Primitive characters of maximal subgroups of solvable groups. (Q2268825)

This paper is motivated by a result of \textit{M. L. Lewis} stating that if \(G\) is a finite M-group (i.e., all of its irreducible complex characters are monomial) and \(H\) is a maximal subgroup of \(G\) of odd index, then the square of the degree of every primitive character of \(H\) divides \(|G:H|\) (Theorem A in [J. Algebra 183, No. 3, 864-897 (1996; Zbl 0868.20003)]). The main result in the paper under review (Theorem D) gives some precise information on the structure of a finite \(p\)-solvable group \(G\) (\(p\) an odd prime) with a maximal subgroup of \(p\)-power index that has a primitive character which neither induces irreducibly to \(G\) nor extends to \(G\). As a consequence of the main result, the authors obtain a refinement of Lewis' result; in particular, the square of the degree of every primitive character in the situation of Lewis' theorem equals either 1 or \(|G:H|\). As the authors point out, their proof of the refinement is not independent of Lewis' result.