A characterization of powerful \(p\)-groups. (Q466136)

Let \(p\) be an odd prime. A finite \(p\)-group is said to be powerful if its derived subgroup \([G,G]\) is contained in \(G^p\), the subgroup generated by \(p\)-th powers of elements of \(G\). In this paper the authors answer positively for \(p\geq 5\) a question posed by Klopsch and Snopce. For \(p\) odd, is it true that a finite \(p\)-group is powerful if and only if the minimal number of generators needed for \(G\), denoted \(d(G)\), is equal to \(\log_p(\Omega_1(G))\), where \(\Omega_1(G)\) denotes the subgroup of \(G\) generated by elements of order \(p\)? For \(p=3\) the authors demonstrate the result is not true by giving a family of counterexamples. From this result the original question of Klopsch and Snopce follows, for \(p\geq 5\) a torsion-free pro-\(p\) group \(G\) is uniform if and only if \(d(G)=\dim(G)\). The proofs make use of the notions of \(\omega\)-maximal groups and interchangeable words.