Classifying spaces and properties of finite groups (Q1903710)

Let \(G\) be a discrete group and \(BG\) its classifying space. The author establishes some group properties which are invariants of the stable homotopy type of \(BG\) and proves that the following theorems are equivalent: Theorem A (Gorenstein and Walter). Let \(G\) be a finite group with a dihedral Sylow 2-subgroup \(P\) of order at least 8 and let \(T_0\), \(T_1\) be representative of the two conjugacy classes of Klein four-groups in \(P\). Then one of the following holds: (a) \(G\) has no normal subgroup of index 2, \(G\) has one conjugacy class of involutions, and \(|N_G (T_i)/C_G (T_i) |= 6\) for both \(i = 0\) and 1, where \(N\) denotes the normalizer and \(C\) the centralizer. (b) \(G\) has a normal subgroup of index 2, but no normal subgroups of index 4, \(G\) has two conjugacy classes of involutions, and \(|N_G (T_i)/C_G (T_i) |\) is 6 for one value of \(i\) and 2 for the other value of \(i\), \(0 \leq i \leq 1\). (c) \(G\) has a normal 2-complement, \(G\) has three conjugacy classes of involutions, and \(|N_G (T_i)/C_G (T_i) |= 2\) for both \(i = 0\) and 1. In particular, if \(z\) is the involution of \(Z(P)\), then \(C_G (z)\) has a normal 2-complement. Theorem B (Martino and Priddy). Let \(G\) be finite group with a dihedral Sylow 2-subgroup \(P\) of order at least 8. Then \(BG\) stably decomposes in one of the following three ways: (a) \(BG_{2^n} \simeq BPSL_2({\mathbf F}_q)\), (b) \(BG_{2^n} \simeq BPSL_2({\mathbf F}_q) \vee L(2) \vee{\mathbf R}P^\infty\), (c) \(BG_{2^n} \simeq BPSL_2({\mathbf F}_q) \vee L(2) \vee{\mathbf R}P^\infty \vee L(2) \vee{\mathbf R}P^\infty\), where all spectra are localized at 2, \(L(2)\) is the symmetric product spectrum \(\sum^{-2} Sp^4S^0/Sp^2S^0\), and \(q\) is an odd prime power such that \(n = \nu_2 ((q^2 - 1)/2)\).