On a notion of breadth in the sense of Frobenius. (Q2512713)

Given a finite group \(G\) and an integer \(e\geq 1\) dividing the order of \(G\), Frobenius conjectured that the set \(L_e(G)=\{g\in G\mid g^e=1\}\), which always satisfies that \(|L_e(G)|=ke\) for some integer \(k\geq 1\), is a subgroup of \(G\) when \(k=1\). In this paper, the authors introduce a new notion of breadth of a group, motivated by some recent solutions to Frobenius' conjecture. They define \(\mathbf B(G)\), the global breadth of \(G\), as the maximum integer in the set \(\{|L_e(G)|/e\mid e\in\text{Div}(\exp(G))\}\), where \(\text{Div}(\exp(G))\) is the set of all divisors of the exponent of \(G\). The paper is devoted to study the structure of \(G\) in the case \(\mathbf B(G)=m\) with \(m\geq 2\), by restricting to certain kind of groups, called \textit{refined} groups, which are groups satisfying that \(G\) and \(G/N\) do not have the same global breadth as long as \(N\neq 1\). The results extend the recent work of \textit{W. Meng} and \textit{J. Shi} [Arch. Math. 96, No. 2, 109-114 (2011; Zbl 1225.20023)], where groups with \(\mathbf B(G)=2\) are classified.