On finite groups whose power graph is claw-free (Q7028874)

The power graph \(\mathscr{P}(G)\) of a group \(G\) is the graph whose vertices are the elements of \(G\) with an edge between two distinct elements \(x\) and \(y\) if one is a power of the other, that is, \(x = y^m\) or \(y = x^n\) for some \(m,n \in \mathbb{N}\). The reduced power graph \(\mathscr{P}^{\ast}(G)\) is the subgraph of \(\mathscr{P}(G)\) induced on \(G \setminus \{1\}\), where \(1\) denotes the identity element of \(G\). A graph is said to be claw-free if it does not contain an induced subgraph isomorphic to the claw \(K_{1,3}\).\N\NThe first main result is Theorem~1.3, where the authors prove that if \(G\) is a finite solvable group and \(\mathscr{P}^{\ast}(G)\) is claw-free, then \(|\pi(G)| \leq 4\). The authors then consider the case of non-solvable groups and show that if \(\mathscr{P}^{\ast}(G)\) is claw-free, then \(G\) must be isomorphic to either \(\mathrm{PSL}(2,q)\) or \(\mathrm{PGL}(2,q)\), for suitable values of \(q\) (Theorem~1.4). From this classification, they deduce Theorem~1.5, which asserts that if \(\mathscr{P}^{\ast}(G)\) is claw-free, then \(|\pi(G)| \leq 5\).