On the composition length of finite primitive linear groups (Q1865715)

An irreducible subgroup \(G\) of \(\text{GL}_K(V)\) is called quasi-primitive if every normal subgroup of \(G\) is homogeneous on \(V\). Let \(K\) be a finite field or a number field, \(V\) a \(K\)-vector space, and \(G\) a finite quasi-primitive subgroup of \(\text{GL}_K(V)\). The authors bound the composition length of \(G\) in terms of the dimension of \(V\) over \(K\) and the degree of \(K\) over its prime subfield. As a by-product, the authors prove a result of number theory which bounds the number of prime factors (counting multiplicities) of \(q^n-1\) (\(q,n\geq 1\) integers), improving a result of \textit{A. Turull} and \textit{A. Zame} [Arch. Math. 55, No. 4, 333-341 (1990; Zbl 0691.10035)].