Maximal subgroups of the alternating group #
alternatingGroup.isCoatom_stabilizer: if neithers : Set αnor its complement is empty, and if, moreover,Nat.card α ≠ 2 * s.ncard, thenstabilizer (alternatingGroup α) sis a maximal subgroup ofalternatingGroup α.
This is the “intransitive case” of the O'Nan-Scott classification of maximal subgroups of the alternating groups.
Compare with Equiv.Perm.isCoatom_stabilizer for the case of the permutation group.
TODO #
Application to primitivity of the action of
alternatingGroup αon finite combinations ofα.Formalize the other cases of the classification. The next one should be the imprimitive case.
Reference #
The argument is taken from M. Liebeck, C. Praeger, J. Saxl, A classification of the maximal subgroups of the finite alternating and symmetric groups, 1987.
In the alternating group, the stabilizer of a set acts primitively on that set if the complement is nontrivial.
A subgroup of the alternating group that contains the stabilizer of a set acts primitively on that set if the complement is nontrivial.
If s : Set α is nonempty and its complement has at least two elements,
then stabilizer (alternatingGroup α) s ≠ ⊤.
MulAction.stabilizer (alternatingGroup α) s is a maximal subgroup of alternatingGroup α,
provided s ≠ ∅, sᶜ ≠ ∅ and Nat.card α ≠ 2 * s.ncard.
This is the intransitive case of the O'Nan–Scott classification.