A characterization of \(A_5\) by same-order type (Q504119)

For a group \(G\), the authors consider the partition of \(G\) into subsets consisting of elements of the same order. The set of sizes of these equivalence classes is called the same-order type of \(G\). For example, the same-order type of \(A_5\) is \(\{1, 15, 20, 24\}\). The first author et al. have shown [Monatsh. Math. 160, No. 3, 337--341 (2010; Zbl 1196.20032)] that a group with the same same-order type as \(A_5\) is isomorphic to \(A_5\). The main result of the present paper is that a group \(G\) is isomorphic to the alternating group \(A_5\) if and only if the same-order type of \(G\) is \(\{1, pq, 4p, 8q\}\) with \(p\), \(q\) primes. An essential role in the long and technical proof is a result of independent interest, namely Lemma 2.8: Let \(G\) be a group, \(s\) a positive integer, and suppose that every subset of \(G\) of elements of equal order has at most \(s\) elements. Then \(G\) is finite and \(|G|\leq \frac{(s+1)(s+2)}{2}\).