On the number of derangements and derangements of prime power order of the affine general linear groups

A derangement is a permutation that has no fixed points. In this paper, we are interested in the proportion of derangements of the finite affine general linear groups. We prove a remarkably simple and explicit formula for this proportion. We also give a formula for the proportion of derangements of prime power order. Both formulae rely on a result of independent interest on partitions: we determine the generating function for the partitions with m parts and with the kth largest part not k, for every \(k\in \mathbb {N}\).     

Nonsolvable Groups with no Prime Dividing Four Character Degrees

Given a finite group G, we say that G has property \(\mathcal P_{k}\) if every set of k distinct irreducible character degrees of G is setwise relatively prime. In this paper, we show that if G is a finite nonsolvable group satisfying \(\mathcal P_{4}, \)then G has at most 8 distinct character degrees. Combining with work of D. Benjamin on finite solvable groups, we deduce that a finite group G has at most 9 distinct character degrees if G has property \(\mathcal P_{4}\) and this bound is sharp.     

On the finite prime spectrum minimal groups

Let G be a finite group. The set of all prime divisors of the order of G is called the prime spectrum of G and is denoted by π(G). A group G is called prime spectrum minimal if π(G) ≠ π(H) for any proper subgroup H of G. We prove that every prime spectrum minimal group all of whose nonabelian composition factors are isomorphic to the groups from the set {PSL ₂(7), PSL ₂(11), PSL ₅(2)} is generated by two conjugate elements. Thus, we extend the corresponding result for finite groups with Hall maximal subgroups. Moreover, we study the normal structure of a finite prime spectrum minimal group with a nonabelian composition factor whose order is divisible by exactly three different primes.     

Finite simple groups in which all maximal subgroups are π-closed. I

Finite simple nonabelian groups G that are not π-closed for some set of primes π but have π-closed maximal subgroups (property (*) for (G, π)) are studied. We give a list L of finite simple groups that contains any group G with the above property (for some π). It is proved that 2 ? π for any pair (G, π) with property (*) (Theorem 1). In addition, we specify for any sporadic simple group G from L all sets of primes π such that the pair (G, π) has property (*) (Theorem 2). The proof uses the author’s results on the control of prime spectra of finite simple groups.     

A solvability criterion for finite groups

We show that if for every prime p, the normalizer of a Sylow p-subgroup of a finite group G admits a p-solvable supplement, then G is solvable. This generalizes a solvability criterion of Hall which asserts that a finite group G is solvable if and only if G has a Hall p′-subgroup for every prime p.     

A new characterization of symmetric group by NSE

Let G be a group and ω(G) be the set of element orders of G. Let k ∈ ω(G) and m _k (G) be the number of elements of order k in G. Let nse(G) = {m _k (G): k ∈ ω(G)}. Assume r is a prime number and let G be a group such that nse(G) = nse(S _r ), where S _r is the symmetric group of degree r. In this paper we prove that G ? S _r , if r divides the order of G and r ² does not divide it. To get the conclusion we make use of some well-known results on the prime graphs of finite simple groups and their components.     

Every 2-group with all subgroups normal-by-finite is locally finite

A group G has all of its subgroups normal-by-finite if H/H _G is finite for all subgroups H of G. The Tarski-groups provide examples of p-groups (p a “large” prime) of nonlocally finite groups in which every subgroup is normal-by-finite. The aim of this paper is to prove that a 2-group with every subgroup normal-by-finite is locally finite. We also prove that if |H/H _G | 6 2 for every subgroup H of G, then G contains an Abelian subgroup of index at most 8.     

Extremely primitive groups and linear spaces

A non-regular primitive permutation group is called extremely primitive if a point stabilizer acts primitively on each of its nontrivial orbits. Let S be a nontrivial finite regular linear space and G ≤ Aut(S). Suppose that G is extremely primitive on points and let rank(G) be the rank of G on points. We prove that rank(G) ≥ 4 with few exceptions. Moreover, we show that Soc(G) is neither a sporadic group nor an alternating group, and G = PSL(2, q) with q + 1 a Fermat prime if Soc(G) is a finite classical simple group.     

A characterizing property of CP-groups

Let G be a finite group. It is proved that if, for every prime p, the number of nonidentity p-elements of G is divisible by the p′-part of |G|, then all element orders of G are prime powers.     

Thompson’s conjecture for the alternating group of degree 2<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis> and 2<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>+1

For a finite group G denote by N(G) the set of conjugacy class sizes of G. In 1980s, J.G.Thompson posed the following conjecture: If L is a finite nonabelian simple group, G is a finite group with trivial center and N(G) = N(L), then G ? L. We prove this conjecture for an infinite class of simple groups. Let p be an odd prime. We show that every finite group G with the property Z(G) = 1 and N(G) = N(A _i ) is necessarily isomorphic to A _i , where i ∈ {2p, 2p + 1}.     

On the coincidence of Grünberg-Kegel graphs of a finite simple group and its proper subgroup

Let G be a finite group. The spectrum of G is the set ω(G) of orders of all its elements. The subset of prime elements of ω(G) is denoted by π(G). The spectrum ω(G) of a group G defines its prime graph (or Grünberg-Kegel graph) Γ(G) with vertex set π(G), in which any two different vertices r and s are adjacent if and only if the number rs belongs to the set ω(G). We describe all the cases when the prime graphs of a finite simple group and of its proper subgroup coincide.     

