On a conjecture of Zimmerman about group automorphisms (Q1396704)

This paper examines the question of what fraction of the elements of a finite group may be sent to their squares under an automorphism of the group. Thus it is similar to papers by H. Liebeck and D. MacHale, W. M. Potter and J. Zimmerman. Define \(s(G,\alpha)=|\{g\in G\mid g\alpha=g^2\}|/|G|\) to be the fraction of elements squared by the automorphism \(\alpha\). Also let \(s(G)\) be the maximum of \(s(G,\alpha)\) over all automorphisms \(\alpha\). The author proves that if \(G\) is a group of even order with \(s(G,\alpha)\geq 1/6\) where \(\alpha\) is the automorphism realizing \(s(G)\), then \(G\) is one of seven types of groups. Further, the author shows that each of the first six types of groups (with \(s(G,\alpha)>1/6\)) has an automorphism of the type described. The author's final result is that if \(s(G)>7/60\), then \(G\) is a solvable group. This last result is proven by showing that a minimal counterexample is an extension of a non-Abelian simple group \(S\) with restricted order by a subgroup of \(\text{Out}(S)\). The author uses the classification of finite simple groups to show that \(S\) is one of four groups and considers each in turn.