Orbit (group theory, $Gx={\mathrm{Orb}}_G(x)$)

For a group action of a group $G$ on a set $X$, the orbit of a group action of $x\in X$ is the subset of all positions reachable from $x$:Two points belong to the same group orbit exactly when one can be moved to the other by a group element. This is an equivalence relation: the identity element gives $x\sim x$, the inverse element of a transformation reverses a move, and a product combines two moves. Hence the group orbits form a partition of a set of $X$ into equivalence classes. A transitive group action on a nonempty set has just one group orbit. See Ackerman's algebra notes, lemma 0.5.1.3, for the orbit partition.

For the square and the eight-element dihedral group $D_4$ defined under group action, direct enumeration gives the following separate group orbits:

These counts depend on the chosen group action, not just the group. An orbit of a group action describes all configurations equivalent under the permitted transformations. For ordered pairs under the symmetric group, equality of the two entries is preserved, separating the two group orbits in equality-pattern orbits of ordered pairs; the orbit-stabilizer theorem computes their sizes when the symmetric group is $S_3$.

The diagonal group action of the symmetric group on ordered pairs has two orbits of a group action when $n\ge 2$: equal pairs, of size $n$, and distinct pairs, of size $n(n-1)$. Equality is preserved by a bijection, and a prescribed bijection on one or two distinct letters extends to a permutation of all letters. At $n=1$ only the equal-pair orbit remains.

For $z=x+iy\in {\mathbb{C}}^3$ satisfying $z^{T}z=1$, the real and imaginary parts obey $|x{|}^2-|y{|}^2=1$ and $x\cdot y=0$. Simultaneous real rotations preserve $r=|y|$. At $r=0$ the group orbit is the unit sphere, with stabilizer subgroup $SO(2)$. At each $r>0$, the normalized pair $(x,y)$ is an oriented two-frame, giving a free transitive SO(3) group action. The group orbit space is $[0,\infty )$, and the whole quadric is diffeomorphic to the tangent bundle of $S^2$. Its varying Hermitian norm prevents it from being a single SU(3) group orbit.

The general linear group over a finite field acting diagonally on projective triples has five orbits of a group action: all equal, three different positions for the repeated coordinate when exactly two are equal, and all distinct. The corresponding representative stabilizer subgroups are upper triangular, diagonal, and scalar matrices. Their orders are $p(p-1{)}^2$, $(p-1{)}^2$, and $p-1$, respectively; the orbit sizes are $p+1$, $p(p+1)$, and $p(p+1)(p-1)$. Transitivity follows from the action being sharply three-transitive on a projective line.