Omega subgroups of powerful \(p\)-groups. (Q926398)

Using only the basic properties of powerful \(p\)-groups, and a form of Hall's collection formula, the author gives a short, elementary proof of results of \textit{L.~E.~Wilson} [J. Group Theory 7, No. 1, 75-80 (2004; Zbl 1044.20007)], and of \textit{L.~Héthelyi} and \textit{L.~Lévai} [J. Algebra 270, No. 1, 1-6 (2003; Zbl 1037.20019)]. These state the following. Let \(G\) be a finite \(p\)-group, \(p\) a prime. Write \(\Omega_{\{i\}}(G)\) for the set of elements of order at most \(p^i\) in \(G\), and let \(\Omega_i(G)\) be the subgroup it generates. The results of Wilson state that if \(p\) is odd, then the two sets coincide (so that the latter has exponent at most \(p^i\)), while for \(p=2\) one has that the exponent of the latter is at most \(2^{i+1}\). The result of Héthelyi and Lévai states that \(|G:G^{p^i}|=|\Omega_{\{i\}}(G)|\).