Finite groups with three conjugacy class sizes of some elements

Let G be a finite group. We prove as follows: Let G be a p-solvable group for a fixed prime p. If the conjugacy class sizes of all elements of primary and biprimary orders of G are {1,p ^a , n} with a and n two positive integers and (p,n)?=?1, then G is p-nilpotent or G has abelian Sylow p-subgroups.     

On an extension of a theorem on conjugacy class sizes

Let G be a finite group. We extend Alan Camina’s theorem on conjugacy classes sizes which asserts that if the conjugacy classes sizes of G are {1, p ^a , q ^b , p ^a q ^b }, where p and q are two distinct primes and a and b are integers, then G is nilpotent. We show that let G be a group and assume that the conjugacy classes sizes of elements of primary and biprimary orders of G are exactly {1, p ^a , n,p ^a n} with (p, n) = 1, where p is a prime and a and n are positive integers. If there is a p-element in G whose index is precisely p ^a , then G is nilpotent and n = q ^b for some prime q ≠ p.     

Conjugacy class sizes and solvability of finite groups

Let G be a finite group and let G* be the set of elements of primary, biprimary and triprimary orders of G. We show that suppose that the conjugacy class sizes of G* are exactly {1, p ^a , n, p ^a n} with (p, n)?=?1 and a??? 0, then G is solvable.     

On Huppert’s Conjecture for 3 D 4(q), q ≥ 3

Let G be a finite group and cd(G) be the set of all complex irreducible character degrees of G. Bertram Huppert conjectured that if H is a finite nonabelian simple group such that cd(G) = cd(H), then G???H × A, where A is an abelian group. In this paper, we verify the conjecture for the family of simple exceptional groups of Lie type ³ D ₄(q), when q?≥?3.     

On G-Covering Subgroup Systems for Some Saturated Formations of Finite Groups

Let ? be a class of groups and G a finite group. We call a set Σ of subgroups of G a G-covering subgroup system for ? if G ∈ ? whenever Σ ? ?. For a non-identity subgroup H of G, we put Σ _H be some set of subgroups of G which contains at least one supplement in G of each maximal subgroup of H. Let p ≠ q be primes dividing |G|, P, and Q be non-identity a p-subgroup and a q-subgroup of G, respectively. We prove that Σ _P and Σ _P  ∪ Σ _Q are G-covering subgroup systems for many classes of finite groups.     

A note on transitive permutation groups of prime degree

LetG be a nonsolvable transitive permutation group of prime degreep. LetP be a Sylow-p-subgroup ofG and letq be a generator of the subgroup ofN _G(P) fixing one point. Assume that |N _G(P)|=p(p?1) and that there exists an elementj inG such thatj ^?1qj=q^(p+1)/2. We shall prove that a group that satisfies the above condition must be the symmetric group onp points, andp is of the form 4n+1.     

Structure of augmentation quotients of finite homocyclic abelian groups

Let G be a finite abelian group and its Sylow p-subgroup a direct product of copies of a cyclic group of order p~r,i.e.,a finite homocyclic abelian group.LetΔ~n (G) denote the n-th power of the augmentation idealΔ(G) of the integral group ring ZG.The paper gives an explicit structure of the consecutive quotient group Q_n(G)=Δ~n(G)/Δ~(n 1)(G) for any natural number n and as a consequence settles a problem of Karpilovsky for this particular class of finite abelian groups.     

On <Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis>-covering subgroup systems of finite groups

Let \(\mathcal{F}\) be a class of groups and G a finite group. We call a set Σ of subgroups of G a G-covering subgroup system for  \(\mathcal{F}\) if \(G\in \mathcal{F}\) whenever \(\Sigma \subseteq \mathcal{F}\). Let p be any prime dividing |G| and P a Sylow p-subgroup of G. Then we write Σ _p to denote the set of subgroups of G which contains at least one supplement to G of each maximal subgroup of P. We prove that the sets Σ _p and Σ _p ∪Σ _q , where q≠p, are G-covering subgroup systems for many classes of finite groups.     

Conjugacy Classes in Sylow p-Subgroups of Finite Chevalley Groups in Bad Characteristic

Let U = U(q) be a Sylow p-subgroup of a finite Chevalley group G = G(q). Röhrle and Goodwin in 2009 determined a parameterization of the conjugacy classes of U, for G of small rank when q is a power of a good prime for G. As a consequence they verified that the number k(U) of conjugacy classes of U is given by a polynomial in q with integer coefficients. In the present paper, we consider the case when p is a bad prime for G. Our motivation is to observe how the situation differs between good and bad characteristics. We obtain a parameterization of the conjugacy classes of U, when G has rank less than or equal to 4, and G is not of type F ₄. In these cases we deduce that k(U) is given by a polynomial in q with integer coefficients; this polynomial is different from the polynomial for good primes.     

A remark on Gelfand–Graev characters for finite simple groups

The famous Gelfand–Graev character of a group of Lie type G is a multiplicity free character of shape ν ^G , where ν is a suitable degree 1 character of a Sylow p-subgroup and p is the defining characteristic of G. We show that, for an arbitrary non-abelian simple group G, if ν is a linear character of a Sylow p-subgroup of G such that ν ^G is multiplicity free, then G is isomorphic to either a group of Lie type in defining characteristic p, or to a group PSL(2, q), where either p = q + 1, or p = 2 and q + 1 or q ? 1 is a 2-power.     

