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Advances in Mathematics 184 (2004) 18–36


http://www.elsevier.com/locate/aim

Orbit sizes, character degrees and Sylow


subgroups
Alexander Moretóa,1 and Thomas R. Wolf b,
a
Departament d’Àlgebra, Universitat de València, 46100 Burjassot, València, Spain
b
Department of Mathematics, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
Received 20 September 2002; accepted 26 February 2003

Communicated by David Benson

1. Introduction

A number of parallelisms between results on character degrees and conjugacy


class sizes have been found since the 1980s. However, the reason for the existence
of this parallelism is not known. The goal of this paper is to prove an orbit
theorem (see Theorem E below) and to apply it to obtain results that show that
solvable groups have ‘‘large’’ character degrees and conjugacy classes. This orbit
theorem and the consequences that we state in this introduction may be used
to obtain a number of results on several conjectures on class sizes, character de-
grees and zeros of characters (see Section 2). Most of the times, we will focus on
the character degree version of the problems and we will just state the conjugacy
class version.
If P is a Sylow p-subgroup of a finite group G it is reasonable to expect that the
degrees of irreducible characters of G somehow restrict those of P: If pa is the largest
power of p dividing wð1Þ for an irreducible character w of G; it is a consequence of
work [10] on the height-zero conjecture that the derived length of P is at most 2a þ 1
for G p-solvable. (This had previously been proved by Isaacs [16] for solvable
groups.) However a p-group of derived length 2 can have irreducible characters of
arbitrarily large degree. If bðPÞ denotes the largest degree of an irreducible character
of P; then Conjecture 4 of Moretó [22] suggests logp bðPÞ is bounded as a function of
a: We have proven this for G solvable and even something a bit stronger, namely the
logarithm to the base of p of the p-part of jG: FðGÞj is bounded in terms of a:


Corresponding author.
! wolf@ohiou.edu (T.R. Wolf).
E-mail addresses: mtbmoqua@lg.ehu.es (A. Moreto),
1
Supported by the Basque Government, the University of the Basque Country and the Spanish
Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologı́a.

0001-8708/03/$ - see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0001-8708(03)00093-8
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Actually, we show that certain invariants of G and its Fitting series divide the degrees
of irreducible characters or products thereof, and these results have connections to
other questions about degrees of characters of solvable groups. Summarizing, we
have, where Fi ðGÞ is the ith term in the Fitting series of G:

Theorem A. If G is solvable, there exists a product y ¼ w1 ?wt of distinct irreducible


characters wi such that jG: FðGÞj divides yð1Þ and tp19: Furthermore, if jF10 ðGÞj is odd
then we can take tp3 and if jGj is odd we can take tp2:

This theorem gives an immediate answer to Moretó’s question in the solvable case.
It also allows us to even give logarithmic bounds for the derived length of a Sylow p-
subgroup in terms of a: Given an integer n; we write np ¼ pk if pk divides n; but pkþ1
does not.

Corollary B. Suppose that paþ1 does not divide wð1Þ for all wAIrrðGÞ and let
PASylp ðGÞ: If G is solvable, then

(i) jG: FðGÞjp pp19a ; bðPÞpp20a and dlðPÞplog2 ðaÞ þ 7 þ log2 ð5Þ;
(ii) jG: FðGÞjp pp3a ; bðPÞpp4a and dlðPÞplog2 ðaÞ þ 7 if jF10 ðGÞj is odd; and
(iii) jG: FðGÞjp pp2a ; bðPÞpp3a and dlðPÞplog2 ðaÞ þ 5 þ log2 ð3Þ if jGj is odd.

Proof. There exists a product y ¼ w1 ?wt of distinct irreducible characters wi such


that jG: FðGÞj divides yð1Þ and so jG: FðGÞjp ppta : If PASylp ðGÞ; then
bðPÞpjP: Op ðGÞjbðOp ðGÞÞ ¼ jG: FðGÞjp bðOp ðGÞÞppta pa ¼ pðtþ1Þa : Now, the first
two parts of each statement follow from Theorem A.
Now, we want to prove the last part of each of the three statements. By Theorem
12.26 of [17] and nilpotency of P; we have that P has an abelian subgroup B of index
at most bðPÞ4 : By Theorem 5.1 of [25], we deduce that P has a normal abelian
subgroup A of index at most jP:Bj2 : Thus, jP:AjpjP:Bj2 pbðPÞ8 ¼ p8s ; where bðPÞ ¼
ps : By Satz III.2.12 of [13], dlðP=AÞp1 þ log2 ð8sÞ and so dlðPÞp2 þ log2 ð8sÞ ¼
5 þ log2 ðsÞ: Since s is at most 20a; 4a or 3a (for (i), (ii) or (iii)), the corollary
follows. &

The bound jG: FðGÞjp pp2a for odd order groups, which can also be deduced from
[5], is best possible, as shown by an example in [5]. It is possible that pa obðPÞ; at
least when p ¼ 2; as shown by an example of Isaacs [22]. (Isaacs has also provided
solvable examples for p ¼ 3:) We know of no solvable group where jG: FðGÞjp 4p2a :
In fact, we know of no solvable group where jG: FðGÞj does not divide the product of
two character degrees. Note that if such a group does not exist, then we would have
that jG: FðGÞjpbðGÞ2 ; answering a question of Gluck [9]. We will come back to
Gluck’s question in Section 2.
We prove Theorem A as a consequence of the following surprising theorems.
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Theorem C. If G is solvable, there exists mAIrrðF10 ðGÞÞ such that mG ¼ wAIrrðGÞ: In


particular, jG: F10 ðGÞj divides wð1Þ:

Theorem D. If jGj is odd, then there exists mAIrrðF3 ðGÞÞ such that mG ¼ wAIrrðGÞ:
Furthermore, if l is an irreducible constituent of wFðGÞ ; then l induces irreducibly to
F2 ðGÞ: In particular, jG: F3 ðGÞjjF2 ðGÞ: FðGÞj divides wð1Þ:

The oddness hypothesis in Theorem D is not superfluous. If G is the Bucht group


of order 34  27  5 that is one of the exceptional solvable 2-transitive groups in
Huppert’s classification thereof, then FðGÞ is elementary abelian of order 34 ; while
F2 ðGÞ=FðGÞ is extra-special of order 25 and G=F2 ðGÞ is a Frobenius group of order
20. Now the degree of an irreducible character of G must divide 80 and
jF2 ðGÞ: FðGÞj ¼ 25 : (See p. 385 of [14].) So Theorem D fails for both G and
F2 ðGÞ: Another case where this fails is if p is a Mersenne prime, there exists a group
G (see Example 4.7 of [20]) whose Fitting subgroup is a minimal normal subgroup of
G and is an elementary abelian 2-group, while G=FðGÞ is a p-group that has no
regular orbit on IrrðFðGÞÞ: Here G ¼ F2 ðGÞ and jG: FðGÞj does not divide the degree
of any irreducible character of G:
Theorems C and D are really consequences of results about orbits of linear groups.
The corresponding orbit theorem is the following.

