Related papers: Words and characters in finite p-groups

An old problem in group theory is that of describing how the order of an element behaves under multiplication. To generalize some classical bounds concerning the order $\mathrm o(ab)$ of two elements $a, b$ in a finite abelian group to the…

Let $G$ be a finite Chevalley group. We are concerned with computing the values of the unipotent characters of $G$ by making use of Lusztig's theory of character sheaves. In this framework, one has to find the transformation between several…

In order to tackle the problem of generically determining the character tables of the finite groups of Lie type $\mathbf{G}(q)$ associated to a connected reductive group $\mathbf{G}$ over $\overline{\mathbb F}_p$, Lusztig developed the…

We study the girth of Cayley graphs of finite classical groups G on random sets of generators. Our main tool is an essentially best possible bound we obtain on the probability that a given word w takes the value 1 when evaluated in G in…

A finitely presented group F is called flawed if Hom(F,G)//G deformation retracts onto its subspace Hom(F,K)/K for reductive affine algebraic groups G and maximal compact subgroups K in G. After discussing generalities concerning flawed…

Let $\mathcal{P}$ be a countable multiset of primes and let $G=\bigoplus_{p\in P}\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}$. We study the universal characteristic factors associated with the Gowers-Host-Kra seminorms for the group $G$. We show that the…

Let $G$ be a finite group minimally generated by $d(G)$ elements and $\Aut_c(G)$ denote the group of all (conjugacy) class-preserving automorphisms of $G$. Continuing our work [Class preserving automorphisms of finite $p$-groups, J. London…

Let k(B_0) and l(B_0) respectively denote the number of ordinary and p-Brauer irreducible characters in the principal block B_0 of a finite group G. We prove that, if k(B_0)-l(B_0)=1, then l(B_0)\geq p-1 or else p=11 and l(B_0)=9. This…

Let $G$ be a finite $p$-group acted on faithfully by a group $A$. We prove that if $A$ fixes every element of order dividing $p$ ($4$ if $p=2$) in a specified subgroup of $G$, then both $A$ and $[G,A]$ behave regularly, that is the elements…

We give a sufficient condition on a finite $p$-group $G$ of nilpotency class 2 so that $\Aut_c(G) = \Inn(G)$, where $\Aut_c(G)$ and $\Inn(G)$ denote the group of all class preserving automorphisms and inner automorphisms of $G$…

We introduce a special class of powerful $p$-groups that we call powerfully nilpotent groups that are finite $p$-groups that possess a central series of a special kind. To these we can attach the notion of a powerful nilpotence class that…

Let $w$ be a finite word of length $n$. In this paper, we study the maximum possible number of distinct rational power factors in a finite word. A rational power is a word of the form $u=p^kp'$, where $p$ is a nonempty finite word, $k$ is…

The main goal of the paper is to present a general model theoretic framework to understand a result of Shalev on probabilistically finite nilpotent groups. We prove that a suitable group where the equation $[x_1,\ldots,x_k]=1$ holds on a…

A group-word w is called concise if whenever the set of w-values in a group G is finite it always follows that the verbal subgroup w(G) is finite. More generally, a word w is said to be concise in a class of groups X if whenever the set of…

We prove that the $k$th term of the lower central series of a finite group $G$ is nilpotent if and only if $|ab|=|a||b|$ for any $\gamma_k$-commutators $a,b\in G$ of coprime orders.

A group word $w$ is said to be strongly concise in a class $\mathscr C$ of profinite groups if, for any group $G$ in $\mathscr C$, either $w$ takes at least continuum values in $G$ or the verbal subgroup $w(G)$ is finite. It is conjectured…

Let N be a normal subgroup of a finite group G and consider the set cd(G|N) of degrees of irreducible characters of G whose kernels do not contain N. A number of theorems are proved relating the set cd(G|N) to the structure of N. For…

Suppose that G is a nontrivial torsion-free group and w is a word over the alphabet G\cup\{x_1^{\pm1},...,x_n^{\pm1}\}. It is proved that for n\ge2 the group \~G=<G,x_1,x_2,...,x_n | w=1> always contains a nonabelian free subgroup. For n=1…

Let $G$ be a finite group with the property that if $a,b$ are powers of $\delta_1^*$-commutators such that $(|a|,|b|)=1$, then $|ab|=|a||b|$. We show that $\gamma_{\infty}(G)$ is nilpotent.

With a view to determining character values of finite reductive groups at unipotent elements, we prove a number of results concerning inner products of generalised Gelfand-Graev characters with characteristic functions of character sheaves,…