On minimal Artinian modules and minimal Artinian linear groups (Q5957254)

Let \(V\) be a vector space over the field \(F\). The authors study subgroups \(G\) of \(\text{GL}(V)\) such that \(V\) does not have a composition series as \(FG\)-module of finite length but that every proper \(FG\)-submodule of \(V\) does have a composition series as \(FG\)-module of finite length. Clearly \(V\) is then an Artinian \(FG\)-module. The authors say that such an \(FG\)-module \(V\) is `minimal Artinian' and by extension call such a group \(G\) `minimal Artinian'. Both terms need to be used with great care if confusion is to be avoided; such groups \(G\) need not be Artinian as groups, for example. The authors have a dozen or more of results about such groups \(G\). They mainly relate to the centre, to the FC-centre, to certain locally soluble normal subgroups of \(G\) and, if \(\text{char }F=p>0\), to certain normal \(p\)-subgroups of \(G\). Using these the authors describe the structure of \(G\) in special cases; for example, when \(G\) is Abelian or an FC-group or hypercentral. As a result they can show that if such a group \(G\) is also an FC-group, then \(G\) has a \(G\)-faithful irreducible \(FG\)-module.