Theorem E. If V is a finite completely reducible faithful G-module (possibly of mixed


characteristic) for a solvable group G; then
(i) there exists vAV such that CG ðvÞDF9 ðGÞ; and
(ii) if jGV j odd, there exists vAV in a regular orbit of FðGÞ such that CG ðvÞDF2 ðGÞ:

As we will see, this result also has applications to non-character theoretic


questions, like the conjugacy class version of Huppert’s r  s conjecture. Thus, it
explains some of the parallelisms observed between results on character degrees and
results on conjugacy class sizes. Now, we state the conjugacy class analogs of
Theorems A, C and D and Corollary B. Given a group G we write b ðGÞ to denote
the largest size of the conjugacy classes of G:

Theorem A0 . If G is solvable, there exist conjugacy classes C1 ; y; Ct such that


jG: FðGÞj divides jC1 j?jCt j and tp19: Furthermore, if jF10 ðGÞj is odd then we can
take tp3 and if jGj is odd we can take tp2:

Corollary B0 . Suppose that paþ1 does not divide jCj for all CAclðGÞ and let
PASylp ðGÞ: If G is solvable, then
(i) jG: FðGÞjp pp19a ; b ðPÞpp20a and jP0 jpp10að20aþ1Þ ;
(ii) jG: FðGÞjp pp3a ; b ðPÞpp4a and jP0 jpp2að4aþ1Þ if jF10 ðGÞj is odd; and
(iii) jG: FðGÞjp pp2a ; b ðPÞpp3a and jP0 jpp3að3aþ1Þ=2 if jGj is odd.
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Proof. The first statement of (i)–(iii) follows directly from Theorem A0 . Write N ¼
Op ðGÞ: It is clear that jN: CN ðxÞj divides jG: CG ðxÞj for all xAG: Thus, if we take
xAP we have that

jclP ðxÞj ¼ jP: CP ðxÞjpjP:NjjN: CN ðxÞjppta pa ¼ pðtþ1Þa

for t ¼ 19; 3; 2 according to whether we are in case (i), (ii) or (iii). Hence, the second
statements of all three parts follow. Finally, to obtain the bounds for the order of P0
is suffices to apply a theorem of Vaughan-Lee (Theorem VIII.9.12 of [15]). &

Theorem C0 . If G is solvable, then jG: F10 ðGÞj divides the size of some conjugacy
class of G:

Theorem D0 . If jGj is odd, then jG: F3 ðGÞjjF2 ðGÞ: FðGÞj divides the size of some
conjugacy class of G:

In Section 2, which may be considered as a continuation of this introduction, we


present several applications of these results to conjectures on character degrees, class
sizes and zeros of characters. In Section 3 we obtain an easy proof of a somewhat
strenghtened version of a result of Passman [24]. Finally, we prove Theorem E in
Section 4 and we deduce Theorems A, C and D (and their conjugacy class analogs) in
Section 5.

2. Applications

We assume for the moment Theorems A–E. The goal of this section is to present
some applications of these results to a conjecture of Isaacs, Navarro and Wolf on
zeros of characters, Huppert’s r  s conjectures, Gluck’s conjecture on large
character degrees and a conjecture of Navarro. Along the way, we will also answer
affirmatively a question of Isaacs on large orbit sizes for odd order groups.

2.1. Zeros of characters

Recall that gAG is called non-vanishing if wðgÞa0 for all wAIrrðGÞ: It was
conjectured in [19] that a non-vanishing element g of a solvable group G must lie in
FðGÞ: In [19] it was proved that the order of g modulo FðGÞ is a power of two.
Theorem C shows of course that g must be in F10 ðGÞ:
As a consequence of Theorems C and D we have the following.

Corollary 2.1. If jF10 ðGÞj odd, then there are three irreducible characters w1 ; w2 and w3
of G such that every element of G  FðGÞ is a zero of w1 ; w2 or w3 and jG: F10 ðGÞj
divides w1 ð1Þw2 ð1Þw3 ð1Þ: Furthermore, if jGj is odd, then two characters are enough.
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Proof. For the first part, it suffices to apply Theorem C to G and Theorem D to
F10 ðGÞ and F10 ðGÞ=FðGÞ and use Clifford theory. For the second part, apply
Theorem D to G and G=FðGÞ: &

Note that what we have actually proved is a strong form of both Gluck’s
conjecture and the Isaacs–Navarro–Wolf conjecture for odd order groups. We do
not know any example of a solvable group that shows that the oddness hypothesis is
necessary in this corollary, i.e., the following might be true.

Question 2.2. Let G be a solvable group. Do there exist w1 ; w2 AIrrðGÞ such that
jG: FðGÞj divides w1 ð1Þw2 ð1Þ and w1 w2 vanishes on G  FðGÞ?

The conjecture was also proved in [19] for groups with abelian Sylow 2-subgroups.
We can obtain the following slight generalization of this result.

Corollary 2.3. Assume that G is solvable and that the Sylow 2-subgroups of
Fiþ1 ðGÞ=Fi ðGÞ are abelian for i ¼ 1; y; 9: Then a non-vanishing element of G belongs
to FðGÞ:

Proof. Let xAG be non-vanishing. We may assume that xAFiþ1 ðGÞ  Fi ðGÞ for
some 1pip9: We know that xFi ðGÞ belongs to the abelian Sylow 2-subgroup of
Fiþ1 ðGÞ=Fi ðGÞ: Write H ¼ Fiþ1 ðGÞ=Fi1 ðGÞ and note that FðHÞ ¼ Fi ðGÞ=Fi1 ðGÞ:
By a theorem of Gaschutz (see III.4.2, III.4.3 and III.4.5 of [13]), we have that the
nilpotent group H=FðHÞ acts faithfully on FðHÞ=FðHÞ and we deduce that the
abelian Sylow 2-subgroup of H=FðHÞ acts faithfully on the Hall 2-complement K of
FðHÞ=FðHÞ: Hence, it also acts faithfully on IrrðKÞ: By Lemma 3.1 of [19], for
instance, we deduce that the stabilizer in H of some character of FðHÞ is a 20 -
subgroup modulo FðHÞ: In particular, H has some irreducible character n that
vanishes on all the 2-elements of H modulo FðHÞ:
Now, we view H has a subgroup of G=Fi1 ðGÞ: We deduce that any G-conjugate
of n vanishes on all the elements of Fiþ1 ðGÞ  Fi ðGÞ whose order is a power of 2
modulo Fi ðGÞ: It follows, that if wAIrrðGÞ lies over n; then wðxÞ ¼ 0; a
contradiction. &

More applications of the results of this paper to problems on zeros of characters


will appear in [23].

