Let $\Gamma $ be a $G$-vertex-transitive graph and let $(u,v)$ be an arc of $\Gamma $. It is known that if the local action $G_v^{\Gamma (v)}$ (the permutation group induced by $G_v$ on $\Gamma (v)$) is permutation isomorphic to the dihedral group of degree four, then either $|G_{uv}|$ is ‘small’ with respect to the order of $\Gamma $ or $\Gamma $is one of a family of well-understood graphs. In this paper, we generalise this result to a wider class of local actions.

We describe an effective algorithm to compute a set of representatives for the conjugacy classes of Hall subgroups of a finite permutation or matrix group. Our algorithm uses the general approach of the so-called ‘trivial Fitting model’.

We determine the 2-modular and 3-modular character tables of the sporadic simple Harada–Norton group and its automorphism group.

Let G be a finite d-dimensional classical group and p a prime divisor of ∣G∣ distinct from the characteristic of the natural representation. We consider a subfamily of p-singular elements in G (elements with order divisible by p) that leave invariant a subspace X of the natural G-module of dimension greater than d/2and either act irreducibly on X or preserve a particular decomposition of X into two equal-dimensional irreducible subspaces. We proved in a recent paper that the proportion in G of these so-called p-abundant elements is at least an absolute constant multiple of the best currently known lower bound for the proportion of all p-singular elements. From a computational point of view, the p-abundant elements generalise another class of p-singular elements which underpin recognition algorithms for finite classical groups, and it is our hope that p-abundant elements might lead to improved versions of these algorithms. As a step towards this, here we present efficient algorithms to test whether a given element is p-abundant, both for a known prime p and for the case where p is not known a priori.

We introduce the computer algebra package PyCox, written entirely in the Python language. It implements a set of algorithms, in a spirit similar to the older CHEVIE system, for working with Coxeter groups and Hecke algebras. This includes a new variation of the traditional algorithm for computing Kazhdan–Lusztig cells and W-graphs, which works efficiently for all finite groups of rank ≤8 (except E8). We also discuss the computation of Lusztig’s leading coefficients of character values and distinguished involutions (which works for E8 as well). Our experiments suggest a re-definition of Lusztig’s ‘special’ representations which, conjecturally, should also apply to the unequal parameter case. Supplementary materials are available with this article.

In the present paper we introduce and study the twisted γ-filtration on K0(Gs), where Gs is a split simple linear algebraic group over a field k of characteristic prime to the order of the center of Gs. We apply this filtration to construct nontrivial torsion elements in γ-rings of twisted flag varieties.

We compute the quiver of any finite monoid that has a basic algebra over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. More generally, we reduce the computation of the quiver over a splitting field of a class of monoids that we term rectangular monoids (in the semigroup theory literature the class is known as DO) to representation-theoretic computations for group algebras of maximal subgroups. Hence in good characteristic for the maximal subgroups, this gives an essentially complete computation. Since groups are examples of rectangular monoids, we cannot hope to do better than this. For the subclass of ℛ-trivial monoids, we also provide a semigroup-theoretic description of the projective indecomposable modules and compute the Cartan matrix.

Let G be a group. We say that G∈𝒯(∞) provided that every infinite set of elements of G contains three distinct elements x,y,z such that x≠y,[x,y,z]=1=[y,z,x]=[z,x,y]. We use this to show that for a finitely generated soluble group G, G/Z2(G) is finite if and only if G∈𝒯(∞).

Let G⊂SU(2,1) be nonelementary and S be its minimal generating system. In this paper, we show that if S satisfies some conditions, then S can be replaced by a minimal generating system S1consisting only of loxodromic elements.

Let 𝒯n(F) denote the monoid of all upper triangular n×n matrices over a finite field F. It has been shown by Volkov and Goldberg that 𝒯n(F) is nonfinitely based if ∣F∣>2 and n≥4, but the cases when ∣F∣>2 and n=2,3 or when ∣F∣=2have remained open. In this paper, it is shown that the monoid 𝒯2 (F)is finitely based when ∣F∣=2 , and a finite identity basis for it is given. Moreover, all maximal subvarieties of the variety generated by 𝒯2 (F)with ∣F∣=2are determined.

