a

with point stabiliser

G_{a l p h a}

. Then

G

is said to be extremely primitive if

G_{a l p h a}

acts primitively on each of its orbits in

O m e g a s e t m i n u s a l p h a

, which is a notion dating back to work of Manning in the 1920s. By a theorem of Mann, Praeger and Seress, it is known that every extremely primitive group is either almost simple or affine, and all the almost simple examples have subsequently been determined. Similarly, Mann et al. have classified all of the affine extremely primitive groups up to a finite, but undetermined, collection of groups. Moreover, if one assumes Wall's conjecture on the number of maximal subgroups of an almost simple group, then there is an explicit list of candidates, each of which has been eliminated in a recent paper by Burness and Thomas. So, modulo Wall's conjecture, the classification of extremely primitive groups is complete. In this paper we adopt a different approach, which allows us to complete this classification in full generality, independent of the veracity or otherwise of Wall's conjecture in the almost simple setting. Our method relies on recent work of Fawcett, Lee and others on the existence of regular orbits of almost simple groups acting on irreducible modules.

Review text

Let \(G \leqslant \mathrm{Sym}(\Omega)\) be a finite primitive permutation group with point stabilizer \(H=G_{\alpha}\neq 1\). The group \(G\) is extremely primitive if \(H\) acts primitively on each of its orbits in \(\Omega\setminus \{\alpha\}\). From work of \textit{A. Mann} et al. [Groups Geom. Dyn. 1, No. 4, 623--660 (2007; Zbl 1141.20003)], every finite extremely primitive group is either almost simple or affine. Previous works of the first author with collaborators establish a complete classification for the finite extremely primitive almost simple groups, so the groups considered here have the form \(G= V:H \leqslant \mathrm{AGL}(V)\). In this case, work of Mann et al. [loc. cit.] and the first author and \textit{A. R. Thomas} [Arch. Math. 116, No. 2, 141--152 (2021; Zbl 1498.20004)] give a complete classification, assuming Wall's conjecture for almost simple groups. In this work, the authors do away with the need for Wall's conjecture entirely. That is, they prove that the list in [Mann et al., loc. cit.] is complete, and therefore the full classification of finite extremely primitive groups is complete. They, furthermore, note that the classification for the finite soluble extremely primitive groups in [Mann et al., loc. cit.] has been corrected by the second author and \textit{G. Verret} [Des. Codes Cryptography 91, No. 10, 3227--3240 (2023; Zbl 1523.20006)]. They prove this by first reducing to the case where the socle \(S\) of \(H\) acts irreducibly on \(V\) and one of the following cases holds. \begin{itemize} \item[(I)] \(S\) is an alternating or sporadic simple group. \item[(II)] \(S\) is a simple group of Lie type defined over a field of odd characteristic. \item[(III)] \(S\) is a simple group of Lie type over \(\mathbb{F}_2\) and \(V = L(\lambda)\), where the highest weight \(\lambda\) is \(2\)-restricted. \end{itemize} They approach these three cases with the same broad goals: either prove that \(|\mathcal{M}(H)| \leqslant |H|\) (i.e.\ Wall's bound), where \(\mathcal{M}(H)\) is the set of maximal subgroups of \(H\), or prove that there exists \(v\in V\) such that the stabilizer \(H_v\) is trivial. In the former case, \(G\) is extremely primitive and in the latter case, \(G\) is not. This is not always possible for the case when \(S=\mathrm{Sp}_n(2)\) or \(S=\Omega_n^{\epsilon}(2)\), which makes Case (III) above more challenging.

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