On \(4\)-Engel groups (Q1906628)

In spite of the recent major progress in the study of the \(n\)-Engel Lie algebras, due to Zel'manov, the \(n\)-Engel groups are still very difficult to study. As a continuation of previous work on 3-Engel groups (of F. W. Levi, H. Heineken, N. Gupta, F. Levin, M. Newman, L. Kappe and W. Kappe), the author studies 4-Engel groups. Let \(G\) be a 4-Engel group. Then the torsion elements form a subgroup \(\tau(G)\) and \(\tau(G)/Z(\tau(G))\) is a direct product of \(p\)-groups (Theorem 1). This reduces the problem whether 4-Engel groups are locally nilpotent, to the classes of torsion-free groups and \(p\)-groups. If \(G\) is a 4-Engel \(p\)-group then \(G/\text{rad}(G)\) has exponent dividing \(p\), where \(\text{rad}(G)\) is the locally nilpotent radical of \(G\); if \(p=2\) or 3, then \(G\) is locally nilpotent (Theorem 2). This reduces the problem whether a 4-Engel \(p\)-group is locally nilpotent to 4-Engel groups of prime exponent \(p>3\). Finally, known results on Lie rings are used to prove Theorem 3: Let \(G\) be a locally nilpotent 4-Engel \(p\)-group. If \(p\neq 2, 3, 5\) then \(G\) is nilpotent of class \(\leq7\). If \(p=5\), every \(r\)-generator subgroup of \(G\) is nilpotent of class \(\leq 6r\). Reviewer's remark: As a misprint, the condition of \(G\) to be a \(p\)-group is missing in the statement of Theorem 2 in the paper.