English

$\text{M}$, $\text{B}$ and $\text{Co}_1$ are recognisable by their prime graphs

Group Theory 2022-02-16 v2

Abstract

The prime graph, or Gruenberg--Kegel graph, of a finite group GG is the graph Γ(G)\Gamma(G) whose vertices are the prime divisors of G|G|, and whose edges are the pairs {p,q}\{p,q\} for which GG contains an element of order pqpq. A finite group GG is recognisable by its prime graph if every finite group HH with Γ(H)=Γ(G)\Gamma(H)=\Gamma(G) is isomorphic to GG. By a result of Cameron and Maslova, every such group must be almost simple, so one natural case to investigate is that in which GG is one of the 2626 sporadic simple groups. Existing work of various authors answers the question of recognisability by prime graph for all but three of these groups, namely the Monster, M\text{M}, the Baby Monster, B\text{B}, and the first Conway group, Co1\text{Co}_1. We prove that these three groups are recognisable by their prime graphs.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2107.12755,
  title  = {$\text{M}$, $\text{B}$ and $\text{Co}_1$ are recognisable by their prime graphs},
  author = {Melissa Lee and Tomasz Popiel},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2107.12755},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

Simplified the proofs for Co1 and M; fixed an error in the proof for B. Added more details of computations in all cases