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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2010
An algorithm is given tjat recognises (in O(lN2 log N) time, where N is the size of the input and l the depth of a precalculated Schreier tree) when a transitive group, (G, Ω) is the action on one orbit of the action of G on the set Γ(2) of ordered pairs of distinct elements of some G-set Γ (that us, Ωis isomorphic to an orbital of (G,Γ)). This may be adapted to list all essentially different such actions in O(lN4log N)time, where N is the sum of sizes of the input and output. This will be a useful tool for reducing the degree of a permutation group as an aid to further study of the group.
This algorithm is then extended to provide an algorithm that will (in O(lN3 log N) time) recognise when a transiteve group is the action on one orbit of the action of G on the set Γ{2} ofunorderd pairs of distinct elements of some G-set Γ. An algorithm for finding all essentially different such actions is also provided, running in O(lN4logN) time. (again, N is the sum of the input and output sizes.) It is also indicated how these results may be applied to the more general problem of recognising when an intransitive group (G,Ω) is isomorphic to (G, Γ{2}) for some G-set Γ.
All the algorithms are practical; most have been implementd in GAP, and the code is made available with this paper. In some cases the algorithms are considerably more practical than their asymptotic analyses would suggest.