2.2. Huppert r–s conjectures

The r–s conjectures state that there is an irreducible character w of G and a


conjugacy class C of G such that the degree of w and jCj are each divisible by many
primes. If we let r ðGÞ be those primes that divide the size of some conjugacy class of
G (i.e. the set of prime divisors of jG=ZðGÞj) and let s ðGÞ be the maximum number
of distinct primes dividing the order of some conjugacy class of G; then Casolo [1]
showed that jr ðGÞjp2s ðGÞ for a very large family of groups. But Casolo and Dolfi
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[2] disproved the obvious conjecture by constructing solvable groups Gn for which
jr ðGn Þj=s ðGn Þ-3 as n-N: This construction and the result of [1] and related
questions appear in [14]. But Casolo and Dolfi [2] do show r ðGÞp5s ðGÞ þ 1 for all
G and r ðGÞp4s ðGÞ þ 1 for G solvable. Zhang [29] shows r ðGÞp4s ðGÞ for G
solvable. We give a modest improvement when G has odd order. We use pðnÞ to
denote the set of prime divisors of the integer n:

Corollary 2.4. If G is (solvable) of odd order, then jr ðGÞjpð7=2Þs ðGÞ:

Proof. By Gaschutz’s theorem, FðGÞ=FðGÞ is a direct product of minimal normal


subgroups of G=FðGÞ and CG ðFðGÞ=FðGÞÞ ¼ FðGÞ: Each of these minimal normal
subgroups is an elementary abelian q-group for a prime q and is thus an irreducible
G=FðGÞ-module. Thus FðGÞ=FðGÞ is a faithful completely reducible G=FðGÞ-
module, possibly of mixed characteristic. Furthermore, FðGÞ=FðGÞ is complemented
by a subgroup H=FðGÞDG=FðGÞ: By part (ii) of Theorem E, there exists
vAFðGÞ=FðGÞ such that CG=FðGÞ ðvÞDF2 ðG=FðGÞÞ and v is in a regular orbit of
FðG=FðGÞÞ: If xAG and v ¼ xFðGÞ; then jG: F3 ðGÞjjF2 ðGÞ: FðGÞj divides the size
jG: CG ðxÞj of the conjugacy class of x: Applying the same argument to G=FðGÞ; there
exists y in G such that jF3 ðGÞ: F2 ðGÞj divides jG: CG ð yÞj: Now let D=FðGÞ ¼
CFðGÞ=FðGÞ ðH=FðGÞÞ: Then FðGÞ=D is a faithful completely reducible HD=DD
G=FðGÞ-module and CFðGÞ=D ðHD=DÞ ¼ 1: As HD=D complements FðGÞ=D; Lemma
1 of [29] implies there exists DzAHD=D such that jFðGÞ=D: CFðGÞ=D ðDzÞj is divisible
by at least two-thirds of the distinct prime divisors of jFðGÞ=Dj:
Now the size jclG ðzÞj of the conjugacy class of z is divisible by at least two-thirds of
the prime divisors of jFðGÞ=Dj; while jG: FðGÞj divides jclG ðxÞjjclG ð yÞj: If every
prime in r ðGÞ divides jG=Dj; then r ðGÞDpðjG=FðGÞjÞ,pðjFðGÞ=DjÞ and so

jr ðGÞjp2s ðGÞ þ ð3=2Þs ðGÞ ¼ ð7=2Þs ðGÞ;

as desired. Thus, we may assume there is a prime divisor p of jDj such that p does not
divide jG=Dj:
Let PASylp ðDÞ so that P is the unique Sylow p-subgroup of G: We claim that
G ¼ P
J for a subgroup J: Given the claim, there exists e equal to 0 or 1
(dependent upon whether P is abelian or not) such that jr ðGÞj ¼ jr ðJÞj þ e and
s ðGÞ ¼ s ðJÞ þ e: Invoking an induction argument, the result for G follows from
that of J:
We need just show that P is a direct factor of G: Let J be a Hall p0 -subgroup of G:
Now PFðGÞ=FðGÞ is central in G=FðGÞ and so J centralizes P=P-FðGÞ: If
Q ¼ P-FðGÞ; then P ¼ QCP ðJÞ as ðjPj; jJjÞ ¼ 1: Then G ¼ PJ ¼ QCP ðJÞJD
FðGÞCG ðJÞJDG: So G ¼ FðGÞCG ðJÞJ and even G ¼ CG ðJÞJ: So J is normal in G
and G ¼ P
J: &

For the character theoretic r  s problem, we define rðGÞ to be those primes that
divide the degree of some irreducible character of G; i.e., pArðGÞ if and only if p
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divides jG: FðGÞj or Op ðGÞ is non-abelian. If sðGÞ denotes the maximum number of
primes dividing the degree of an irreducible character of G; there are solvable groups
Gn and non-solvable groups Hn for each nAN for which sðGn Þ ¼ n ¼ sðHn Þ; while
jrðGn Þj ¼ 2n and jrðHn Þj ¼ 2n þ 1: The best known bound for G solvable is
jrðGÞjp3sðGÞ þ 2 and even jrðGÞjp3sðGÞ for jGj odd by Theorems 1.4 and 1.5 of
[21]. What is more for jGj odd, is that there exist three irreducible characters wi of G
such that each prime in rðGÞ divides wi ð1Þ for some i: This follows from Theorem D,
since G always has an irreducible character divisible by every prime p for which
Op ðGÞ is non-abelian.
Similarly, using the orbit theorem of Section 3, our results yield linear bounds for
arbitrary solvable groups in both versions of the problem. Thus, it provides a unified
approach to the character-theoretic and the conjugacy class version of the r  s
conjectures.

2.3. Large abelian subgroups and large orbit sizes

Suppose that G has odd order. As discussed above, there exist w; gAIrrðGÞ such
that jG: F3 ðGÞjjF2 ðGÞ: FðGÞj divides wð1Þ and jF3 ðGÞ: F2 ðGÞj divides gð1Þ: Hence
bðGÞ2 XjG: FðGÞj for G of odd order, as was derived by Espuelas [4]. Gluck [8]
conjectured this inequality for all solvable groups and showed at least
bðGÞ13=2 XjG: FðGÞj: At first glance, Theorem A gives a cruder bound of
bðGÞ19 XjG: FðGÞj: But actually, Gluck’s bound follows from our results and a
theorem of the second author about orders of solvable linear groups. Gluck’s
corresponding orbit theorem was a weaker version than that of Theorem 3.1, while
Espuelas’ orbit Theorem is also a weaker version of Theorem E(ii). The emphasis in
[4,9] is to give a lower bound for an orbit size, but without divisibility properties. Our
proof of Theorem E(ii) is similar but a little simpler than that of [4] and helps serve as
motivation for the proof of Theorem E(i).
However, it is possible to improve substantially Gluck’s bound using the following
result of Seress [26]. Recall that if G is a permutation group acting on a set O; a base
is a subset of O with the property that only the identity element of G fixes all the
points of O:

Theorem 2.5. Let G be a primitive solvable permutation group acting on O: Then there
exists a base of size at most 4. Furthermore, if jGj is odd, then there exists a base of size
at most 3.

Let V be a faithful completely reducible module for a solvable group G and


assume that ðjGj; jV jÞ ¼ 1: In this situation, Isaacs [18] asks whether or not there
exists an orbit of size at least jGj1=2 : This was proved by Wolf [27] for supersolvable
groups without any coprimeness hypothesis. Now, as a consequence of Seress’ result,
we can answer Isaacs’ question (without assuming coprimeness) for odd order
groups. Note that since it is possible to have jGj4jV j2 ; by Example 3.8 of [20], for
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instance, this result is not true for even order solvable groups if we do not assume
coprimeness.

