Distinguishing labeling of the actions of almost simple groups

Abstract

Suppose Γ is a group acting on a set X, written as (Γ,X). An r-labeling f: X→{1,2, ..., r} of X is called distinguishing for (Γ,X) if for all σ∈Γ,σ≠1, there exists an element x∈X such that f(x)≠f(x ^σ). The distinguishing number d(Γ,X) of (Γ,X) is the minimum r for which there is a distinguishing r-labeling for (Γ,X). If Γ is the automorphism group of a graph G, then d(Γ,V (G)) is denoted by d(G), and is called the distinguishing number of the graph G. The distinguishing set of Γ-actions is defined to be D*(Γ)={d(Γ,X): Γ acts on X}, and the distinguishing set of Γ-graphs is defined to be D(Γ)={d(G): Aut(G)≅Γ}. This paper determines the distinguishing set of Γ-actions and the distinguishing set of Γ-graphs for almost simple groups Γ.