Zeros of primitive characters in solvable groups (Q1965263): Difference between revisions

Let \(G\) be a finite group and \(p\) a prime. According to Theorem 2.1, if \(\chi\) is a character of \(G\) of \(p'\)-degree, then \(\chi(x)\neq 0\) for each \(x\in G\) such that \(o(x)\) is a power of \(p\). The author asks: Can irreducible characters of \(G\) of \(p\)-power degree vanish on elements of \(p'\)-order? The answer to this question is yes even for solvable groups. A character \(\chi\) is said to be primitive if it is afforded by a primitive \(\mathbb{C} G\)-module [see \textit{I. M. Isaacs}, Character theory of finite groups, Academic Press, New York (1976; Zbl 0337.20005), Definition 5.7]. The main result of this paper is the following Theorem A. Let \(G\) be a \(p\)-solvable group and let \(\chi\in\text{Irr}(G)\) be primitive of degree a power of \(p\). Let \(x\in G\). Then \(\chi(x)=0\) if and only if \(\chi(x_p)=0\), where \(x_p\) is the \(p\)-part of \(x\). Corollary B. Let \(G\) be a solvable group and let \(\chi\in\text{Irr}(G)\) be primitive of \(\pi\)-degree, where \(\pi\) is a set of primes. Let \(x\in G\). Then \(\chi(x)=0\) if and only if \(\chi(x_\pi)=0\), where \(x_\pi\) is the \(\pi\)-part of \(x\). In particular, if \(x\) is a \(\pi'\)-element, then \(\chi(x)\neq 0\). I think that Corollary B holds also for \(\pi\)-solvable groups.