Corollary 2.6. Let V be a faithful completely reducible G-module (possibly of


mixed characteristic) and assume that G is solvable. Then there exist
u; v; wAV such that CG ðuÞ-CG ðvÞ-CG ðwÞ ¼ 1: In particular, there exists xAV
such that jCG ðxÞjpjGj1=3 : Furthermore, if jGj is odd, then we may choose u
and v so that CG ðuÞ-CG ðvÞ ¼ 1: In particular, there exists xAV such that
jCG ðxÞjpjGj1=2 :

Proof. We argue by induction on jGV j: Assume first that V ¼ V1 "V2 is not


irreducible. Then G=CG ðV1 Þ acts faithfully and completely reducibly on V1 and we
deduce that there exist u1 ; v1 ; w1 AV1 such that CG ðu1 Þ-CG ðv1 Þ-CG ðw1 Þ ¼ CG ðV1 Þ:
Since CG ðV1 Þ acts faithfully on V2 ; we deduce that there exist u2 ; v2 ; w2 AV2 such that
CCG ðV1 Þ ðu2 Þ-CCG ðV1 Þ ðv2 Þ-CCG ðV1 Þ ðw2 Þ ¼ 1: We conclude that CG ðu1 þ u2 Þ-CG ðv1 þ
v2 Þ-CG ðw1 þ w2 Þ ¼ 1; as desired.
Now, we may assume that V is an irreducible G-module. Put H ¼ GV : Then H
permutes faithfully the conjugates of G: Since V is irreducible, G is a maximal
subgroup of H and hence the action is primitive and G is a point stabilizer. Now, the
first part of the result follows using Seress’ theorem. The second part of the corollary
can be proved in the same way. &

Now, we summarize the results about Gluck’s conjecture.

Corollary 2.7. Let G be solvable but non-abelian and set b ¼ bðGÞ: Then
(i) jG: FðGÞjpb2 =2 and jG: F2 ðGÞjpb=2 if jGj is odd; and
(ii) jG: FðGÞjpb3 :

Proof. If V is a completely reducible and faithful G-module with G nilpotent and


jGV j odd, then jGjpjV j=2 by the exact same proof as that of Theorem 3.3(b) of [20].
Applying this to G=FðGÞ when jGj is odd and also applying Theorem D, we conclude
that jF3 ðGÞ: F2 ðGÞjpjF2 ðGÞ: F1 ðGÞj=2pb=ð2jG: F3 ðGÞjÞ: Thus jG: F2 ðGÞjpb=2 and
jG: FðGÞjpðb=2Þ  jF2 ðGÞ: FðGÞjpb2 =2:
The second part is an immediate consequence Gaschutz’s theorem and
Corollary 2.6. &
Q
Navarro has conjectured that pApðGÞ bðGp ÞpbðGÞ; where Gp ASylp ðGÞ (see
Conjecture 5 of [22]). As pointed out in the introduction, divisibility does not hold
here. The following is an easy consequence of Corollary 2.7.
Q 4
Corollary 2.8. If G is solvable, then pApðGÞ bðGp ÞpbðGÞ ; where Gp ASylp ðGÞ:
Q
Furthermore, if jGj is odd, then pApðGÞ bðGp ÞpbðGÞ3 =2:
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Gluck also showed that there exists a constant K such that jG: FðGÞjpbK for all
finite groups G; but without specifying a value of K: A theorem of Isaacs and
Passman (Corollary 12.26 of [17]) shows that whenever N is a nilpotent group, there
exists an abelian subgroup A of N such that jN:AjpbðNÞ4 : Applying this when
N ¼ FðGÞ for arbitrary G; Gluck shows that G has an abelian subgroup of index at
most bðGÞKþ4 and index at most bðGÞ21=2 for G solvable, improving previously
known bounds (see Theorem 12.23 of [17]). For jGj odd, note by Corollary 2.7 that
jG:AjpbðGÞ6 =2 and for any solvable G; jG:AjpbðGÞ7 : Observe that if we apply the
Isaacs–Passman bound to each Sylow of FðGÞ and take products, we may choose an
abelian A in FðGÞ such that jFðGÞ:Aj divides bðFðGÞÞ4 and wð1Þ4 for some wAIrrðGÞ:
If we let oðnÞ be the number of primes including multiplicities that divide n and
oðGÞ ¼ maxfoðwð1ÞÞ j wAIrrðGÞg; we get the following which is similar but with a
different twist.

Corollary 2.9. If G is solvable, there exists an abelian subgroup A of FðGÞ such that
oðjG:AjÞp23oðGÞ and even oðjG:AjÞp6oðGÞ for G of odd order.

Proof. By comments above, we may choose an abelian subgroup A of FðGÞ such


that oðjFðGÞ:AjÞp4oðGÞ: By Theorem A, oðjG=FðGÞjÞp19oðGÞ and even
oðjG=FðGÞjÞp2oðGÞ when jGj is odd. Since

oðjG:AjÞ ¼ oðjG=FðGÞjÞ þ oðjFðGÞ:AjÞ;

the corollary follows. &

We remark that we can obtain in the same way the conjugacy class version of
Corollary 2.7. However, the conjugacy class analog of Corollary 2.9 is not true, as
the extraspecial p-groups show. Also, as was shown by Cossey and Hawkes in [3],
there is no bound for the conjugacy class analog of Navarro’s conjecture.

3. Large orbits in actions of nilpotent groups

The aim of this section is to prove that if V is a finite completely reducible


faithful G-module for a nilpotent group G; then there exist v; wAV such that
CG ðvÞ-CG ðwÞ ¼ 1:
Actually, this result is immediate from [27] where it is proven even when G is
supersolvable. The proof there is more complicated than necessary even for G
supersolvable, but particularly for G nilpotent. The proof below is even easier than
the proof given for G a p-group in [20] or [24].
Notice that the result we want to prove is equivalent to the existence of a regular
orbit in V "V : We will prove a little bit more.
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Theorem 3.1. If V is a completely reducible and faithful G-module for a nilpotent


group Ga1; then G has at least three regular orbits on V "V : In particular, there exist
v; wAV such that CG ðvÞ-CG ðwÞ ¼ 1:

Proof. We argue by induction on jGV j: First, suppose that V ¼ X "Y for non-zero
submodules X and Y : Since G=CG ðX Þ acts faithfully on X ; we deduce that it has at
least three regular orbits on X "X : Similarly, G=CG ðY Þ has at least three regular
orbits on Y "Y : Since CG ðX Þ-CG ðY Þ ¼ 1; we deduce that G has at least nine
regular orbits on X "X "Y "Y DV "V ; and the result follows in this case. Thus,
we may assume that V is irreducible.
Now, suppose that 1aN is a normal subgroup of G such that jG:Nj ¼ p for a
prime p and VN ¼ W1 "?"Wp for N-invariant subspaces Wi that are permuted
T
transitively by G=N: Set Ci ¼ CN ðWi Þ so that i Ci ¼ 1: Arguing by induction,
there exist a1 ; b1 ; and c1 in W1 "W1 in distinct regular orbits of N=C1 : Let
ai ; bi ; ci AWi "Wi be G-conjugates of a1 ; b1 ; c1 (respectively), so that they are in
distinct regular orbits of N=Ci : If

x ¼ x1 þ ? þ xp AðW1 "W1 Þ"?"ðWp "Wp Þ ¼ V "V

is such that xi Afai ; bi ; ci g for each i; then x is in a regular orbit of N on V "V : These
3p such elements of V "V lie in distinct N-orbits. Only three of them, namely
a1 þ ? þ ap ; b1 þ ? þ bp ; and c1 þ ? þ cp can have a non-trivial centralizer in G:
Thus G has at least ð3p  3Þ=pX3 regular orbits on V : Hence we may assume that no
such N exists. It follows via routine arguments (e.g. Corollary 0.3 of [20]) that V is
quasi-primitive, i.e. VN is homogeneous for all N normal in G: In particular, every
normal abelian subgroup of G is cyclic and thus G has a cyclic subgroup C of index 1
or 2 (by Corollary 1.3 of [20], for instance).
Let 0au be in V : If y and z are in distinct regular orbits of CG ðuÞ; then u þ y and
u þ z in V "V are in distinct regular G-orbits. It suffices to show that CG ðuÞ has three
distinct regular orbits on V : By irreducibility, CC ðuÞ ¼ 1 and so jCG ðuÞjp2: If CG ðuÞ ¼
1; then CG ðuÞ has jV jX3 regular orbits on V : So we may assume that CG ðuÞ ¼ /tS for
an involution t and G4C: Since G is non-abelian, nilpotent and of even order, jV j ¼ qn
for an odd prime q and some n41: Every element of V  CV ðtÞ lies in a regular orbit of
CG ðuÞ: Hence CG ðuÞ has at least ðqn  qn1 Þ=2X3 regular orbits on V : &

