Group action

Orbital

Given a group action of 𝐺 on Ω, there is a natural group action of 𝐺 on Ω ×Ω. The orbits of this induced action are called orbitals or 2-orbits, group a generalization being [[n-orbit|𝑛-orbits]]. The number of orbitals is called the rank.

If Δ is an orbital, then so is its paired orbital

Δ={(𝛽,𝛼):(𝛼,𝛽)Δ}

and if Δ =Δ we say Δ is self-paired.

An orbital Δ Ω ×Ω admits a natural interpretation as a digraph, known as the orbital digraph, where by abuse of notation we write V(Δ) =Ω and A(Δ) =Δ.

Properties

Suppose Δ is an orbital, and identify it with the corresponding orbital digraph.


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