Let 𝒯X be the full transformation semigroup on the nonempty set X. We fix a nonempty subset Y of X and consider the semigroup of transformations that leave Y invariant, and endow it with the so-called natural partial order. Under this partial order, we determine when two elements of S(X,Y ) are related, find the elements which are compatible and describe the maximal elements, the minimal elements and the greatest lower bound of two elements. Also, we show that the semigroup S(X,Y ) is abundant.

A subgroup H is called weakly s-permutably embedded in G if there are a subnormal subgroup T of G and an s-permutably embedded subgroup Hse of G contained in H such that G=HT and H∩T≤Hse. In this note, we study the influence of the weakly s-permutably embedded property of subgroups on the structure of G, and obtain the following theorem. Let ℱ be a saturated formation containing 𝒰, the class of all supersolvable groups, and G a group with E as a normal subgroup of G such that G/E∈ℱ. Suppose that P has a subgroup D such that 1<∣D∣<∣P∣ and all subgroups H of P with order ∣H∣=∣D∣ are s-permutably embedded in G. Also, when p=2and ∣D∣=2 , we suppose that each cyclic subgroup of P of order four is weakly s-permutably embedded in G. Then G∈ℱ.

An algebra A is said to be finitely related if the clone Clo(A) of its term operations is determined by a finite set of finitary relations. We prove that each finite idempotent semigroup satisfying the identity xyxzx≈xyzx is finitely related.

We present an efficient algorithm for the condensation of homomorphism spaces. This provides an improvement over the known tensor condensation method which is essentially due to a better choice of bases. We explain the theory behind this approach and describe the implementation in detail. Finally, we give timings to compare with previous methods.

We construct and classify all groups given by triangular presentations associated to the smallest thick generalized quadrangle that act simply transitively on the vertices of hyperbolic triangular buildings of the smallest non-trivial thickness. Our classification yields 23 non-isomorphic torsion-free groups (which were obtained in an earlier work) and 168 non-isomorphic torsion groups acting on one of two possible buildings with the smallest thick generalized quadrangle as the link of each vertex. In analogy with the case, we find both torsion and torsion-free groups acting on the same building.

We compute the centre of the cyclotomic Hecke algebra attached to G(m, 1, 2) and show that if q ≠ 1, it is equal to the image of the centre of the affine Hecke algebra Haff2. We also briefly discuss what is known about the relation between the centre of an arbitrary cyclotomic Hecke algebra and the centre of the affine Hecke algebra of type A.

c-Sections of maximal subgroups in a finite group and their relation to solvability have been extensively researched in recent years. A fundamental result due to Wang [‘C-normality of groups and its properties’, J. Algebra 180 (1998), 954–965] is that a finite group is solvable if and only if the c-sections of all its maximal subgroups are trivial. In this paper we prove that if for each maximal subgroup of a finite group G, the corresponding c-section order is smaller than the index of the maximal subgroup, then each composition factor of G is either cyclic or isomorphic to the O’Nan sporadic group (the converse does not hold). Furthermore, by a certain ‘refining’ of the latter theorem we obtain an equivalent condition for solvability. Finally, we provide an existence result for large subgroups in the sense of Lev [‘On large subgroups of finite groups’ J. Algebra 152 (1992), 434–438].

Let G be a group generated by k elements, G=〈g1,…,gk〉, with group operations (multiplication, inversion and comparison with identity) performed by a black box. We prove that one can test whether the group G is abelian at a cost of O(k) group operations. On the other hand, we show that a deterministic approach requires Ω(k2) group operations.

Let p be an odd prime and let G be a finite p-group such that xZ(G)⊆xG, for all x∈G∖Z(G), where xG denotes the conjugacy class of x in G. Then G has a noninner automorphism of order p leaving the Frattini subgroup Φ(G)elementwise fixed.

Let T be an algebraic torus over ℚ such that T(ℝ) is compact. Assuming the generalized Riemann hypothesis, we give a lower bound for the size of the class group of T modulo its n-torsion in terms of a small power of the discriminant of the splitting field of T. As a corollary, we obtain an upper bound on the n-torsion in that class group. This generalizes known results on the structure of class groups of complex multiplication fields.