We have the following two consequences of this result. If V is a G-module, we


write OðvÞ to denote the G-orbit of vAV :

Corollary 3.2. If V is a completely reducible and faithful G-module for a nilpotent


group Ga1; then there exist u; vAV such that jGj divides jOðuÞjjOðvÞj:

Proof. It follows immediately from Theorem 3.1 using the fact that G is
nilpotent. &

The next result will be necessary in the proof of Theorem A.


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Corollary 3.3. For G41 solvable, there exist b1 and b2 in IrrðF2 ðGÞÞ and wi in
IrrðGjbi Þ such that FðGÞ is not in Ker wi and jF2 ðGÞ: FðGÞj divides b1 ð1Þb2 ð1Þ:
Furthermore w1 and w2 are distinct or jF2 ðGÞ: FðGÞj divides b1 ð1Þ:

Proof. By Theorem 3.1, we may choose non-principal characters l1 and l2 of


IrrðFðGÞÞ such that whenever bi is in IrrðF2 ðGÞjli Þ; then jF2 ðGÞ: FðGÞj divides
b1 ð1Þb2 ð1Þ: If l1 and l2 are not G-conjugate, then it suffices to choose any wi that lies
over bi : If l1 and l2 are G-conjugate and IG ðl1 Þ4FðGÞ; we may just choose any two
distinct wi over l1 : If IG ðl1 Þ ¼ FðGÞ; then we have that jF2 ðGÞ: FðGÞj divides
b1 ð1Þ: &

4. Proof of Theorem E

Before proving Theorem E, we need Gluck’s permutation lemma and some


refinements. If S permutes a set O; then S permutes the collection of subsets of O; the
power set of O:

Lemma 4.1. Let S be a transitive solvable permutation group on O; with jOj ¼ m: Then

(i) if jSj is odd, then S has a regular orbit on the power set PðOÞ of O;
(ii) if S is primitive and m49; then S has at least 8 regular orbits on PðOÞ and at least
one regular orbit of subsets D of O such that D is not S-conjugate to its
complement O  D; and
(iii) if S is primitive, there exist subsets
T D1 ; y; Dk of O such that O is the disjoint union
D1 ,?,Dk with kp4 and i StabS ðDi Þ ¼ 1:

Proof. For (i) see [8] or Corollary 5.7 of [20]. Assume that S is primitive. Gluck [8] or
Theorem 5.6 of [20] shows there exists DDO in a regular orbit of S provided m49:
The existence of 8 regular orbits on PðOÞ is established by Zhang [28] and the
existence of DDO in a regular orbit of S with jDjajOj=2 is given in Theorem 5.6
of [20].
Since S is primitive and solvable, S has a normal elementary abelian subgroup M
of order m ¼ pn for a prime p and integer n: A point stabilizer Sa acts faithfully and
irreducibly on the vector space M and the actions of Sa on O  a and M  0 are
permutation isomorphic. For (iii), we may assume that S has no regular orbit on
PðOÞ and so pn p9: If B is a basis for M; no non-identity element of Sa fixes every
element of B; and so we can find e1 ; y; en in O such that only the identity element of
S fixes all the elements e1 ; y; en and a: So no non-identity element of S fixes the
partition D1 ,?,Dnþ2 of O where Di ¼ fei g and Dnþ1 ¼ fag: Part (iii) follows if
no3; i.e. unless pn ¼ 23 and Sa is a subgroup of the Frobenius group F21 (by
Theorem 5.6 of [20]). Here a slight variation of the same argument works because no
non-identity element of Sa centralizes two linearly independent elements of M: &

Now, we are ready to prove the irreducible case of Theorem E(ii).


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Theorem 4.2. Suppose that V is a faithful irreducible G-module with jGjjV j odd. Then
there exists vAV in a regular orbit of FðGÞ such that CG ðvÞDF2 ðGÞ: In particular, if G
is nilpotent, then G has a regular orbit on V :

Proof. First suppose that V is quasi-primitive (i.e. VN is homogeneous for all


normal subgroups N of G). Since jGV j is odd, a theorem of Espuelas (Lemma 2.1 of
[4]) states that G has a regular orbit on V or FðGÞ is cyclic. In the latter case,
G ¼ F2 ðGÞ and CFðGÞ ðvÞ ¼ 1 for all non-zero vAV : We thus assume that V is not
quasi-primitive. Choose N normal in G maximal such that VN is not homogeneous
and let M=N be a chief factor of G: Since VM is homogeneous and M=N is abelian it
follows that M=N transitively and regularly permutes the homogeneous components
V1 ; y; Vn of VN : In particular,
T G=N faithfully and transitively permutes the Vi : Set
Hi ¼ NG ðVi Þ so that i Hi ¼ N and the Hi =N are all conjugate in G=N:
The transitive permutation group G=N has odd order and Lemma 4.1 states that
there is a subset of fV1 ; y; Vn g that is in a regular orbit of G on the power set of
fV1 ; y; Vn g: Without loss of generality, there is some k with 1pkon; such that
StabG=N fV1 ; y; Vk g ¼ 1: Let 1av1 AV1 : Pick vi AVi conjugate to v1 for each i: The
elements of Vj conjugate to v1 form an Hj -orbit of Vj : Since jV j and jGj are odd, no
vi is G-conjugate to some v1 1 1
j : Thus CG ðv1 þ ? þ vk þ vkþ1 þ ? þ vn Þ must
stabilize fV1 ; y; Vk g: But N ¼ StabG fV1 ; y; Vk g and so CG ðwÞDN whenever w ¼
v1 þ ? þ vk þ v1 1
kþ1 þ ? þ vn for 1av1 AV1 and G-conjugate vi ’s.
Now Vi is an irreducible Hi -module since V DViG (induced from Hi ). Applying the
induction hypothesis to the action of H1 on V1 and observing that CG ðuÞDH1 for all
1auAV1 ; we conclude there is some 1ax1 AV1 in a regular orbit of FðH1 =CG ðV1 ÞÞ
such that CG ðx1 Þ=CG ðV1 ÞDF2 ðH1 =CG ðV1 ÞÞ: Since N is normal in H1 ; it follows that
x1 is in a regular orbit of FðN=CN ðV1 ÞÞ and that CN ðx1 Þ=CN ðV1 ÞDF2 ðN=CN ðV1 ÞÞ:
T Set Ji =CN ðVi Þ ¼ FðN=CN ðVi ÞÞ and Ki =CN ðVi Þ ¼ F2 ðN=CN ðVi ÞÞ: Since
i CN ðVi Þ ¼ 1; routine arguments (e.g. Proposition 9.5 of [20] applied twice)
show that J1 -?-Jn ¼ FðNÞ and even that K1 -?-Kn ¼ F2 ðNÞ: Letting y ¼
x1 þ þxk þ x1 1
kþ1 þ ? þ xn ; we have that

