Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 April 2009
For a semigroup S of transformations of an infinite set X let Gs be the group of all the permutations of X that preserve S under conjugation. Fix a permutation group H on X and a transformation f of X, and let 〈f: H〉 = 〈{hfh−1: h ∈ H}〉 be the H-closure of f. We find necessary and sufficient conditions on a one-to-one transformation f and a normal subgroup H of the symmetric group on X to satisfy G〈f:H〉 = H. We also show that if S is a semigroup of one-to-one transformations of X and GS contains the alternating group on X then Aut(S) = Inn(S) ≅ GS.