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Adjoin the inverse-transpose automorphism to the collineation group of the Fano plane. Its maximal subgroups other than the collineation group are unordered incident-pair stabilizers, unordered nonincident-pair stabilizers and Sylow 7-normalizers, of orders 16, 12 and 42.

The Fano plane has as points the seven nonzero vectors of ${\mathbb{F}}_2^3$, because every one-dimensional vector subspace has just one nonzero vector. Its lines are the seven two-dimensional vector subspaces. Every line has three points, every point lies on three lines, two points determine the line $\{u,v,u+v\}$, and two lines meet in one point.

The two order-24 classes are therefore stabilizer subgroups of points and of lines. Each is isomorphic to $S_4$: fixing a vector gives the block group ${\mathbb{F}}_2^2⋊G{L}_2(2)$, the full affine group on four points; inverse transpose gives the dual line stabilizer subgroup. Their distinct fixed-point behavior in part (i) distinguishes the two conjugacy classes.

For a point $p$ and line $L$, $G_p\cap G_L$ stabilizes the ordered pair $(p,L)$. There are $7\cdot 3=21$ incident pairs and $7\cdot 4=28$ nonincident pairs. A change of basis takes any pair to a fixed model of its type, so each type is a single orbit. Orbit-stabilizer theorem gives the Fano point-line stabilizer intersection:Both occur: take $L=⟨e_1,e_2⟩$ and choose $p=⟨e_1⟩$ or $p=⟨e_3⟩$.

For the extension, identify vectors and covectors by the standard pairing. The inverse-transpose automorphism exchanges a point with its orthogonal plane and exchanges the two order-24 classes. Thus it is outer. The Fano plane duality group $\overline{G}=G⋊⟨\tau ⟩$ has order 336 and acts on points and lines, preserving incidence while allowing their types to be swapped.

The stabilizer subgroup of an unordered point-line pair has twice the corresponding ordered-pair stabilizer subgroup: some element outside $G$ swaps the pair, since duality produces a pair of the same incidence type and $G$ is transitive on such pairs. Hence these stabilizer subgroups have orders 16 and 12. Also every outside conjugate of a Sylow 7-subgroup can be moved back by an element of $G$, giving

We prove these exhaust the maximal subgroups other than $G$. Let $K$ be such a maximal subgroup and $H=K\cap G$. Since $K$ is not contained in $G$, $H$ is normal in $K$ and $|K:H|=2$. If $7\mid |H|$, part (i) gives a unique Sylow 7-subgroup $P$ of $H$. It is characteristic in $H$, hence normalized by $K$. Therefore maximality forces $K=N_{\overline{G}}(P)$.

Suppose $7\nmid |H|$ and $H\ne 1$. The classification argument in part (i) says $H$ fixes a point or a line. Because $H$ is normal in $K$, an element outside $G$ swaps its fixed-point and fixed-line sets, so it fixes at least one of each. WriteFixed lines are kernels of fixed nonzero covectors, since the only nonzero scalar is one. Duality gives $2^d-1=2^{d^{\ast }}-1$, hence $d=d^{\ast }\in \{1,2\}$.

If $d=1$, there is a unique fixed point and unique fixed line; $K$ preserves their unordered pair. If $d=2$, put $W=V^H$ and $A=((V^{\ast }{)}^H{)}^{\perp }$. For every $h\in H$, $\ker (h-I)$ contains the plane $W$ and $\mathrm{im}(h-I)$ lies in the line $A$. Over ${\mathbb{F}}_2$ there is only one nonzero linear map $V/W\to A$, so $H$ has order two. Invertibility forces $A\subseteq W$: for $h=I+vf$ one needs $f(v)=0$. Thus $A$ and $W$ are its unique image point and kernel line. These are canonically swapped by duality, so $K$ again preserves their unordered incident pair.

If $H=1$, then $K$ has order two, generated by an involutory duality $u$. For any point $p$, the pair $\{p,u(p)\}$ is preserved by $u$. Hence $K$ lies in an order-12 or order-16 pair stabilizer subgroup and is not maximal. We have exhausted all cases.

The pair stabilizer subgroups are themselves maximal: a proper maximal overgroup is one of the just-listed types, and divisibility excludes orders 12 inside 16 or 42, and 16 inside 12 or 42. The order-42 normalizer is maximal by the unique-Sylow argument. Incidence types give one conjugacy class each; Sylow conjugacy gives one normalizer class. Thus, apart from the normal index-two subgroup $G$,