Finite Groups with a System of Nilpotent Subgroups

Variants of some of the Brauer-Fowler theorems

Finite Groups of Chain Difference One

We show that, for any positive integer k, there are only finitely many finite groups, up to isomorphism, with exactly k conjugacy classes of elements of prime power order. This generalizes a result of E. Landau from 1903. The proof of our generalization makes use of the classification of finite simple groups.

Given a set π of primes, say that a finite group G satisfies the Sylow π-theorem if every two maximal π-subgroups of G are conjugate; equivalently, the full analog of the Sylow theorem holds for π-subgroups. Say also that a finite group G satisfies the Baer-Suzuki π-theorem if every conjugacy class of G every pair of whose elements generate a π-subgroup itself generates a π-subgroup. In this article we prove, using the classification of finite simple groups, that if a finite group satisfies the Sylow π-theorem then it satisfies the Baer-Suzuki π-theorem as well.

Let x be a p-element of a finite group G. We say that x is unfused in G if, for some Sylow p-subgroup S of G containing x, all G-conjugates of x in S are S-conjugates. It is shown (using the classification of finite simple groups) that a finite group that contains an unfused involution has a chief factor of order 2. #Communicated by M. Dixon.

On Thompson's Theorem

Introduction. In recent years, there have been interests in studying the influence of arithmetic conditions on the lengths of conjugacy classes to the structure of finite groups. The results are parallel to those of character degrees, and lead to strong restrictions to the group structure. An interesting relevant topic is the lengths of conjugacy classes of subgroups. This was first brought up to the author by Professor J. P. Zhang, who has obtained some interesting results on conjugacy class lengths of Sylow subgroups, the so called Sylow numbers [91. In this paper, we consider conjugacy class lengths of cyclic subgroups of finite goups. Our notations are standard and tends to follow [5]. All groups considered are finite. Let G be a finite group, H a subgroup of G, then the length of conjugacy class of H, the number of subgroups of G conjugate to H, is equal to I G : NG(H)[. Our main result is Theorem 1, its proof depends on the classification of finite simple groups.

The enhanced power graph [Formula: see text] of a group [Formula: see text] is the graph with vertex set [Formula: see text] such that two vertices [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are adjacent if they are contained in the same cyclic subgroup. We prove that finite groups with isomorphic enhanced power graphs have isomorphic directed power graphs. We show that any isomorphism between undirected power graph of finite groups is an isomorphism between enhanced power graphs of these groups, and we find all finite groups [Formula: see text] for which [Formula: see text] is abelian, all finite groups [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] being prime power, and all finite groups [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] being square-free. Also, we describe enhanced power graphs of finite abelian groups. Finally, we give a characterization of finite nilpotent groups whose enhanced power graphs are perfect, and we present a sufficient condition for a finite group to have weakly perfect enhanced power graph.

Let G be a finite group and let p be a prime. In this paper, we classify all finite quasisimple groups in which the degrees of all irreducible p-Brauer characters are prime powers. As an application, for a fixed odd prime p, we classify all finite nonsolvable groups with the above-mentioned property and having no nontrivial normal p-subgroups. Furthermore, for an arbitrary prime p, a complete classification of finite groups in which the degrees of all nonlinear irreducible p-Brauer characters are primes is also obtained.

