An exact upper bound for the sum of powers of element orders in non-cyclic finite groups (Q6199048)

Let \(G\) be a finite group and let \(\psi(G)=\sum_{g \in G} o(g)\) be the sum of element orders of \(G\). The function \(\psi\) was introduced by \textit{H. Amiri} et al. in [Commun. Algebra 37, No. 9, 2978--2980 (2009; Zbl 1183.20022)] where it is proven that, if \(|G|=n\), then \(\psi(G) \leq \psi(C_{n})\) (where \(C_{n}\) denotes the cyclic group with \(n\) elements) and equality holds if and only if \(G \simeq C_{n}\). Let \(\psi_{k}(G)=\sum_{g \in G} o(g)^{k}\) be the sum of the \(k\)-th powers of element orders of \(G\). In the paper under review the authors prove that, if \(G\) is a non-cyclic group of order \(n\), then \(\psi(G) \leq (1+3\cdot 2^{k}) \cdot (1+2^{k}+2\cdot 4^{k})^{-1}\cdot \psi(C_{n})\) and that this bound is the best possible (see Example 5.1). Furthermore, in Theorem 1.4, they provide a recursive formula for \(\psi_{k}(G)\) in the case where \(G\) is an abelian \(p\)-group.