On derangements and suborbits in finite transitive groups (Q6542050)

Let \(G\) be a finite transitive permutation group on the set \(\Omega\). A derangement of \(G\) is a permutation \(g \in G\) without any fixed point, that is, for every \(\omega \in \Omega\) we have \(\omega \not = \omega^{G}\). Let \(F_{0}(G)\) be the set of derangements in \(G\), the proportion derangements of \(G\) is the ratio \(\delta(G)=|F_{0}(G)|/|G|\). \N\N\textit{P. J. Cameron} et al. [Q. J. Math., Oxf. II. Ser. 36, 273--278 (1985; Zbl 0579.20003)] proved that if \(G\) is a \(p\)-group then \(\delta(G) > (p-1)/(p+1)\). At the other end of the spectrum, there exists an absolute constant \( \varepsilon > 0\) such that, for every simple group \(G\) endowed with a transitive action, \(\delta(G) \geq \varepsilon\) [\textit{J. E. Fulman} and \textit{R. M. Guralnick}, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 370, No. 7, 4601--4622 (2018; Zbl 1494.20076)].\N\NThe main result of this paper is Theorem A: Let \(G\) be a finite transitive permutation group whose degree is \(n \geq 2\) and whose minimal non-trivial subdegree is \N\(d_{G}\). Then \(\delta(G) \geq \frac{1}{d_{G}}+\frac{n-2}{2|G|}\). Equality is attained if and only if \(G\) is a Frobenius group.\N\NAs a consequence the authors obtain Corollary B: Let \(\Gamma\) be a finite digraph and let \(G\) be a group of automorphisms of \(\Gamma\). If \(G\) is transitive and \N\(\Gamma\) has valency \(d \geq 1\) then \(\delta(G) \geq 1/2d\).\N\NIn the final section, the authors add interesting observations, examples and conjectures. Furthermore they compare the bound obtained in Theorem A with that determined by \textit{P. J. Cameron} and \textit{A. M. Cohen} [Discrete Math. 106/107, 135--138 (1992; Zbl 0813.20001)].