Coprime automorphisms and their commutators (Q5952288)

Using the classification of the finite simple groups, the authors prove the following two results: Theorem A. Let \(G\) be a finite group and let \(A\) be a group of automorphisms of \(G\) such that the orders of \(G\) and \(A\) are coprime. If \(|G:C_G(A)|\leq n\) then \(|[G,A]|\leq n^{\log_2(n+1)}\). Theorem B. Let \(G\) be a finite \(p\)-group for some prime \(p\) and let \(A\) be a group of automorphisms of \(G\) such that the orders of \(G\) and \(A\) are coprime. If \(|G:C_G(A)|\leq p^m\) then \(|[G,A]|\leq p^{(m^2+m)/2}\). Examples show that, for odd \(p\), the bound given in Theorem B is best possible and that the assumption of \((|G|,|A|)=1\) in both theorems cannot be omitted.