The AWC-goodness and essential rank of sporadic simple groups. (Q713408)

One of the main conjectures in the representation theory of finite groups, the Alperin weight conjecture (AWC), was formulated by \textit{J. L. Alperin} [in Representations of finite groups, Proc. Conf., Arcata/Calif. 1986, Pt. 1, Proc. Symp. Pure Math. 47, 369-379 (1987; Zbl 0657.20013)]. It states that the number of conjugacy classes of \(p\)-weights of a finite group \(G\) is equal to the number of conjugacy classes of elements of order coprime to \(p\) in \(G\). Although verified in many special cases, in its full generality the conjecture is still open. In [Invent. Math. 184, No. 3, 529-565 (2011; Zbl 1234.20010)], \textit{G. Navarro} and the reviewer proved a reduction theorem for the conjecture, which states that the AWC holds for the finite group \(G\) (and the prime \(p\)) as long as all simple groups involved in \(G\) satisfy a certain condition, called AWC-goodness (for the prime \(p\)). Note that another reduction theorem for the AWC was established by \textit{L. Puig} [in J. Algebra 372, 211-236 (2012; Zbl 1285.20007)]. In this paper, the authors prove that the AWC-goodness holds for all the 26 sporadic finite simple groups. The proof is partly computational, based on classifying radical subgroups in sporadic groups up to conjugacy. This classification also allows the authors to determine the essential \(p\)-rank of sporadic groups \(G\), a result of interest in the study of fusion systems on \(G\).