On the prime graph of PSL(2, p) where p > 3 is a prime number

Let G be a finite group. We define the prime graph Γ(G) as follows. The vertices of Γ(G) are the primes dividing the order of G and two distinct vertices p, q are joined by an edge if there is an element in G of order pq. Recently M. Hagie [5] determined finite groups G satisfying Γ(G) = Γ(S), where S is a sporadic simple group. Let p > 3 be a prime number. In this paper we determine finite groups G such that Γ(G) = Γ(PSL(2, p)). As a consequence of our results we prove that if p > 11 is a prime number and p ≢ 1 (mod 12), then PSL(2, p) is uniquely determined by its prime graph and so these groups are characterizable by their prime graph. The third author was supported in part by a grant from IPM (No. 84200024).