On <Emphasis Type="Italic">r</Emphasis>-recognition by prime graph of <Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis></Subscript>(3) where <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis> is an odd prime

Let G be a finite group. The prime graph Γ(G) of G is defined as follows. The vertices of Γ(G) are the primes dividing the order of G and two distinct vertices p and p′ are joined by an edge if there is an element in G of order pp′. We denote by k(Γ(G)) the number of isomorphism classes of finite groups H satisfying Γ(G) = Γ(H). Given a natural number r, a finite group G is called r-recognizable by prime graph if k(Γ(G)) =  r. In Shen et al. (Sib. Math. J. 51(2):244–254, 2010), it is proved that if p is an odd prime, then B _p (3) is recognizable by element orders. In this paper as the main result, we show that if G is a finite group such that Γ(G) = Γ(B _p (3)), where p > 3 is an odd prime, then \({G\cong B_p(3)}\) or C _p (3). Also if Γ(G) = Γ(B ₃(3)), then \({G\cong B_3(3), C_3(3), D_4(3)}\), or \({G/O_2(G)\cong {\rm Aut}(^2B_2(8))}\). As a corollary, the main result of the above paper is obtained.     

The Magnus property for direct products

A group G is said to have the Magnus property if the following holds: whenever two elements x, y have the same normal closure, then x is conjugate to y or to y^?1. We prove: let p be an odd prime, and let G, H be residually finite-p groups with the Magnus property. Then the direct product \({G \times H}\) has the Magnus property. By considering suitable crystallographic groups, we give an explicit example of finitely generated, torsion-free, residually finite groups G, H with the Magnus property such that the direct product \({G \times H}\) does not have the Magnus property.     

On control of the prime spectrum of a finite simple group

The set π(G) of all prime divisors of the order of a finite group G is often called its prime spectrum. It is proved that every finite simple nonabelian group G has sections H ₁, …, H _m of some special form such that π(H ₁)∪…∪π(H _m ) = π(G) and m ≤ 5. Moreover, m ≤ 2 if G is an alternating or classical simple group. In all cases, it is possible to choose the sections H _i so that each of them is a simple nonabelian group, a Frobenius group, or (in one case) a dihedral group. If the above equality holds for a finite group G, then we say that the set {H ₁,…,H _m } controls the prime spectrum of G. We also study some parameter c(G) of finite groups G related to the notion of control.     

On residually finite groups of finite general rank

Following A. I.Mal’tsev, we say that a group G has finite general rank if there is a positive integer r such that every finite set of elements of G is contained in some r-generated subgroup. Several known theorems concerning finitely generated residually finite groups are generalized here to the case of residually finite groups of finite general rank. For example, it is proved that the families of all finite homomorphic images of a residually finite group of finite general rank and of the quotient of the group by a nonidentity normal subgroup are different. Special cases of this result are a similar result of Moldavanskii on finitely generated residually finite groups and the following assertion: every residually finite group of finite general rank is Hopfian. This assertion generalizes a similarMal’tsev result on the Hopf property of every finitely generated residually finite group.     

2-Recognizability by prime graph of <Emphasis Type="Italic">PSL</Emphasis>(2, <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis><Superscript>2</Superscript>)

Let G be a finite group and let Γ(G) be the prime graph of G. Assume p prime. We determine the finite groups G such that Γ(G) = Γ(PSL(2, p ²)) and prove that if p ≠ 2, 3, 7 is a prime then k(Γ(PSL(2, p ²))) = 2. We infer that if G is a finite group satisfying |G| = |PSL(2, p ²)| and Γ(G) = Γ(PSL(2, p ²)) then G ? PSL(2, p ²). This enables us to give new proofs for some theorems; e.g., a conjecture of W. Shi and J. Bi. Some applications are also considered of this result to the problem of recognition of finite groups by element orders.     

On locally finite Cpp-groups

A group G is called a Cpp-group for a prime number p, if G has elements of order p and the centralizer of every non-trivial p-element of G is a pgroup. In this paper we prove that the only infinite locally finite simple groups that are Cpp-groups are isomorphic either to PSL(2,K) or, if p = 2, to Sz(K), with K a suitable algebraic field over GF(p). Using this fact, we also give some structure theorems for infinite locally finite Cpp-groups.     

Generation of a finite group with Hall maximal subgroups by a pair of conjugate elements

For a finite group G, the set of all prime divisors of |G| is denoted by π(G). P. Shumyatsky introduced the following conjecture, which was included in the “Kourovka Notebook” as Question 17.125: a finite group G always contains a pair of conjugate elements a and b such that π(G) = π(〈a, b〉). Denote by \(\mathfrak{Y}\) the class of all finite groups G such that π(H) ≠ π(G) for every maximal subgroup H in G. Shumyatsky’s conjecture is equivalent to the following conjecture: every group from \(\mathfrak{Y}\) is generated by two conjugate elements. Let \(\mathfrak{V}\) be the class of all finite groups in which every maximal subgroup is a Hall subgroup. It is clear that \(\mathfrak{V} \subseteq \mathfrak{Y}\). We prove that every group from \(\mathfrak{V}\) is generated by two conjugate elements. Thus, Shumyatsky’s conjecture is partially supported. In addition, we study some properties of a smallest order counterexample to Shumyatsky’s conjecture.