CG ð yÞ ¼ CN ð yÞ ¼ CN ðx1 Þ-?-CN ðxn ÞDK1 -?-Kn ¼ F2 ðNÞ:

Hence CG ð yÞDF2 ðNÞDF2 ðGÞ; as desired. Now FðNÞ ¼ T J1 -?-Jn and the
centralizer in Ji of xi is CN ðVi Þ and so CFðNÞ ð yÞD i CN ðVi Þ ¼ 1: Finally
CG ð yÞDN and FðGÞ-N ¼ FðNÞ and so CFðGÞ ð yÞ ¼ 1: &

Next, we need to prove that if V is an irreducible faithful G-module with G


solvable, then G has an orbit vG with CG ðvÞDF9 ðGÞ: For an induction argument, we
need more than one such orbit. Even when jGV j was odd, we needed two such orbits,
but that was implied by the existence of one. Here we need a few more such orbits.
Thus we need information about the Fitting length of G when G has only a few
orbits on V ; and this is given in the next lemma. If G has only two orbits, then G acts
transitively on V  f0g and Huppert [12] showed that G is a semi-linear group or
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jV j ¼ 32 ; 52 ; 72 ; 112 ; 232 ; or 34 : Foulser [6] has characterized those G with 3 or 4


orbits.
In Lemma 4.5 and Theorem 4.6, we will need to bound the Fitting length of
solvable irreducible subgroups of GLðn; qÞ for some small values of n: Two papers
[7,11] bound the Fitting length of completely reducible solvable linear groups of
degree n: The bounds given by the two papers are similar and both claim to be best in
some sense. But there seem to be minor discrepancies between the two papers.
Also the emphasis in these papers is on completely reducible linear groups of
degree n: If one wishes to bound the Fitting length of irreducible linear group of
degree n; then it is oðnÞ; not the magnitude of n that is relevant.
Bounds for solvable linear groups are intrinsically connected with bounds for the
solvable primitive permutation groups and often such bounds are proven
simultaneously. The following is well known. We use flðGÞ to denote the Fitting
length of G:

Proposition 4.3. If S is a solvable primitive permutation group on O; then S has a


unique minimal normal subgroup M with jMj ¼ jOj ¼ qn for a prime q; S ¼ MSa ; and
M a faithful irreducible Sa -module of order qn : In particular, flðSÞ ¼ 1 þ flðSa Þ:

Lemma 4.4. Suppose that G is a solvable irreducible subgroup of GLðn; qÞ for a prime
power q:
(i) If n ¼ 2; then flðGÞp3: If also q ¼ 2; then flðGÞp2:
(ii) If n ¼ 3; then flðGÞp3:
(iii) If n is prime, then flðGÞp4: If also n ¼ q; then flðGÞp3:
(iv) If n is prime and q ¼ 2; then flðGÞp2:
(v) If n ¼ 4 and q ¼ 2; then flðGÞp3:
(vi) If n ¼ 4; then flðGÞp4:
(vii) If n ¼ 8; then flðGÞp6: If also q ¼ 2; then flðGÞp5:
(viii) If n ¼ 2s for an odd prime s; then flðGÞp5:
(ix) If n ¼ 12; then flðGÞp6:
(x) If n ¼ 4s for a prime s43; then flðGÞp7:

Proof. Parts (i), (ii), and (iii) follow from Theorems 2.11 and 2.12 of [20]. Parts (iv)
and (v) follow from Corollary 2.13 of [20]. Thus we may assume that 4pn and n is
even. We argue by induction on n; noting that the establishment of part (v) when
qn ¼ 24 avoids misuse of the induction hypothesis.
Let V be the irreducible G-module of order qn : First assume that V is not quasi-
primitive and choose N normal in G maximal such that VN is not homogeneous.
Write V ¼ V1 þ ? þ Vm for homogeneous components Vi of VN : If M=N is a chief
factor of G; then M=N is abelian and the choice of N implies that M=N regularly
and primitively permutes the Vi : Routine arguments show that S ¼ G=N primitively
permutes the Vi : If H ¼ NG ðV1 Þ=CG ðV1 Þ; then G is isomorphic to subgroup of HwS:
Now S is a solvable primitive permutation group of degree m and H is a linear
group of degree t for an integer t with mt ¼ n: Now m is a prime power and so
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2pmp4; m ¼ 8; or m ¼ s is prime. For 2pmp4; we have flðSÞpflðSm Þpm  1: If


m ¼ s; then flðSÞp2 by Proposition 4.3. If m ¼ 8; then flðSÞp3 by part (iv) and
Proposition 4.3. Now H is a linear group of degree t with t ¼ 1; t a prime, or t twice
a prime. Noting flðHÞ ¼ 1 when t ¼ 1; we can bound flðHÞ by applying parts (i)–(iv)
or applying induction on n: Now flðGÞpflðHÞ þ flðSÞ: In all possible cases, flðGÞ is
bounded as desired. So we may assume that V is quasi-primitive.
Since V is a faithful quasi-primitive module for the solvable group G; we apply
Corollary 1.10 of [20] to conclude G has normal subgroups TDF DADG with F ¼
FðGÞ such that
* F =T is a direct sum of irreducible G=F -modules W1 ; y; Ws ;
* A=F acts faithfully on F =T;
* jWi j ¼ e2i for a prime power ei and e ¼ e1 yes divides n;
* q does not divide e; and
* G=A is abelian and even G ¼ A when e ¼ n:

We may assume that e41 since otherwise flðGÞ ¼ 2: Since e divides n and
gcdðe; qÞ ¼ 1; the second statement of part (vii) follows. Also note that

flðGÞp2 þ flðA=F Þ and even flðGÞp1 þ flðA=F Þ if e ¼ n:

Now n ¼ 4; 8; n is twice an odd prime, or n is four times an odd prime. Since e


divides n; it follows that jWi j can only be 22 ; 24 ; 26 ; or s2 for each i:
Now flðA=F ÞpflðG=CG ðF =TÞÞpmaxfflðG=CG ðWi ÞÞg: Applying parts (i), (ii), (iv)
or applying induction and part (viii) shows that flðG=CG ðWi ÞÞ is at most 2; 3; 3; or 5
when jWi j is 22 ; s2 ; 24 ; or 26 (respectively). Thus flðGÞp7 and even flðGÞp6 if e ¼ n:
If jWi j ¼ 26 for some i; the hypotheses imply that e ¼ e1 ¼ n ¼ 8; whence flðGÞp6:
Because gcdðe; qÞ ¼ 1; qa2: The lemma (see (vii)) holds if some Wi has order 26 :
We now can assume that each Wi has order 22 ; 24 ; or s2 : It follows from the last
paragraph that flðA=F Þp3: Thus flðGÞp5; proving (vii)–(x). Thus we assume that
n ¼ 4 and verify (vi). If each Wi has order 4; then flðA=F Þp2 and flðGÞp4; as
desired. Thus, we may assume that e ¼ e1 ¼ 4 ¼ n: Since e ¼ n ¼ 4; flðGÞp1 þ
flðA=F Þp1 þ 3: This proves (vi) and the lemma. &

Now, the next result follows easily using the results of Huppert and Foulser.

