A new look at the Burnside-Schur theorem

Abstract

The famous Burnside-Schur theorem states that every primitive finite permutation group containing a regular cyclic subgroup is either 2-transitive or isomorphic to a subgroup of a 1-dimensional affine group of prime degree. It is known that this theorem can be expressed as a statement on Schur rings over a finite cyclic group. Generalizing the latters we introduce Schur rings over a finite commutative ring and prove an analog of this statement for them. Besides, the finite local commutative rings are characterized in the permutation group terms.