Finite groups with some CAP-subgroups

Let G be a finite group. A subgroup H of G is called a CAP-subgroup if the following condition is satisfied: for each chief factor K/L of G either HK = HL or H ∩ K = H ∩ L. Let p be a prime factor of |G| and let P be a Sylow p-subgroup of G. If d is the minimum number of generators of P then there exists a family of maximal subgroups of P, denoted by M _d (P)={P ₁, P ₂,…, P _d } such that ∩ _i=1 ^d P _i = ?(P). In this paper, we investigate the group G satisfying the condition: every member of a fixed M _d (P) is a CAP-subgroup of G. For example, if, in addition, G is p-solvable, then G is p-supersolvable.     

On finite groups for which the lattice of <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis>-permutable subgroups is distributive

Let p be a prime and let P be a Sylow p-subgroup of a finite nonabelian group G. Let bcl(G) be the size of the largest conjugacy classes of the group G. We show that if p is an odd prime but not a Mersenne prime or if P does not involve a section isomorphic to the wreath product \({Z_p \wr Z_p}\), then \({|P/O_p(G)| \leq bcl(G)}\).     

Abelian group matrices over the p-adic and rational integers

Let G be a finite abelian group of order n. Let Z and Q denote the rational integers and rationals, respectively. A group matrix for G over Z (or Q) is an n-square matrix of the form Σ_{g ∈ G}a_gP(g), where a_g ∈ Z (or Q) and P is the regular representation of G so that P(g) is an n-square permutation matrix and P(gh) = P(g)P(h) for all g, h ∈ G. It is known that if M is an arbitrary positive definite unimodular matrix over Z then there exists a matrix A over Q such that M = A^τA, where τ denotes transposition. This paper proves that the exact analogue of this theorem holds if one demands that M and A be group matrices for G over Z and Q, respectively. Furthermore, if M is a group matrix for G over the p-adic integers then necessary and sufficient conditions are given for the existence of a group matrix A for G over the p-adic numbers such that M = A^τA.     

On a Fitting length conjecture without the coprimeness condition

Let A be a finite nilpotent group acting fixed point freely by automorphisms on the finite solvable group G. It is conjectured that the Fitting length of G is bounded by the number of primes dividing the order of A, counted with multiplicities. The main result of this paper shows that the conjecture is true in the case where A is cyclic of order p ⁿ q, for prime numbers p and q coprime to 6 and G has abelian Sylow 2-subgroups.     

The largest lengths of conjugacy classes and the Sylow subgroups of finite groups

Let G be a finite nonabelian group, P ∈Syl_p(G), and bcl(G) the largest length of conjugacy classes of G. In this short paper, we prove that in general and |P/O_p(G)| < bcl(G) in the case where P is abelian. Received: 26 December 2004; revised: 26 January 2005     

On a Fitting length conjecture without the coprimeness condition

Let A be a finite nilpotent group acting fixed point freely by automorphisms on the finite solvable group G. It is conjectured that the Fitting length of G is bounded by the number of primes dividing the order of A, counted with multiplicities. The main result of this paper shows that the conjecture is true in the case where A is cyclic of order p ⁿ q, for prime numbers p and q coprime to 6 and G has abelian Sylow 2-subgroups.     

A reduction theorem for the McKay conjecture

The McKay conjecture asserts that for every finite group G and every prime p, the number of irreducible characters of G having p’-degree is equal to the number of such characters of the normalizer of a Sylow p-subgroup of G. Although this has been confirmed for large numbers of groups, including, for example, all solvable groups and all symmetric groups, no general proof has yet been found. In this paper, we reduce the McKay conjecture to a question about simple groups. We give a list of conditions that we hope all simple groups will satisfy, and we show that the McKay conjecture will hold for a finite group G if every simple group involved in G satisfies these conditions. Also, we establish that our conditions are satisfied for the simple groups PSL₂(q) for all prime powers q≥4, and for the Suzuki groups Sz(q) and Ree groups R(q), where q=2 ^e or q=3 ^e respectively, and e>1 is odd. Since our conditions are also satisfied by the sporadic simple group J ₁, it follows that the McKay conjecture holds (for all primes p) for every finite group having an abelian Sylow 2-subgroup.     

On the Loewy length of the center of a block with elementary abelian defect groups

Let G be a finite group and k an algebraically closed field of characteristic p. In this paper we investigate the Loewy structure of centers of indecomposable group algebras kG, for groups G with a normal elementary abelian Sylow p-subgroup. Furthermore, we show a reduction result for the case that a normal abelian Sylow p-subgroup is acted upon by a subgroup of its automorphism group; this is fundamental in providing generic formulae for the Loewy lengths considered.     

Conjugacy classes and finite p-groups

Let G be a finite p-group, where p is a prime number, and a ∈ G. Denote by Cl(a) = {gag⁻¹| g ∈ G} the conjugacy class of a in G. Assume that |Cl(a)| = pⁿ. Then Cl(a) Cl(a⁻¹) = {xy | x ∈ Cl(a), y ∈ Cl(a⁻¹)} is the union of at least n(p − 1) + 1 distinct conjugacy classes of G. Received: 16 December 2004     

Isomorphism of circulant graphs and digraphs

Let S? {1, …, n?1} satisfy ?S = S mod n. The circulant graph G(n, S) with vertex set {v₀, v₁,…, v_n?1} and edge set E satisfies v_iv_j?E if and only if j ? i ∈ S, where all arithmetic is done mod n. The circulant digraph G(n, S) is defined similarly without the restriction S = ? S. Ádám conjectured that $\text{G(n, S) ? G(n, S′)}$ if and only if S = uS′ for some unit u mod n. In this paper we prove the conjecture true if n = pq where p and q are distinct primes. We also show that it is not generally true when n = p², and determine exact conditions on S that it be true in this case. We then show as a simple consequence that the conjecture is false in most cases when n is divisible by p² where p is an odd prime, or n is divisible by 2⁴.