Bases of quasisimple linear groups

Let $V$ be a vector space of dimension $d$ over $F_q$, a finite field of $q$ elements, and let $G \le GL(V) \cong GL_d(q)$ be a linear group. A base of $G$ is a set of vectors whose pointwise stabiliser in $G$ is trivial. We prove that if $G$ is a quasisimple group (i.e. $G$ is perfect and $G/Z(G)$ is simple) acting irreducibly on $V$, then excluding two natural families, $G$ has a base of size at most 6. The two families consist of alternating groups ${\rm Alt}_m$ acting on the natural module of dimension $d = m-1$ or $m-2$, and classical groups with natural module of dimension $d$ over subfields of $F_q$

Finite subgroups of simple algebraic groups with irreducible centralizers

We determine all finite subgroups of simple algebraic groups that have irreducible centralizers - that is, centralizers whose connected component does not lie in a parabolic subgroup.Comment: 24 page

Recognition of finite exceptional groups of Lie type

Let $q$ be a prime power and let $G$ be an absolutely irreducible subgroup of $GL_d(F)$, where $F$ is a finite field of the same characteristic as \F_q, the field of $q$ elements. Assume that $G \cong G(q)$, a quasisimple group of exceptional Lie type over \F_q which is neither a Suzuki nor a Ree group. We present a Las Vegas algorithm that constructs an isomorphism from $G$ to the standard copy of $G(q)$. If $G \not\cong {}^3 D_4(q)$ with $q$ even, then the algorithm runs in polynomial time, subject to the existence of a discrete log oracle

The length and depth of algebraic groups

Let $G$ be a connected algebraic group. An unrefinable chain of $G$ is a chain of subgroups $G = G_0 > G_1 > \cdots > G_t = 1$, where each $G_i$ is a maximal connected subgroup of $G_{i-1}$. We introduce the notion of the length (respectively, depth) of $G$, defined as the maximal (respectively, minimal) length of such a chain. Working over an algebraically closed field, we calculate the length of a connected group $G$ in terms of the dimension of its unipotent radical $R_u(G)$ and the dimension of a Borel subgroup $B$ of the reductive quotient $G/R_u(G)$. In particular, a simple algebraic group of rank $r$ has length $\dim B + r$, which gives a natural extension of a theorem of Solomon and Turull on finite quasisimple groups of Lie type. We then deduce that the length of any connected algebraic group $G$ exceeds $\frac{1}{2} \dim G$. We also study the depth of simple algebraic groups. In characteristic zero, we show that the depth of such a group is at most $6$ (this bound is sharp). In the positive characteristic setting, we calculate the exact depth of each exceptional algebraic group and we prove that the depth of a classical group (over a fixed algebraically closed field of positive characteristic) tends to infinity with the rank of the group. Finally we study the chain difference of an algebraic group, which is the difference between its length and its depth. In particular we prove that, for any connected algebraic group $G$, the dimension of $G/R(G)$ is bounded above in terms of the chain difference of $G$.Comment: 18 pages; to appear in Math.

Base sizes for simple groups and a conjecture of Cameron

Let G be a permutation group on a finite set ?. A base for G is a subset B C_ ? whose pointwise stabilizer in G is trivial; we write b(G) for the smallest size of a base for G. In this paper we prove that b(G) ? if G is an almost simple group of exceptional Lie type and is a primitive faithful G-set. An important consequence of this result, when combined with other recent work, is that b(G) ? 7 for any almost simple group G in a non-standard action, proving a conjecture of Cameron. The proof is probabilistic and uses bounds on fixed point ratios