The M\"obius function of the small Ree groups

Abstract

The M\"obius function for a group, $G$, was introduced in 1936 by Hall in order to count ordered generating sets of $G$. In this paper we determine the M\"obius function of the simple small Ree groups, $R(q)={}^2G_2(q)$ where $q=3^{2m+1}$ for $m>0$, using their 2-transitive permutation representation of degree $q^3+1$ and describe their maximal subgroups in terms of this representation. We then use this to determine $\vert$Epi$(\Gamma,G)\vert$ for various $\Gamma$, such as $F_2$ or the modular group $PSL_2(\mathbb{Z})$, with applications to Grothendieck's theory of dessins d'enfants as well as probabilistic generation of the small Ree groups.