On the domination number of proper power graphs of finite groups (Q6972918)

Let \(G\) be a finite group. The proper power graph \(\mathcal{P}^\ast(G)\) is the simple undirected graph whose vertex set is \(G^\ast := G \setminus \{e\}\), and where two distinct vertices are adjacent if one is a power of the other. This paper investigates the domination number \(\gamma(\mathcal{P}^\ast(G))\), defined as the cardinality of a smallest subset \(D \subseteq G^\ast\) such that every vertex in \(G^\ast \setminus D\) is adjacent to some vertex in \(D\). The focus is on structural and quantitative aspects of \(\gamma(\mathcal{P}^\ast(G))\), particularly for nilpotent groups and direct products.\N\NThe authors first establish general lower and upper bounds for \(\gamma(\mathcal{P}^\ast(G))\) in terms of the number of subgroups of prime order in \(G\). In the case where \(G\) is a finite \(p\)-group, the domination number coincides with the number of subgroups of order \(p\).\N\NNext, they sharpen the upper bound for nilpotent groups by introducing a subset \(B\) of prime divisors \(\pi(G)\) for which the corresponding Sylow subgroup contains a unique maximal cyclic subgroup for some element of prime order. Under this condition, a refined upper bound is proved that can improve the general one.\N\NThe third main result concerns direct products: for \(G = H \times K\), they prove that \(\gamma(\mathcal{P}^\ast(G)) \ge \gamma(\mathcal{P}^\ast(H)) + \gamma(\mathcal{P}^\ast(K)) - 1\), with equality characterized by the existence of prime order elements lying in unique maximal cyclic subgroups.\N\NThe final sections apply the theory to compute exact values of \(\gamma(\mathcal{P}^\ast(G))\) for various classes of nilpotent groups, including generalized quaternion groups, direct products with cyclic groups, and groups of order divisible by two primes.