The Deskins index complex and the supersolvability of finite groups (Q1964002)

A completion of a maximal subgroup \(M\) of finite group \(G\) is a subgroup \(C\) of \(G\) not contained in \(M\) such that every proper subgroup of \(C\) which is normal in \(G\) lies in \(M\), and \(C\) is a maximal completion of \(M\) if it is properly contained in no other completion of \(M\). The author characterizes supersolvable finite groups \(G\) in terms of completions of maximal subgroups of composite index. Theorem 2. A finite group \(G\) is supersolvable if and only if for each maximal subgroup \(M\) of \(G\) of composite index there exists a maximal completion \(C\) such that \(G=CM\) and \(C/\kappa(C)\) has square-free order, where \(\kappa(C)\) denotes the product of all proper subgroups of \(C\) which are normal in \(G\).