Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. Introduction
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
ARTICLE IN PRESS
! T.R. Wolf / Advances in Mathematics 184 (2004) 18–36
A. Moreto, 19
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:
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.
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.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
20 ! T.R. Wolf / Advances in Mathematics 184 (2004) 18–36
A. Moreto,
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:
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.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
! T.R. Wolf / Advances in Mathematics 184 (2004) 18–36
A. Moreto, 21
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
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:
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.
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.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
22 ! T.R. Wolf / Advances in Mathematics 184 (2004) 18–36
A. Moreto,
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. &
[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:
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
ARTICLE IN PRESS
24 ! T.R. Wolf / Advances in Mathematics 184 (2004) 18–36
A. Moreto,
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.
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.
instance, this result is not true for even order solvable groups if we do not assume
coprimeness.
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 :
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.
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.
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
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 : &
Proof. It follows immediately from Theorem 3.1 using the fact that G is
nilpotent. &
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:
4. Proof of Theorem E
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: &
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 :
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: &
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
ARTICLE IN PRESS
! T.R. Wolf / Advances in Mathematics 184 (2004) 18–36
A. Moreto, 31
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
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.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
32 ! T.R. Wolf / Advances in Mathematics 184 (2004) 18–36
A. Moreto,
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
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
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. &
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
ARTICLE IN PRESS
! T.R. Wolf / Advances in Mathematics 184 (2004) 18–36
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. &
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.
References
[1] C. Casolo, Prime divisors of conjugacy class lengths in finite groups, Atti Accad. Naz. Lincei Cl. Sci.
Fis. Mat. Natur. Rend. Lincei (9) Mat. Appl. 2 (2) (1991) 111–113.
[2] C. Casolo, S. Dolfi, Conjugacy class lengths of metanilpotent groups, Rend. Sem. Mat. Univ. Padova
96 (1996) 121–130.
[3] J. Cossey, T. Hawkes, On the largest conjugacy class size in a finite group, Rend. Sem. Mat. Univ.
Padova 103 (2000) 171–179.
[4] A. Espuelas, Large character degrees of groups of odd order, Illinois J. Math. 35 (3) (1991) 499–505.
[5] A. Espuelas, G. Navarro, Blocks of small defect, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 114 (1992) 881–885.
[6] D. Foulser, Solvable primitive permutation groups of low rank, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 143 (1969)
1–54.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
36 ! T.R. Wolf / Advances in Mathematics 184 (2004) 18–36
A. Moreto,
[7] M. Frick, M. Newman, Soluble linear groups, Bull. Austral. Math. Soc. 6 (1972) 31–44.
[8] D. Gluck, Trivial set-stabilizers in finite permutation groups, Canad. J. Math. 35 (1) (1983) 59–67.
[9] D. Gluck, The largest irreducible character degree of a finite group, Canad. J. Math. 37 (3) (1985)
442–451.
[10] D. Gluck, T. Wolf, Brauer’s height conjecture for p-solvable groups, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 282 (1)
(1984) 137–152.
[11] T. Hawkes, On the Fitting length of a soluble linear group, Pacific J. Math. 44 (1973) 537–540.
[12] B. Huppert, Zweifach transitive, auflsbare Permutationsgruppen, Math. Z. 68 (1957) 126–150.
[13] B. Huppert, Endliche Gruppen I, Springer, Berlin, 1967.
[14] B. Huppert, Character Theory of Finite Groups, deGruyter, Berlin, 1998.
[15] B. Huppert, N. Blackburn, Finite Groups II, Springer, Berlin, 1982.
[16] I.M. Isaacs, The p-parts of character degrees in p-solvable groups, Pacific J. Math. 36 (1971) 677–691.
[17] I.M. Isaacs, Character Theory of Finite Groups, Dover, New York, 1994.
[18] I.M. Isaacs, Large orbits in actions of nilpotent groups, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 127 (1999) 45–50.
[19] I.M. Isaacs, G. Navarro, T.R. Wolf, Finite group elements where no irreducible character vanishes,
J. Algebra 222 (1999) 413–423.
[20] O. Manz, T.R. Wolf, Representations of Solvable Groups, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
1993.
[21] O. Manz, T. Wolf, Arithmetically large orbits of solvable linear groups, Illinois J. Math. 37 (4) (1993)
652–665.
[22] A. Moretó, Characters of p-groups and Sylow p-subgroups, Groups St. Andrews 2001 in Oxford,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, to appear.
[23] A. Moretó, J. Sangroniz, On the number of conjugacy classes of zeros of characters, submitted.
[24] D.S. Passman, Groups with normal Hall-p-subgroups, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 123 (1966) 99–111.
[25] K. Podoski, B. Szegedy, Bounds in groups with finite abelian coverings or with finite derived groups,
J. Group Theory 5 (2002) 443–452.
[26] A. Seress, The minimal base size of primitive solvable permutation groups, J. London Math. Soc. 53
(1996) 243–255.
[27] T.R. Wolf, Large orbits of supersolvable linear groups, J. Algebra 215 (1) (1999) 235–247.
[28] J. Zhang, Finite groups with few regular orbits on the power set, Algebra Colloq. 4 (4) (1997)
471–480.
[29] J. Zhang, On the lengths of conjugacy classes, Comm. Algebra 26 (1998) 2395–2400.