Finite groups whose irreducible characters vanish only on \(p\)-elements. (Q2378549)

Let \(G\) be a finite group and \(p\) a prime. One of the main results of this paper is the following: Suppose that \(G\) is nonabelian and that whenever \(\chi(g)=0\) for an irreducible character \(\chi\) of \(G\) and some \(g\in G\), then necessarily \(g\) is a \(p\)-element. Then either \(G\) is a \(p\)-group, or \(G/Z(G)\) is a Frobenius group with Frobenius complement of \(p\)-power order and \(Z(G)=O_p(G)\). The result depends of CFSG. A similar result (which, however, does not need CFSG) is shown under the stronger hypothesis that ``\(p\)-element'' above is replaced by ``element of order \(p\)'', and if \(p=2\) in this case, the groups are completely characterized. Some interesting examples are also discussed.