Finite groups and elements where characters vanish. (Q974651)

Let \(G\) be a finite group. The group of linear (complex) characters naturally acts on \(\text{Irr}(G)\) by multiplication. Using this action, the author generalizes some earlier results in the literature on vanishing elements of finite groups. For example, suppose that \(G\) is nonabelian, and let \(k(G)\) denote the number of conjugacy classes of \(G\). If \(g\in G-G'\) and the order of \(gG'\in G/G'\) is coprime to \(k(G)\), then \(\chi(g)=0\) for some nonlinear irreducible character \(\chi\) of \(G\). Also, if \(n\in\mathbb{N}\) and \(\Psi_n\) is the sum of all irreducible characters of \(G\) of degree \(n\), then \(\Psi_n\) vanishes on \(G-G'\). Some consequences of these results are also derived.