On some subgroup chains related to Kneser's theorem (Q1011974)

\textit{M. Kneser}'s theorem [Math. Z. 58, 459--484 (1953; Zbl 0051.28104); Math. Z. 61, 429--434 (1955; Zbl 0064.04305)] asserts that if \(A\) and \(B\) are subsets of an abelian group \(G\), and \(|AB|\leq |A|+|B|-2\), then there is a subgroup \(H\subset G\) that depends on \(A\) and \(B\), so that \(H\subset \text{stab}(AB)\). \textit{É. Balandraud} [Ann. Inst. Fourier 58, No. 3, 915--943 (2008; Zbl 1143.11039)] proved a strengthening of Kneser's theorem in which the group \(H\) depends only on the set \(A\). In this paper, the authors prove a result about not-necessarily-abelian groups of which Balandraud's theorem is an easy consequence.