A variation on theorems of Jordan and Gluck. (Q2498885)

It is a famous theorem of C. Jordan that, given a finite complex linear group \(G\) of degree \(n\), there is an Abelian subgroup \(A\) of \(G\) such that \(|G:A|\leq f(n)\), where \(f(n)\) is some explicit expression in \(n\). Since Jordan's work, many attempts have been made to optimize the value of \(f(n)\) so that it corresponds more to the observed examples. Thus, F. Klein's classification of finite subgroups of the group \(\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{C})\) implies that \(f(2)=60\) is the best value for \(f(2)\) but it seems impossible to extend Klein's method to larger values of \(n\). In order to improve the bounds on the value of \(f(n)\) in Jordan's theorem, the classification of finite simple groups provides the most obvious approach, since we now know the degrees of all the complex irreducible representations of these groups. Combining this approach with an analysis of finite solvable linear groups has provided tools for making significant improvements in Jordan's theorem and allied results. In the paper under review, the author is not specifically improving Jordan's theorem but is rather exploring a related theme, which we shall now explain. Given an integer \(n>1\), let \(n=p_1^{a_1}\cdots p_r^{a_r}\) be the prime factorization of \(n\), where \(p_1,\dots,p_r\) are different primes. We then set \(\omega(n)=a_1+\cdots+a_r\). The author's main theorem is the following. There exist universal constants \(K_1\) and \(K_2\) such that if \(G\) is a finite non-Abelian group, \(G\) has an Abelian subgroup \(A\) satisfying \[ \omega(|G:A|)\leq K_1\omega(G)^2\log\omega(G)+K_2, \] where \(\omega(G)\) is defined to be the maximum value of \(\omega(\chi(1))\), as \(\chi\) ranges over all complex irreducible characters of \(G\). He suggests that in fact a quadratic bound may apply above, without the logarithmic term. As we indicated above, the proof proceeds by examining solvable and simple groups. Indeed for solvable groups, a much better bound, namely \[ \omega(|G:A|)\leq 23\omega(G) \] holds. This theorem is a consequence of work of the author and T. R. Wolf. Versions of this result are then obtained for simple groups, using the classification, and finally the constituents are assembled to obtain the general bound for any finite group \(G\).