This meeting was focused on asymptotic aspects of group theory. The resulting problems lead, in particular, to the study of infinite groups, with an emphasis on the asymptotic behaviour of their finite quotients. Also, properties of infinite families of finite groups are at the center of interest in the field. We had talks on the most important recent developments in the field of asymptotic and profinite group theory. We single out some of these new results. The classification of finite simple groups has provided an impetus for the detailed investigation of properties of families of groups of Lie type and of alternating groups. This has produced many results of asymptotic or probabilistic nature, describing in a quantitative way properties that hold for all sufficiently large simple groups, or else that hold ‘almost surely’ as the orders of the groups are tending to infinity. Here we had a talk of Aner Shalev on his recent solution (with coauthors) of Ore's conjecture. Recently there has been much activity in the study of infinite groups, with an emphasis on the asymptotic behaviour of their finite quotients, or their finite-index subgroups. The theory of subgroup growth is now well established; the theory of the associated zeta functions is making good progress. More subtle variations of subgroup growth are also developing into significant theories in their own right: there are important new results on representation growth – of arithmetic groups, nilpotent groups and pro-p groups; and on maximal subgroup growth, with applications to probabilistic generation properties. Profinite groups are ‘asymptotic limits’ of finite groups. The nature of verbal subgroups and verbal mappings, in both finite and profinite groups, has been the focus of much recent work. This has led among other things to the solution of Serre's problem on subgroups of finite index in finitely generated profinite groups; other significant results include the characterisation of closed verbal subgroups in pro-p groups and new characterisations of solubility in finite groups. Branch groups, both discrete and profinite, are certain groups of automorphisms of rooted trees; introduced by Grigorchuk and others over 20 years ago, they have provided the solution to several outstanding problems, and their study continues to provide new results. Some of them were reported on in our meeting. We also had talks from important fields of mathematics in which profinite and asymptotic group theory finds application. There is, for instance, the study of the absolute Galois group of the rationals and in particular its closed pro-p subgroups. Methods from pro-p group theory have successfully been applied in order to understand fundamental groups of (hyperbolic) 3-manifolds. The interplay between the topological fundamental group of a complex algebraic surface and its profinite completion which is the etale fundamental group of the surface is the subject of recent research. We believe that the meeting was exciting and successful. The high quality lectures covered a lot of very recent results in the field. There were many intense discussions between mathematicians of different fields. Altogether there were over 50 participants from all over the world. The percentage of young researchers was very high. The following extended abstracts were collected and edited by Dr. Evija Ribnere.

A supercharacter theory for a finite group [Formula: see text] is a set of superclasses each of which is a union of conjugacy classes together with a set of sums of irreducible characters called supercharacters that together satisfy certain compatibility conditions. The aim of this paper is to give a description of some finite simple groups with exactly three or four supercharacter theories.

As a consequence of the classification of the finite simple groups, it has been possible in recent years to characterize Steiner t-designs, that is t-(v,k,1) designs, mainly for t=2, admitting groups of automorphisms with sufficiently strong symmetry properties. However, despite the finite simple group classification, for Steiner t-designs with t>2 most of these characterizations have remained long-standing challenging problems. Especially, the determination of all flag-transitive Steiner t-designs with 3≤t≤6 is of particular interest and has been open for about 40 years (cf. Delandtsheer (Geom. Dedicata 41, p. 147, 1992 and Handbook of Incidence Geometry, Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, 1995, p. 273), but presumably dating back to 1965). The present paper continues the author’s work (see Huber (J. Comb. Theory Ser. A 94, 180–190, 2001; Adv. Geom. 5, 195–221, 2005; J. Algebr. Comb., 2007, to appear)) of classifying all flag-transitive Steiner 3-designs and 4-designs. We give a complete classification of all flag-transitive Steiner 5-designs and prove furthermore that there are no non-trivial flag-transitive Steiner 6-designs. Both results rely on the classification of the finite 3-homogeneous permutation groups. Moreover, we survey some of the most general results on highly symmetric Steiner t-designs.

Locally finite simple groups from the standpoint of the classification of finite simple groups

Regular orbits of cyclic subgroups in permutation representations of certain simple groups

In this survey, we discuss some basic problems in representation theory of finite groups, including some long-standing conjectures of Alperin, Brauer, and others. A possible approach to some of these problems is to use the classification of finite simple groups to reduce the problem in consideration to some, more specific, questions about simple groups. We will describe recent progress on reduction theorems in this direction. We will also outline applications of these results to various problems in group theory, number theory, and algebraic geometry.