Involutory automorphisms of finite groups and their centralizers (Q1289265)

Let \(r(H)\) denote the rank of a finite group \(H\), i.e., the smallest number \(r\) such that every subgroup of \(H\) can be generated by \(r\) elements. The author proves that if a finite nilpotent group \(G\) admits an automorphism \(\varphi\) of order \(2\) such that \(r(C_G(\varphi))=r\), then \(G\) has a normal subgroup \(N\) of class at most \(2\) such that \(r(G/N)\) is bounded in terms of \(r\) (Theorem A). This generalizes a result of \textit{B. Hartley} and \textit{Th. Meixner} [J. Algebra 64, 285-291 (1980; Zbl 0429.20039)] stating that if \(| C_G(\varphi)|=m\) then \(N\) of class at most \(2\) can be chosen to be of index bounded in terms of \(m\). For greater primes (\(p>2\)) it remains an open problem to find a similar ``rank analogue'' of the reviewer's theorem [from Mat. Sb. 181, No. 9, 1207-1219 (1990; Zbl 0713.17013)], where it was proved that if a finite nilpotent group admits an automorphism of order \(p\) with exactly \(m\) fixed points, then there is a subgroup of bounded index whose nilpotency class is bounded in terms of \(p\) only. Combining Theorem A with some other techniques including theorems of Hall-Higman type, the author proves that if a finite group \(G\) of odd order admits an automorphism \(\varphi\) of order \(2\) with \(r(C_G(\varphi))=r\), then \(r([G,\varphi]')\) is bounded in terms of \(r\) (Theorem B). Corollary C: If a finite group \(G\) admits a fixed-point-free automorphism \(\psi\) of order \(2^n\) such that \(r(C_G(\psi^{2^{n-1}}))=r\), then the derived length of \(G\) is bounded in terms of \(r\). The proof of the main Theorem A uses the theory of powerful \(p\)-groups.