Normal subgroups and class sizes of elements of prime power order. (Q2846835)

If \(G\) is a finite group, many authors have investigated how the structure of \(G\) is controlled by some arithmetical conditions on the sizes of its conjugacy classes. \textit{N. Itô} [Nagoya Math. J. 6, 17-28 (1953; Zbl 0053.01202)] proved that if \(G\) has only two class sizes, then \(G\) is nilpotent. This result was extended by \textit{S. Li} [Arch. Math. 67, No. 2, 100-105 (1996; Zbl 0854.20034)], who proved that if \(G\) has exactly two class sizes of elements of prime power order, then \(G\) is solvable. A remarkable fact is that Itô's result is quite elementary, while Li's one needs to appeal to the Classification of the Finite Simple Groups.NEWLINENEWLINE More recently, several researches have put forward the influence of the sizes of the conjugacy classes of \(G\) contained in a normal subgroup \(N\) (the so-called \(G\)-class sizes of \(N\)) on the structure of \(N\). This approach allows to work by induction, which is not usual when dealing with conjugacy classes. The paper under review is a new contribution in this line.NEWLINENEWLINE The main result of the paper asserts that if \(G\) is a finite group and \(N\) is a normal subgroup with two \(G\)-class sizes of elements of prime power order, then \(N\) is nilpotent. The proof of this theorem makes use of two applications of the CFSG: A result on fixed points in transitive permutation groups, and another one concerning certain properties of Schur multipliers in non-Abelian simple groups.NEWLINENEWLINE As a consequence, the following improvement of Li's theorem, when \(N=G\), is obtained: If \(G\) has two class sizes of elements of prime power order, then \(G\) is nilpotent. More precisely, \(G=P\times A\) with \(A\) Abelian and \(P\) a \(p\)-group for some prime \(p\).NEWLINENEWLINE Moreover, the main theorem of \textit{E. Alemany} and the authors [in Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 139, No. 8, 2663-2669 (2011; Zbl 1236.20036)] is also generalized.