On the height and relational complexity of a finite permutation group

DOI10.1017/NMJ.2021.6MaRDI QIDQ6340295arXivFDO

Authors Nick Gill, Bianca Lodà, Pablo Spiga

Publication date 8 May 2020

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Primitive groups (20B15) Finite automorphism groups of algebraic, geometric, or combinatorial structures (20B25) Subgroups of symmetric groups (20B35)

Abstract: Let $G$ be a permutation group on a set $Omega$ of size $t$. We say that $LambdasubseteqOmega$ is an independent set if its pointwise stabilizer is not equal to the pointwise stabilizer of any proper subset of $Lambda$. We define the height of $G$ to be the maximum size of an independent set, and we denote this quantity $mathrmH(G)$. In this paper we study $mathrmH(G)$ for the case when $G$ is primitive. Our main result asserts that either $mathrmH(G)<9logt$, or else $G$ is in a particular well-studied family (the "primitive large--base groups"). An immediate corollary of this result is a characterization of primitive permutation groups with large "relational complexity", the latter quantity being a statistic introduced by Cherlin in his study of the model theory of permutation groups. We also study $mathrmI(G)$, the maximum length of an irredundant base of $G$, in which case we prove that if $G$ is primitive, then either $mathrmI(G)<7logt$ or else, again, $G$ is in a particular family (which includes the primitive large--base groups as well as some others).

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