The combinatorics of automorphisms and opposition in generalised polygons

We investigate the combinatorial interplay between automorphisms and opposition in (primarily finite) generalised polygons. We provide restrictions on the fixed element structures of automorphisms of a generalised polygon mapping no chamber to an opposite chamber. Furthermore, we give a complete classification of automorphisms of finite generalised polygons which map at least one point and at least one line to an opposite, but map no chamber to an opposite chamber. Finally, we show that no automorphism of a finite thick generalised polygon maps all chambers to opposite chambers, except possibly in the case of generalised quadrangles with coprime parameters

Groups of Lie type generated by long root elements in F4(K)

AbstractLet K be a field and G a quasi-simple subgroup of the Chevalley group F4(K). We assume that G is generated by a class Σ of abstract root subgroups such that there are A,C∈Σ with [A,C]∈Σ and any A∈Σ is contained in a long root subgroup of F4(K). We determine the possibilities for G and describe the embedding of G in F4(K)

From Polygons to Ultradiscrete Painlev\'e Equations

The rays of tropical genus one curves are constrained in a way that defines a bounded polygon. When we relax this constraint, the resulting curves do not close, giving rise to a system of spiraling polygons. The piecewise linear transformations that preserve the forms of those rays form tropical rational presentations of groups of affine Weyl type. We present a selection of spiraling polygons with three to eleven sides whose groups of piecewise linear transformations coincide with the B\"acklund transformations and the evolution equations for the ultradiscrete Painlev\'e equations

Exceptional Moufang quadrangles and structurable algebras

In 2000, J. Tits and R. Weiss classified all Moufang spherical buildings of rank two, also known as Moufang polygons. The hardest case in the classification consists of the Moufang quadrangles. They fall into different families, each of which can be described by an appropriate algebraic structure. For the exceptional quadrangles, this description is intricate and involves many different maps that are defined ad hoc and lack a proper explanation. In this paper, we relate these algebraic structures to two other classes of algebraic structures that had already been studied before, namely to Freudenthal triple systems and to structurable algebras. We show that these structures give new insight in the understanding of the corresponding Moufang quadrangles.Comment: 49 page