The multiplicative Jordan decomposition in group rings (Q1277012)

Let \(RG\) be the group ring of a finite group \(G\) over an integral domain \(R\) with characteristic zero. If \(K\) is the quotient field of \(R\), then \(RG\subseteq KG\). An element \(\alpha\in KG\) is said to be semisimple if the minimal polynomial \(m(X)\) of \(\alpha\) over \(K\) does not have repeated roots in the algebraic closure \(\overline K\) of \(K\). From a result in the linear algebra it follows that every element \(\alpha\in KG\) has a unique additive Jordan decomposition (AJD) \(\alpha=\alpha_s+\alpha_n\) (\(\alpha_s,\alpha_n\in KG\)), where \(\alpha_s\) is semisimple, \(\alpha_n\) is nilpotent and \(\alpha_s\alpha_n=\alpha_n\alpha_s\). If \(\alpha\) a unit in \(KG\), then \(\alpha_s\) is also a unit and \(\alpha\) has a unique multiplicative decomposition (MJD) \(\alpha=\alpha_s\alpha_u\), where \(\alpha_s\alpha_u=\alpha_u\alpha_s\) and \(\alpha_u\) is unipotent. We say that AJD (resp. MJD) holds in \(RG\) if \(\alpha_s\in RG\) for all \(\alpha\in RG\). Finite groups \(G\) for which the AJD holds in the integral group ring \(\mathbb{Z} G\) have been characterized by \textit{A. W. Hales}, \textit{I. S. Luthar} and \textit{I. B. S. Passi} [Commun. Algebra 18, No. 7, 2327-2341 (1990; Zbl 0711.16018)] and \textit{A. W. Hales} and \textit{I. B. S. Passi} [Arch. Math. 57, No. 1, 21-27 (1991; Zbl 0696.16004)]. The aim of this paper is to explore the MJD property in \(\mathbb{Z} G\). In particular, the authors show that the MJD holds in the integral group ring of a generalized quaternion group \(Q_{4p}\), where \(p\) is an odd prime. Moreover, the only dihedral groups \(D_{2n}\) of order \(2n\) for which MJD holds in \(\mathbb{Z} D_{2n}\) are those with \(n=2\), 4, \(p\).