A note on larger orbit size (Q2197981)

Let \(G\) be a \(\pi\)-separable finite group where \(\pi\) is a set of primes. The restrictions of the complex characters of \(G\) to the set of \(\pi\)-elements of \(G\) are called \(\pi\)-partial characters of \(G\). A \(\pi\)-partial character of \(G\) is called irreducible if it cannot be written as a sum of two non-zero \(\pi\)-partial characters of \(G\). The set of irreducible \(\pi\)-partial characters of \(G\) is denoted by \(I_\pi(G)\). The authors prove: If \(\phi(1)^2\) divides \(|G:\ker(\phi)|\) for every \(\phi \in I_\pi(G)\) then \(G\) has a normal \(\pi\)-complement \(N\), and \(G/N\) is nilpotent. This confirms a conjecture by \textit{X. Chen} et al. [J. Group Theory 20, No. 6, 1155--1173 (2017; Zbl 1391.20007)]. Their proof makes use of the following improvement of a result by \textit{Z. Halasi} and \textit{K. Podoski} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 368, No. 8, 5857--5887 (2016; Zbl 1382.20012)]: Let \(G\) be a non-trivial finite group acting on a finite group \(K\). If \(|G|\) and \(|K|\) are coprime then \(|C_G(x)| < \sqrt{|G|}\) for some \(x \in K\).