The smallest Fischer sporadic simple group Fi22 is generated by a conjugacy class D of 3510 involutions called 3-transpositions such that the product of any noncommuting pair is an element of order 3. In Fi22 there are exactly three conjugacy classes of involutions denoted by D, T and N and represented in the ATLAS [26] by 2A, 2B and 2C, containing 3510, 1216215 and 36486450 elements with corresponding centralizers 2·U(6,2), (2 x 2~+8:U(4,2)):2 and 25+8:(83 X 32:4) respectively. In Fi22 , we have Npi22(26) = 26:8P(6,2), where 26 is a 2B-pure group, and thus the maximal subgroup 26:8P(6, 2) of Fi22 is a 2-local subgroup. The full automorphism group of Fi22 is denoted by Fi22 . In Fi22 , there are three involutory outer automorphisms of Fi22 which are denoted bye, f and 0 and represented in the ATLAS [26] by 2D, 2F and 2E respectively. We obtain that Fi22 = Fi22 :(e) and it can be easily shown that Fi22 = Fi22 :(e) = Fi22 :(f) = Fi22 :(0). As e, f and 0 act on Fi22 , then we obtain the subgroups CPi22 (e) rv 0+(8,2):83, CPi22 (f) rv 8P(6,2) x 2 and CPi22 (()) rv 26:0-(6,2) of Fi22 which are generated by CD(e), Cn(f) and CD(0) respectively. In this thesis we are concerned with the construction of the character tables of certain groups which are associated with Fi22 and its automorphism group Fi22 . We use the technique of the Fischer-Clifford matrices to construct the character tables of these groups, which are split extensions. These groups are 26:8P(6, 2), 26:0-(6,2) and 27:8P(6, 2). The study of the group 26:8P(6, 2) is essential, as the other groups studied in this thesis are related to it. The groups 8P(6,2) and 0- (6,2) of 6 x 6 matrices over GF(2), played crucial roles in our construction of the group 8P(6, 2) as a group of 7 x 7 matrices over GF(2) which would act on 27 . Also the character table of 25:86 , the affine subgroup of 8P(6, 2) fixing a nonzero vector in 26 , is constructed by using the technique of the Fischer-Clifford matrices. This character table is used in the construction of the character table 26:SP(6, 2). The character tables computed in this thesis have been accepted for incorporation into GAP and will be available in the latest version of GAP.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.