SL2 action on a finite projective line

ID: sl2-action-on-a-finite-projective-line

A matrix acts on the projective line by the Möbius transformation , with the pole sent to infinity and infinity sent to when . The action is transitive because sends infinity to any finite . The stabilizer subgroup of infinity consists of with . The orbit-stabilizer theorem gives . Its kernel is the scalar matrices of determinant one: a transformation fixing infinity has , fixing zero then forces , and fixing one gives . Thus the kernel is , with these matrices coinciding in characteristic two.

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