Alternating sums over \(\pi\)-subgroups (Q2079651)

One of the most general local-global counting conjectures for irreducible complex characters of finite groups is due to \textit{E. C. Dade} [Invent. Math. 109, No. 1, 187--210 (1992; Zbl 0738.20011)]. For a finite group \(G\), a prime \(p\) and an integer \(d>0\), the Dade's conjecture asserts that the number of irreducible characters of \(G\) of \(p\)-defect \(d\) can be computed by an alternating sum over chains of \(p\)-subgroups. Let \(\mathcal{C}(G)\) be the set of chains of \(\pi\)-subgroups of \(G\) (the notation is fully explained in the paper) and let \(G_{C}\) be the stabilizer of a chain \(C\) in \(G\). For an integer \(d \geq 1\), we let \(k_{d}(G)\) to be the number of irreducible characters \(\chi \in \mathrm{Irr}(G)\) such that \(|G|_{\pi}\) = \(d\cdot \chi(1)_{\pi}\), where \(n_{\pi} = \prod_{p \in \pi} n_{p}\), and \(n_{p}\) is the largest power of \(p\) dividing the positive integer \(n\). The main result proved in the paper under review is Theorem A: Let \(G\) be a \(\pi\)-separable group, and let \(d > 1\). Then \[ \sum_{C \in \mathcal{C}(G)} (-1)^{|C|} \big | G_{C} \big |\, k_{d}(G_{C})=0. \] Theorem A (proposed as a conjecture by the second author in a Oberwolfach talk) is a natural generalization of Dade's conjecture for \(p\)-solvable groups.