Central Camina pairs (Q2022805)

Let \(G\) be a finite group. A pair \((G, N)\) is said to be a Camina pair if \(N\) is a proper normal subgroup of \(G\) and for any \(g\in G\setminus N\), the coset \(gN\) is contained in the conjugacy class \(g^G\) of \(g\). There are, however, a number of equivalent conditions for Camina pairs. It is well known that if \((G, N)\) is a Camina pair, then \(\mathbf{Z}(G) \leq N \leq G'\). The case \(N = G'\) leads to the so-called Camina groups and this paper deals with the other extreme case \(N = \mathbf{Z}(G)\). The second author previously proved in [J. Group Theory, 15, 469-483 (2012; Zbl 1268.20020)] that if \((G,\mathbf{Z}(G))\) is a Camina pair, then \(G\) is a \(p\)-group for some prime \(p\) and also conjectured that \(|G:\mathbf{Z}(G)|\geq |\mathbf{Z}(G)|^2\). He was able to prove the bound \(|G:\mathbf{Z}(G)|>|\mathbf{Z}(G)|^{4/3}\) and even to demonstrate the conjecture under certain additional condition on the exponent of \(G/\mathbf{Z}(G)\). In the paper under review some improvements for the previous bound are achieved. The approach is to partition the problem according to the nilpotence class of \(G\). In particular, the authors resolve the conjecture when the nilpotence class of \(G\) is \(4\) and, in general, prove that \(|\mathbf{Z}(G)|>|\mathbf{Z}(G)|^{3/2}\). Stronger bounds are also given for some specific cases.