Normal subgroups of powerful \(p\)-groups (Q2218718)

Let \(p\) be a prime number and let \(\alpha(p)\) be \(4\), if \(p=2\), or \(p\), if \(p\) is odd. A \textit{powerful group} is a \(p\)-group \(G\) satisfying \([G,G]\subseteq G^{\alpha(p)}\). In this paper, the author shows that, if \(G\) is a powerful \(p\)-group and \(N\) is a normal subgroup of \(G\) contained in \(G^{\alpha(p)}\), then \(N\) is \textit{powerfully nilpotent}. The last groups were introduced in [\textit{G. Traustason} and \textit{J. Williams}, J. Algebra 522, 80--100 (2019; Zbl 1439.20018)] and are characterized by the converging of the \textit{upper powerfully central series} to \(G\), which is a modified version of the upper central series that involves \(p\)-th powers. The core of the paper is Theorem 12, which deals with the odd case. The result for even primes could already be derived from the work in [\textit{J. González-Sánchez} and \textit{A. Jaikin-Zapirain}, J. Algebra 276, No. 1, 193--209 (2004; Zbl 1056.20014)], though here a new proof is given.