Lemma 4.5. Suppose that G is a solvable subgroup of GLðV Þ for a vector space
V af0g: Let r be the number of orbits of G on V ; so that r41: Then r44 or
flðGÞpr þ 1:

Proof. Since G is finite and we may assume that the number of orbits of G is finite, it
then follows that V is finite and without loss of generality that G is an irreducible
subgroup of GLðn; qÞ for a prime power q; whence jV j ¼ qn : Since V af0g; r41:
A semi-linear group is metacyclic and has Fitting length at most two. Thus we
assume that G is not a subgroup of a semi-linear group.
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When r ¼ 2; then G acts transitively on the non-zero vectors of V : Huppert [12]


has classified all such solvable groups. Either G is a subgroup of a semi-linear group
or jV j ¼ 32 ; 52 ; 72 ; 112 ; 232 ; or 34 : In these exceptional cases, the structure of G is
known (e.g. Theorem 6.8 of [20]) and G=FðGÞ is meta-cyclic. Thus flðGÞp3 when
r ¼ 2: We assume that r is 3 or 4:
If V is imprimitive, then G is isomorphic to a subgroup of a wreath product HwS
for a linear group H (with corresponding vector space W ) and a transitive
permutation group S on m letters. If s is the number of orbits of H on W ; then r is at
least ðmþs1
m Þ by Lemma 2.6 of [6]. Of course, s and m are at least two. If sX3 or if
mX4; then G has at least 5 orbits on V : We thus assume s ¼ 2 and m ¼ 2 or 3. Since
s ¼ 2; part (i) implies that has Fitting length of H is at most 3. If m ¼ 2; then G has
Fitting length at most 3 þ flðZ2 Þ ¼ 4 and G has at least 3 orbits. When m ¼ 3; then G
has Fitting length at most 3 þ flðS3 Þ ¼ 5 and G has at least 4 orbits on V : We thus
assume that V is primitive.
When r ¼ 3 and V is primitive and G is not semi-linear, Theorem 1.1 of Foulser
shows that 2pnp4 and so flðGÞp4 by Lemma 4.4(vi). When r ¼ 4 and V is
primitive and G is not semi-linear, Theorem 1.1 of Foulser shows that 2pnp4 or
n ¼ 6 or n ¼ 10: By Lemma 4.4(i), (ii), (vi) and (viii), flðGÞp5: &

Finally, we can conclude the proof of the irreducible case of Theorem E(i). We
obtain a bit more than necessary.

Theorem 4.6. Let V be a faithful irreducible G-module for a finite solvable group G:
Then G has at least 2 orbits of elements xAV with CG ðxÞDF9 ðGÞ: Furthermore, if G
has less than 5 orbits of elements xAV with CG ðxÞDF9 ðGÞ; then G has less than 5
orbits on V and G and the Fitting length of G is at most one more than the number of
G-orbits of V :

Proof. If the Fitting length of G is no more than 9, then CG ðxÞDF9 ðGÞ for every
xAV : In particular, G fails to have 5 orbits of elements x with CG ðxÞDF9 ðGÞ only if
the number of orbits of G on V is 2; 3; or 4. In these exceptional cases, the Fitting
length is at most one more than the number of orbits by Lemma 4.5. So we assume
that the Fitting length of G is more than 9. We let n ¼ dimðV Þ:
First assume that V is a quasi-primitive G-module. Since V is a faithful quasi-
primitive module for the solvable group G; we apply Corollary 1.10 of [20] to
conclude G has normal subgroups TDF DADG such that

(i) F =T is a direct sum of irreducible G=F -modules W1 ; y; Ws ;


(ii) A=F acts faithfully on F =T;
(iii) jWi j ¼ e2i for a prime power ei and e ¼ e1 yes divides n; and
(iv) F ¼ FðGÞ and G=A is abelian.
Suppose that each ei o27 : Then dimðWi Þp12 and is even and it follows from Lemma
4.4 that flðA=CG ðWi ÞÞpflðG=CG ðWi ÞÞp6: Since A=F acts faithfully on F =T; it
follows that flðA=F Þp6 and flðGÞp6 þ flðF Þ þ flðG=AÞp8: In this case, we are done
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by the last paragraph. Hence we may assume that e4127: By Proposition 4.10 of
[20], G has at least two regular orbits on V since e4118: But a little inspection of
that proof shows more regular orbits. In the last paragraph of the proof of
Proposition 4.10 of [20], it is shown that jGjojV j1=4 whenever e4118: That proof
also shows that the number of elements of V fixed by some non-identity element of G
is at most ðjGj  1ÞjV j3=4 : For e4118; this number is at most jV j  jV j3=4 : The
number of elements of V in a regular G-orbit is thus at least jV j3=4 : The number of
regular G-orbits is at least jV j3=4 =jGj4jV j3=4 =jV j1=4 ¼ jV j1=2 : Since e4127 and e
divides dimðV Þ; we certainly have 5 regular G-orbits of V ; proving the theorem when
V is quasi-primitive.
Since V is not quasi-primitive, there exists N normal in G such that VN ¼
V1 "?"Vm for m41 homogeneous components Vi of VN : By choosing N
maximal such, then S ¼ G=N primitively permutes the Vi : Also V ¼ V1G ; induced
from NG ðV1 Þ: If H ¼ NG ðV1 Þ=CG ðV1 Þ; then H acts faithfully and irreducibly on V1
and G is isomorphic to a subgroup of HwS: If x1 AV1 and C1 is the H-conjugacy
class of x1 ; then the only G-conjugates of x1 in V1 are the elements of C1 : The set of
G-conjugates of x1 is C1 ,?,Cm where Ci CVi is a G-conjugate of C1 : Choose y1 in
V1 in an H-conjugacy class different than that of x1 : Also choose xi and yi in Vi
conjugate to x1 and y1 (respectively) for all i: Then no xi is ever G-conjugate to a yj :
In particular, if gAG centralizes v ¼ x1 þ ? þ xj þ yjþ1 þ ? þ ym ; then g and
NgAS must stabilize fV1 ; y; Vj g and fVjþ1 ; y; Vm g:
Now S is a solvable primitive permutation group on O ¼ fV1 ; y; Vm g: Assume
that m49: Lemma 4.1 asserts the existence of DDO such that StabS ðDÞ ¼ 1 and such
that D is not S-conjugate to its complement Dc : Without loss of generality D ¼
fV1 ; y; Vj g for some j: If x1 and y1 are in distinct H orbits and xi ; yi AVi are
conjugates of x1 and y1 ; then the centralizer in G of v ¼ x1 þ ? þ xj þ yjþ1 þ ? þ
ym must stabilize D ¼ fV1 ; y; Vj g: But StabS ðDÞ ¼ 1 and so CG ðvÞDN: Then

CG ðvÞ ¼ CN ðvÞ ¼ CN ðx1 Þ-?-CN ðxj Þ-CN ð yjþ1 Þ-?-CN ð ym Þ:


