On almost regular automorphisms. (Q849215)

By a classical result of Burnside, a finite group admitting a fixed-point-free automorphism of order two is Abelian of odd order. \textit{B. Hartley} and \textit{Th. Meixner} [J. Algebra 64, 285-291 (1980; Zbl 0429.20039)] proved that if a periodic group admits an automorphism of order two with \(m\) fixed points, then the group contains a nilpotent subgroup of class at most two and of index bounded above by a function \(f(m)\) of \(m\) only. In the present paper it is proved that a polycyclic group admitting an automorphism of order two with finitely many fixed points is Abelian-by-finite. Let's notice that there is a generalization of this result for an automorphism of arbitrary prime order [\textit{G. Endimioni}, J. Algebra 323, No. 11, 3142-3146 (2010; Zbl 1202.20037)].