A discrete-time quantum walk on a graph is the repeated application of a unitary evolution operator to a Hilbert space corresponding to the graph. Hitting times for discrete quantum walks on graphs give an average time before the walk reaches an ending condition. We derive an expression for hitting time using superoperators, and numerically evaluate it for the walk on the hypercube for various ...

By Frucht’s Theorem, every abstract finite group is isomorphic to the automorphism group of some graph. In 1975, Babai characterized which of these abstract groups can be realized as automorphism groups of planar graphs. In this paper, we give a more detailed description of these groups in two steps. First, we describe stabilizers of vertices in connected planar graphs as the class of groups cl...

Let N be a nilpotent group normal in a group G. Suppose that G acts transitively upon the points of a finite non-Desarguesian projective plane P. We prove that, if P has square order, then N must act semi-regularly on P. In addition we prove that if a finite non-Desarguesian projective plane P admits more than one nilpotent group which is regular on the points of P then P has non-square order a...

We prove that if p is a prime and W is the standard wreath product of two nontrivial cyclic p-groups X and Y then W is isomorphic to the full automorphism group of some group if and only if |X| = 2 and |Y | is 2 or 4.

We prove that the only primes which may divide the order of the automorphism group of a putative binary self-dual doubly-even [120, 60, 24] code are 2, 3, 5, 7, 19, 23 and 29. Furthermore we prove that automorphisms of prime order p ≥ 5 have a unique cycle structure.

We introduce conditions on a group action on a tree that are sufficient for the action to extend to the automorphism group. We apply this to two different classes of one-relator groups: certain BaumslagSolitar groups and one-relator groups with centre. In each case we derive results about the automorphism group, and deduce that there are relatively few outer automorphisms.

For each q = 2m, m ≥ 1, an infinite class of 2-(q4 + q + 1, q + 1, 1) designs admitting PSU(3, q) as an automorphism group is constructed. Such designs are shown to contain embedded Desarguesian projective planes of order q and a PSU(3, q)-invariant oval. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We describe, up to degree n, the Lie algebra associated with the automorphism group of a free group of rank n. We compute in particular the ranks of its homogeneous components, and their structure as modules over the linear group. Along the way, we infirm (but confirm a weaker form of) a conjecture by Andreadakis, and answer a question by Bryant–Gupta–Levin– Mochizuki.

Reconstruction results give conditions under which the abstract group structure of the automorphism group Aut(M) of an ω-categorical structure M determines the topology on Aut(M), and hence determines M up to biinterpretability, by [1]; they can also give conditions under which the abstract group Aut(M) determines the permutation group 〈Aut(M),M〉, so determines M up to bi-definability. One such...