Bounding group orders by large character degrees: a question of Snyder. (Q471854)

This paper presents the latest improvement on a bound for the order of a finite group in terms of a character theoretic parameter. Namely, let \(d\) be the degree of an irreducible character of a finite group \(G\). We can write \(|G|=d(d+e)\) for some non-negative integer \(e\). The goal is to bound \(|G|\) in terms of \(e\) when \(e>1\) and to find the strongest such bound. Adding to work of Snyder, Isaacs, Durfee, and Jensen, the author proves that if \(G\) is a group with a nontrivial, abelian normal subgroup, and if \(e>1\), then \(d\leq e^2-e\) and \(|G|\leq e^4-e^3\). The proof is quite technical, using results on Camina pairs, Gagola characters, and Suzuki 2-groups, and ultimately relies on CFSG. The author also improves the general bound by proving that for any finite group \(G\), if \(e>1\), then \(|G|\leq e^4+e^3\). There is good reason to conjecture, as the author does, that the true optimal upper bound for any group is \(e^4-e^3\), and from the main result of the paper it follows that any counterexample to this must have all normal nontrivial subgroups nonabelian.