Jordan-like characterization of automorphism groups of planar graphs

Abstract: We investigate automorphism groups of planar graphs. The main result is a complete recursive description of all abstract groups that can be realized as automorphism groups of planar graphs. The characterization is formulated in terms of inhomogeneous wreath products. In the proof, we combine techniques from combinatorics, group theory, and geometry. This significantly improves the Babai's description (1975).