Centrally large subgroups of finite \(p\)-groups. (Q2498856)

An Abelian subgroup \(A\) of a finite \(p\)-group \(S\) is said to be large if it has the largest order among the Abelian subgroups of \(S\). A subgroup \(Q\) is said to be centrally large if \(|Q|\cdot|Z(Q)|\geq|Q^*|\cdot|Z(Q^*)|\) for all subgroups \(Q^*\) of \(S\). Here \(Z(Q)\) denotes the centre of \(Q\). The study of large Abelian subgroups began with \textit{J.~G.~Thompson}'s second normal \(p\)-complement theorem [J. Algebra 1, 43-46 (1964; Zbl 0119.26802)]. Extending work by \textit{A.~Chermak} and \textit{A.~Delgado} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 107, No. 4, 907-914 (1989; Zbl 0687.20022)], the author develops further a theory of centrally large subgroups. We refer to the Introduction of the paper, which is very clearly written, for a description of the main results. Among them is a method that allows in some cases to show that the Thompson subgroup of \(S\) is proper, without too many calculations. Among the various techniques employed in the proof there is an analogue for finite \(p\)-groups of an application of a theorem of Borel for algebraic groups.