On the order sequence of a group (Q6987884)

The sum of the element orders of a finite group \(G\) was introduced as the function\N\[\N\psi(G) = \sum_{g \in G} |g|,\N\]\Nby \textit{H. Amiri} et al. [Commun. Algebra 37, No. 9, 2978--2980 (2009; Zbl 1183.20022)]. They showed that among all finite groups of a given order, the cyclic group attains the maximum value of \(\psi\). This naturally led to the question of determining which group has the second-largest value of \(\psi\).\N\NSince then, numerous interesting results have been proved in the literature concerning problems related to the sum and product of element orders, the average order of elements and other combinatorial aspects of group structure.\N\NIn the paper under review, the authors extend these investigations by introducing a new group invariant: the \emph{order sequence} of a finite group. For a finite group \(G\), the order sequence is defined as the ordered list\N\[\N\operatorname{os}(G) = (o(g_1), o(g_2), \ldots, o(g_s)),\N\]\Nwhere \(o(g_i)\) denotes the order of the \(i\)-th element of \(G\), listed in increasing order (with possible repetitions).\N\NUsing this concept, the authors prove new structural results for various classes of groups including abelian, nilpotent and non-nilpotent groups. The paper ends with several interesting open problems.