Almost all extraspecial <i>p</i>-groups are swan groups (Q4515439)

Let \(G\) be a finite group with an extraspecial group \(P\) as a Sylow \(p\)-subgroup. Assume that \(P\) is not the dihedral group of order~8, and not of order~\(p^3\) and exponent~\(p\) with~\(p\) odd. The authors prove that the modulo~\(p\) cohomology \(H^*(G)\) of \(G\) coincides with that of the normalizer \(N_G(P)\) of \(P\) (which, in turn, is isomorphic to the invariant ring \(H^*(P)^{N_G(P)/P}\)). Groups \(P\) with this property are called Swan groups. The paper is written in a way to be understandable also by non-experts. The first two sections contain a brief introduction to the theory of extraspecial \(p\)-groups and some group theoretic lemmas. Then the main result is proved, and the exceptional cases are considered.