Abstract
A subset S of a group G ≤ Sym(n) is intersecting if for any pair of permutations \({\pi, \sigma \in S}\) there is an \({i \in {1, 2, . . . , n}}\) such that \({\pi (i) = \sigma (i)}\). It has been shown, using an algebraic approach, that the largest intersecting sets in each of Sym(n), Alt(n), and PGL(2, q) are exactly the cosets of the point-stabilizers. In this paper, we show how this approach can be applied more generally to many 2-transitive groups. We then apply this method to the Mathieu groups and to all 2-transitive groups with degree no more than 20.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmadi B.: Maximum Intersecting Families of Permutations. Ph.D. thesis. University of Regina, Regina (2013)
Ahmadi B., Meagher K.: A new proof for the Erdős-Ko-Rado theorem for the alternating group. Discrete Math. 324, 28–40 (2014)
Bailey R.A.: Association Schemes: Designed Experiments, Algebra and Combinatorics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2004)
Bannai E., Itō, T.: Algebraic Combinatorics. I.: Association Schemes. Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Co. Inc., Menlo Park, CA (1984)
Cameron P.J.: Permutation Groups. London Math. Soc. Stud. Texts, Vol. 45. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1999)
Cameron P.J., Ku C.Y.: Intersecting families of permutations. European J. Combin. 24(7), 881–890 (2003)
Delsarte P.: An Algebraic Approach to the Association Schemes of Coding Theory. Philips Research Reports: Supplements, Vol. 10. N.V. Philips’ Gloeilampenfabrieken, Dutch (1973)
Diaconis P., Shahshahani M.: Generating a random permutation with random transpositions. Z. Wahrsch. Verw. Gebiete 57(2), 159–179 (1981)
Ellis D., Friedgut E., Pilpel H.: Intersecting families of permutations. J. Amer. Math. Soc. 24(3), 649–682 (2011)
Erdős P., Ko C., Rado R.: Intersection theorems for systems of finite sets. Quart. J. Math. Oxford Ser. (2) 12(1), 313–320 (1961)
Frankl P., Tokushige N.: The Erdős-Ko-Rado theorem for integer sequences. Combinatorica 19(1), 55–63 (1999)
The GAP Group: GAP – Groups, Algorithms, and Programming, Version 4.6.3. St. Andrews, GB (2013)
Godsil C., Meagher K.: A new proof of the Erdőss-Ko-Rado theorem for intersecting families of permutations. European J. Combin. 30(2), 404–414 (2009)
Godsil C., Royle G.: Algebraic Graph Theory. Graduate Texts in Mathematics, Vol. 207. Springer-Verlag, New York (2001)
Hsieh W.N.: Intersection theorems for systems of finite vector spaces. Discrete Math. 12, 1–16 (1975)
Ku C.Y., Wong T.W.H.: Intersecting families in the alternating group and direct product of symmetric groups. Electron. J. Combin. 14(1), #R25 (2007)
Larose B., Malvenuto C.: Stable sets of maximal size in Kneser-type graphs. European J. Combin. 25(5), 657–673 (2004)
Meagher K., Moura L.: Erdős-Ko-Rado theorems for uniform set-partition systems. Electron. J. Combin. 12, #R40 (2005)
Meagher K., Spiga P.: An Erdős-Ko-Rado theorem for the derangement graph of PGL(2,q) acting on the projective line. J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 118(2), 532–544 (2011)
Meagher K., Spiga P.: An Erdős-Ko-Rado theorem for the derangement graph of PGL3(q) acting on the projective plane. SIAM J. Discrete Math. 28(2), 918–941 (2014)
Newman M.W.: Independent Sets and Eigenspaces. Ph.D. thesis. University ofWaterloo, Waterloo, ON (2004)
Renteln P.: On the spectrum of the derangement graph. Electron. J. Combin. 14(1), #R82 (2007)
Wang L.: Erdős-Ko-Rado theorem for irreducible imprimitive reflection groups. Front. Math. China 7(1), 125–144 (2012)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Research supported by NSERC.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ahmadi, B., Meagher, K. The Erdős-Ko-Rado Property for Some 2-Transitive Groups. Ann. Comb. 19, 621–640 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00026-015-0285-6
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00026-015-0285-6