This paper is mainly intended as a survey of the recent work of a number of authors concerning certain infinite group actions on spheres and to raise some as yet unanswered questions. The main thrust of the current research in this area has been to decide what topological and geometrical properties characterise the infinite conformal or Möbius groups. One should then obtain reasonable topological or geometrical restrictions on a subgroup G of the homeomorphism group of a sphere which will imply...

Let $X$ be a $G$-space such that the orbit space $X/G$ is metrizable. Suppose a family of slices is given at each point of $X$. We study a construction which associates, under some conditions on the family of slices, with any metric on $X/G$ an invariant metric on $X$. We show also that a family of slices with the required properties exists for any action of a countable group on a locally compact and locally connected metric space.