====== Eric Swartz (Binghamton) ======

====== Lifting Automorphisms of Finite Graphs ======

===== Abstract for the Combinatorics Seminar 2012 April 17, 24 =====

Cheryl Praeger's normal quotient method has made the study of certain families of finite graphs (for instance, s-arc transitive and locally s-arc transitive graphs) more approachable by dividing the problem into two parts:\\
(I) Study the "basic graphs," those graphs in the family that are not covers of anything but "trivial" graphs;\\
(II) Study the covers of the basic graphs.\\
While (I) has been studied extensively, not much work has been done toward (II).

In this talk, I will discuss how voltage graphs can be used to find covers of graphs where certain symmetries "lift," and specifically look at the problem of determining the locally 2-arc transitive covers of K<sub>2,3</sub>. I will also demonstrate how the software GAP can be applied to problems like this.


----