Some sufficient conditions for the Taketa inequality. (Q2448580)

For a finite solvable group \(G\), let \(\text{dl}(G)\) be the derived length of \(G\) and \(\text{cd}(G)\) the set of irreducible character degrees of \(G\). The authors are interested in when the inequality \(\text{dl}(G)\leq |\text{cd}(G)|\), referred to as Taketa inequality, is true. It is conjectured that it holds for all solvable groups and has been proved in many cases, for example for odd order groups or groups with no more than five distinct degrees. In the paper under review the authors establish the Taketa inequality under some more conditions; for example, it holds when the derived subgroup \(G'\) has an Abelian normal \(p\)-complement for some prime \(p\).