T
Set Ji =CG ðVi Þ ¼ F9 ðNG ðVi Þ=CG ðVi ÞÞ so that i Ji ¼ F9 ðNÞ: If CH ðx1 Þ and CH ð y1 Þ
are contained in F9 ðHÞ; then CN ðxi Þ; CN ð yi ÞDJi : Then
\
CG ðvÞ ¼ CN ðvÞD Ji ¼ F9 ðNÞDF9 ðGÞ:
i

Similarly, CG ðwÞDF9 ðGÞ where w ¼ y1 þ ? þ yj þ xjþ1 þ ? þ xm : Now w and v


are not conjugate in G because D and Dc are not S-conjugate. The inductive
hypothesis says that H has sX2 orbits of elements whose centralizers are contained
in F9 ðHÞ: Thus G has at least sðs  1Þ orbits of elements z in V with CG ðzÞDF9 ðGÞ:
The theorem follows except when s ¼ 2 ¼ sðs  1Þ: By Lemma 4.1, we may assume
that there exist subsets D ¼ D1 ; D2 ; D3 ; and D4 of O such that StabS ðDi Þ ¼ 1 and that
Di is never conjugate to Dj or Dcj for iaj: For i41; it is possible that Di is conjugate
to Dci : Using D ¼ D1 and its complement and two orbits of H; we have constructed
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A. Moreto,

elements v0 ¼ v and v1 ¼ w in two distinct G-orbits of V and whose centralizers lie in


F9 ðGÞ: For i41; we may employ Di its complement and two orbits of H to construct
vi in V with CG ðvi ÞDF9 ðGÞ: It may not be possible to construct two such G-orbits
associated with Di if Di is S-conjugate to its complement. Now CG ðvi ÞDF9 ðGÞ for
0pip4 and no two of these vi are G-conjugate because Di is never S-conjugate to Dj
or Dcj for iaj and D1 is not S-conjugate to its complement. The theorem follows in
this case when m49:
We may assume by the last paragraph that the degree m of the solvable primitive
permutation group is at most 9: Proposition 4.3 shows that m is a prime power and
even that flðSÞp2; when m is prime. Applying Proposition 4.3 and Lemma 4.4(i)–
(iii), we conclude flðSÞp4 since mp9: By the first paragraph, flðGÞX10: Since G is
isomorphic to a subgroup of HwS; flðGÞpflðHÞ þ flðSÞ: It follows that flðHÞX6:
Applying the inductive hypothesis to the action of H on V1 ; we see that H has sX5
orbits of elements in V1 whose centralizer in H is in F9 ðHÞ: Say u1 ; v1 ; w1 ; and x1 are
four elements in distinct such orbits and let ui AVi be G-conjugates of u1 (1pipm),
etc. By Lemma 4.1, O can be written as a disjoint union O ¼ L1 ,?,L4 such that
StabS ðL1 Þ-?-StabS ðL4 Þ ¼ 1 (with possibly L3 or L4 empty). If z ¼ z1 þ ? þ zm
is such that say zi ¼ ui if Vi AL1 ; zi ¼ vi if Vi AL2 ; zi ¼ wi if Vi AL3 ; and zi ¼ xi
if Vi AL4 ; then CG ðzÞDStabG ðL1 Þ-?-StabG ðL4 Þ ¼ N: So CG ðzÞ ¼
CN ðzÞDF9 ðNÞDF9 ðGÞ: By choosing a set of four H-orbits different than
fu1 ; v1 ; w1 ; x1 g; we get yAV with CG ð yÞDF9 ðGÞ and y not G-conjugate to z: Thus
G has at least ð4s ÞX5 orbits of elements v in V with CG ðvÞDF9 ðGÞ: &

Now, it is easy to complete the proof of Theorem E.

Proof of Theorem E. We will show how to prove (ii). The proof of part (i) is
analogous, using Theorem 4.6 instead of Theorem 4.2. By Theorem 4.2, we may
assume that V is not irreducible, i.e., we can write V ¼ V1 "V2 for completely
reducible modules V1 and V2 and we argue inductively. Let Ci ¼ CG ðVi Þ; Ji =Ci ¼
FðG=Ci Þ and Ki ¼ F2 ðG=Ci Þ: By the inductive hypothesis, we may choose xi AVi such
that xi is in a regular orbit of Ji =Ci and CG ðxi ÞDKi : Let v ¼ x1 þ x2 : Now FðGÞ ¼
J1 -J2 and so CFðGÞ ðvÞ ¼ C1 -C2 ¼ 1: Also CG ðvÞDK1 -K2 ¼ F2 ðGÞ; as
desired. &

5. Proof of Theorems A, C and D

Theorems C and D (and the corresponding class versions Theorems C0 and D0 )


follow applying Theorem E to the action of G=FðGÞ on IrrðFðGÞ=FðGÞÞ (and
FðGÞ=FðGÞ; respectively). Thus, all we need to show is Theorem A.

Proof of Theorem A. If jGj is odd, by Theorem D we may choose wAIrrðGÞ such that
FðGÞ is not in Ker w and jG: F3 ðGÞjjF2 ðGÞ: FðGÞj divides wð1Þ: We also can choose f
in IrrðG=FðGÞÞ with jG: F4 ðGÞjjF3 ðGÞ: F2 ðGÞj dividing fð1Þ: If F10 ðGÞ has odd order,
then we have m; w; fAIrrðF10 ðGÞÞ such that mG is irreducible and jF10 ðGÞ: FðGÞj
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A. Moreto, 35

divides wð1Þfð1Þ: Let g and d in IrrðGÞ lie over w and f: Then g and d are distinct
since FðGÞ is in Ker f but not in Ker w: If mG is either g or d; the product y ¼ gd
satisfies the conclusion. Else y ¼ mG gd does. The proof for arbitrary solvable groups
follows similarly using Corollary 3.3. &

Observe that essentially the same proof works to show Theorem A0 .


Of course, the bounds of the first statement of Theorem A and the first part of
Corollary B are not best possible (and the same for Theorem A0 and Corollary B0 ).
We can show that if p2 does not divide any character degree, then it is possible to
improve the bound in Corollary B.

Corollary 5.1. Suppose that G is solvable and that p2 does not divide wð1Þ for all
wAIrrðGÞ: Then jG: FðGÞjp pp10 :

Proof. By Theorem C, we know that jG: F10 ðGÞjp pp: Also, for every i40; Theorem
3.1 yields that jFiþ1 ðGÞ: Fi ðGÞjp divides p2 : In particular, the Sylow p-subgroup of
Fiþ1 ðGÞ=Fi ðGÞ is abelian. Thus, it has a regular orbit in its action on the linear
characters of Fi ðGÞ=Fi1 ðGÞ: Now, the hypothesis implies that jFiþ1 ðGÞ: Fi ðGÞjp pp
and the result follows. &

Actually, we can prove a slightly better bound in this case, but the proof is more
complicated and we do not think that it is worth including it.
We conclude with the following question.

Question 5.2. What is the smallest integer i such that every solvable group has an
irreducible character whose degree is a multiple of jG: Fi ðGÞj?

Acknowledgments

Some of the work of A.M. was done while he was visiting Ohio University. He
thanks the Mathematics Department for its hospitality.

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