Finite groups with only one strongly monolithic character (Q6833546)

Let \(G\) be a finite group, and let \(\mathrm{Irr}(G)\) denote the set of its irreducible characters. The paper studies the subset of strongly monolithic characters, that is, those \(\chi \in \mathrm{Irr}(G)\) such that \(G/\ker \chi\) has exactly one minimal normal subgroup and, moreover, either \(Z(G/\ker \chi)=1\) or \(G/\ker \chi\) is a \(p\)-group whose unique minimal normal subgroup is the whole group. The paper shows that this restricted subset of \(\mathrm{Irr}(G)\) still imposes strong structural constraints on \(G\).\N\NThe main result gives a complete classification of the finite groups for which the set of strongly monolithic characters has cardinality one. It shows that this occurs if and only if \(G\) is solvable and one of the following holds: (1) \(G=P\times A\), where \(P\) is an extraspecial \(2\)-group or a \(2\)-group of maximal class and \(A\) is an abelian group of odd order; (2) \(G' \cap Z(G)=1\) and \(G/Z(G)\) is a doubly transitive Frobenius group with abelian complement; (3) \(G' \cong Q_8\) and \(G/Z_2(G)\cong A_4\).\N\NThe proof is by induction on \(|G|\) and uses the classification, due to \textit{G.~Seitz}, of finite groups with exactly one nonlinear irreducible character [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 19, 459--461 (1968; Zbl 0244.20010)]. The final remarks further describe the three classes arising in the theorem: (1) the groups of the first type are precisely the nilpotent examples; (2) those of the second type are semidirect products \(G=M\rtimes A\) with \(|M|>2\), where \(A\) is abelian and acts transitively on \(M\setminus{1}\); and (3) those of the third type have derived length three.