Fusion systems with Benson-Solomon components (Q2119901)

A saturated fusion system is a category \(\mathcal{F}\) whose objects are the subgroups of a fixed finite \(p\)-group \(S\), and whose morphisms are injective group homomorphisms between objects such that certain axioms hold. Each finite group \(G\) leads to a saturated fusion system \(\mathcal{F}_{S}(G)\) where \(S\) is a Sylow \(p\)-subgroup of \(G\) and the morphisms are the conjugation maps induced by elements of \(G\). Fusion systems which do not arise in this fashion are called \textit{exotic}. While exotic fusion systems seem to be relatively plentiful at odd primes, there is as yet one known family of simple exotic fusion systems at the prime 2. These are he Benson-Solomon fusion systems \(\mathcal{F}_{\mathrm{Sol}}(q)\) (\(q\) an odd prime power) whose existence was foreshadowed in the work of \textit{R. Solomon} [J. Algebra 28, 182--198 (1974; Zbl 0293.20022)] and \textit{D. J. Benson} [Lond. Math. Soc. Lect. Note Ser. 252, 10--23 (1998; Zbl 0928.55017)], and which were later constructed by \textit{R. Levi} and \textit{B. Oliver} [Geom. Topol. 6, 917--990 (2002; Zbl 1021.55010); erratum Geom. Topol. 9, 2395--2415 (2005; Zbl 1098.55011)] and \textit{M. Aschbacher} and \textit{A. Chermak} [Ann. Math. (2) 171, No. 2, 881--978 (2010; Zbl 1213.20017)]. The Benson-Solomon systems comprise an infinite ascending family of simple exotic fusion systems at the prime 2. The results proved in the paper under review give significant additional evidence that these are the only simple exotic 2-fusion systems, as conjectured by \textit{R. Solomon} (see [Monographies de l'Enseignement Mathématique 40. Genève: L'Enseignement Mathématique 189 p. (2008; Zbl 1143.00006)], Conjecture 57.12). The authors consider a saturated fusion system \(\mathcal{F}\) having an involution centralizer with a component \(\mathcal{C}\) isomorphic to a Benson-Solomon fusion system, and they show, under rather general hypotheses, that \(\mathcal{F}\) cannot be simple. Furthermore, they prove that if \(\mathcal{F}\) is almost simple with these properties, then \(\mathcal{F}\) is isomorphic to the next larger Benson-Solomon system extended by a group of field automorphisms. The results of this article are situated within Aschbacher's program to provide a new proof of a major part of the classification of finite simple groups via fusion systems. One of the most important steps in this program is a proof of Walter's Theorem for fusion systems and the first result is specifically tailored for use in the proof of that step. Then the authors apply Walter's Theorem to treat the general Benson-Solomon component problem under the assumption that each component of an involution centralizer in \(\mathcal{F}\) is on the list of currently known quasisimple 2-fusion systems. The reviewer reports below the statements of the main results. Theorem 1: Fix a saturated fusion system \(\mathcal{F}\) over a 2-group \(S\) and a quasisimple subsystem \(\mathcal{C}\) of \(\mathcal{F}\) over a fully \(\mathcal{F}\)-normalized subgroup of \(S\). Assume that \(\mathcal{C}\) is a subintrinsic, maximal member of \(\mathfrak{C}(\mathcal{F})\) and isomorphic to a Benson-Solomon system. Then \(\mathcal{C}\) is a component of \(\mathcal{F}\). Theorem 2: Let \(\mathcal{F}\) be a saturated fusion system over the 2-group \(S\). Assume that each member of \(\mathfrak{C}(\mathcal{F})\) is known and that some fixed member \(\mathcal{C} \in \mathfrak{C}(\mathcal{F})\) is isomorphic to \(\mathcal{F}_{\mathrm{Sol}}(q)\) for some odd prime power \(q\). Then for each \(t \in \mathcal{I}(\mathcal{C})\), there exists a component \(\mathcal{D}\) of \(\mathcal{F}\) such that one of the following holds: (1) \(\mathcal{D}=\mathcal{C}\); (2) \(\mathcal{D} \simeq \mathcal{C}\), \(\mathcal{D}^{t} \not = \mathcal{D}\), and \(\mathcal{C}\) is diagonally embedded in the direct product \(\mathcal{D}\mathcal{D}^{t}\) with respect to \(t\); (3) \(\mathcal{D} \simeq \mathcal{F}_{\mathrm{Sol}}(q^{2})\), \(t\not \in \mathcal{D}\), and \(\mathcal{C}= C_{D}(t)\).