On the number of elements that are not \(k\)th powers in a group. (Q896036)

For a group \(G\) and a positive integer \(k\), write \(n_k(G)\) for the number of elements in \(G\) that are not \(k\)-th powers. In this paper, the authors investigate the consequences of an upper bound on \(n_k(G)\). When \(G\) is finite, their main result asserts that if \(n=n_k(G)>0\), then \(|G|\leq n(n+1)\) and in fact \(|G|\leq n^2\) except when \(G\) is a Frobenius group with kernel of order \(n+1\) and complement of order \(n\). For a general group \(G\), the authors' aim was to prove that if \(0<n_k(G)<\infty\), then \(|G|<\infty\). This aim was achieved for special classes of group \(G\), for instance residually finite groups and groups with a finite-index nilpotent subgroup.