Products of formations of finite groups. (Q2497424)

All groups considered are finite. A formation \(\mathfrak F\) is said to be saturated if \(U\in\mathfrak F\) whenever the Frattini factor group \(U/\Phi(U)\) is in \(\mathfrak F\). If \(\mathfrak F\) and \(\mathfrak H\) are formations the formation product of \(\mathfrak F\) and \(\mathfrak H\) is the class \(\mathfrak F\circ\mathfrak H\) defined by \(\mathfrak F\circ\mathfrak H=(U\in\mathfrak E\mid U^{\mathfrak H}\in\mathfrak F)\). Let \(\mathfrak J\) denote the class of all simple groups. For any subclass \(\mathfrak Y\) of \(\mathfrak J\), we write \(\mathfrak Y'=\mathfrak J\setminus\mathfrak Y\). Denote by \(E\mathfrak Y\) the class of groups whose composition factors belong to \(\mathfrak Y\). A chief factor which belongs to \(E\mathfrak Y\) is called a \(\mathfrak Y\)-chief factor. If \(p\) is a prime, we write \(\mathfrak Y_p\) to denote the class of all simple groups \(S\in\mathfrak Y\) such that \(p\in\pi(S)\). Throughout this review, the symbol \(\mathfrak X\) denotes a fixed class of simple groups satisfying \(\pi(\mathfrak X)=\text{char}(\mathfrak X)\), where \[ \pi(\mathfrak X)=\{p\in\mathbb{P}\mid\text{ there exists }S\in\mathfrak X\text{ such that }p\text{ divides }|S|\} \] and \(\text{char}\mathfrak X=\{p\in\mathbb{P}\mid Z_p\in\mathfrak X\}\). An \(\mathfrak X\)-formation function \(f\) associates with each \(X\in\text{char}(\mathfrak X)\cup\mathfrak X'\) a formation \(f(X)\) (possibly empty). If \(f\) is an \(\mathfrak X\)-formation function, then \(\text{LF}_{\mathfrak X}(f)\) is the class of all groups \(U\) satisfying the following two conditions: (1) If \(V/W\) is an \(\mathfrak X_p\)-chief factor of \(U\) then \(U/C_U(V/W)\in f(p)\). (2) If \(U/L\) is a monolithic quotient of \(U\) such that \(\text{Soc}(U/L)\) is an \(\mathfrak X'\)-chief factor of \(U\), then \(U/L\in f(E)\), where \(E\) is a composition factor of \(\text{Soc}(U/L)\). A formation \(\mathfrak F\) is called \(\mathfrak X\)-local [see \textit{P. Förster}, Publ., Secc. Mat., Univ. Autòn. Barc. 29, No. 2/3, 39-76 (1985; Zbl 0588.20015)] if there exists an \(\mathfrak X\)-formation function \(f\) such that \(\mathfrak F=\text{LF}_{\mathfrak X}(f)\). In this case it is said that \(f\) is an \(\mathfrak X\)-local definition of \(\mathfrak F\) or that \(f\) defines \(\mathfrak F\). If \(\mathfrak K\) is a class of groups and \(p\in\text{char}\mathfrak X\), denote \[ K_{\mathfrak X}(p)=\mathfrak S_{pQR_0}(U/C_U(V/W)\mid U\in\mathfrak K\text{ and }V/W\text{ is an }\mathfrak X_p\text{-chief factor of }U), \] taking into account that \(K_{\mathfrak X}(p)=\emptyset\) if there does not exist any group \(U\in\mathfrak K\) with an \(\mathfrak X_p\)-chief factor. Let \(\mathfrak X\) be a Fitting class. The boundary of \(\mathfrak X\), \(b(\mathfrak X)\), is the class of all groups \(X\notin\mathfrak X\) such that every proper subnormal subgroup of \(X\) is an \(\mathfrak X\)-group. Consider \(\mathfrak H=\mathfrak F\circ\mathfrak Y\), where \(\mathfrak F\) and \(\mathfrak Y\) are non-empty formations. It is said that the boundary \(b(\mathfrak H)\) of \(\mathfrak H\) is \(\mathfrak{XY}\)-free if every group \(U\in b(\mathfrak H)\) such that \(\text{Soc}(U)\) is a \(p\)-group for some prime \(p\in\text{char}\mathfrak X\) satisfies \(U/C_U(\text{Soc}(U))\notin G{\mathfrak X}(p)\). It is known that the formation product of two \(\mathfrak X\)-local formations is not in general an \(\mathfrak X\)-local formation [see Example of \textit{E.~Solomon}, Über lokale und Baerlokale Formationen endlicher Gruppen. Master's thesis. Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (1983)]. In the present paper it is proved a theorem which provides a test for \(\mathfrak X\)-locality of \(\mathfrak H\) in terms of its boundary. Theorem~1. Assume that \(\mathfrak H=\mathfrak F\circ\mathfrak Y\), where \(\mathfrak F\) and \(\mathfrak Y\) are non-empty formations, and \(\mathfrak F\) is \(\mathfrak X\)-local. Then \(\mathfrak H\) is an \(\mathfrak X\)-local formation if and only if \(b(\mathfrak H)\) is \(\mathfrak{XY}\)-free. It arises the following Question. Which are the precise conditions on two non-empty formations \(\mathfrak F\) and \(\mathfrak Y\) to ensure that \(\mathfrak H=\mathfrak F\circ\mathfrak Y\) is \(\mathfrak X\)-local? The following result answers this question. Theorem~2. Suppose that \(\mathfrak H=\mathfrak F\circ\mathfrak Y\), where \(\mathfrak F\) and \(\mathfrak Y\) are non-empty formations. Then \(\mathfrak H\) is \(\mathfrak X\)-local if and only if the following conditions hold: (1) If \(p\in\text{char}\mathfrak X\), then either \(H{\mathfrak X}(p)\subseteq\mathfrak Y\) or \(\mathfrak S_pH{\mathfrak X}(p)^{\mathfrak Y}\subseteq\mathfrak F\). (2) If \(U\in b(\mathfrak H)\), \(V=\text{Soc}(U)\in\mathfrak S_p\) with \(p\in\text{char}\mathfrak X\), and \(W\) is the natural semidirect product \([V](U/C_U(V))\) then \(W\in b(\mathfrak H)\).