On residuals of finite groups

A theorem of Dolfi, Herzog, Kaplan, and Lev \cite[Thm.~C]{DHKL} asserts that in a finite group with trivial Fitting subgroup, the size of the soluble residual of the group is bounded from below by a certain power of the group order, and that the inequality is sharp. Inspired by this result and some of the arguments in \cite{DHKL}, we establish the following generalisation: if $\mathfrak{X}$ is a subgroup-closed Fitting formation of full characteristic which does not contain all finite groups and $\overline{\mathfrak{X}}$ is the extension-closure of $\mathfrak{X}$, then there exists an (optimal) constant $\gamma$ depending only on $\mathfrak{X}$ such that, for all non-trivial finite groups $G$ with trivial $\mathfrak{X}$-radical, \begin{equation} \left\lvert G^{\overline{\mathfrak{X}}}\right\rvert \,>\, \vert G\vert^\gamma, \end{equation} where $G^{\overline{\mathfrak{X}}}$ is the ${\overline{\mathfrak{X}}}$-residual of $G$. When $\mathfrak{X} = \mathfrak{N}$, the class of finite nilpotent groups, it follows that $\overline{\mathfrak{X}} = \mathfrak{S}$, the class of finite soluble groups, thus we recover the original theorem of Dolfi, Herzog, Kaplan, and Lev. In the last section of our paper, building on J.\,G. Thompson's classification of minimal simple groups, we exhibit a family of subgroup-closed Fitting formations $\mathfrak{X}$ of full characteristic such that $\mathfrak{S} \subset \overline{\mathfrak{X}} \subset \mathfrak{E}$, thus providing applications of our main result beyond the reach of \cite[Thm.~C]{DHKL}.Comment: 19 page

On the distribution of the density of maximal order elements in general linear groups

In this paper we consider the density of maximal order elements in $\mathrm{GL}_n(q)$. Fixing any of the rank $n$ of the group, the characteristic $p$ or the degree $r$ of the extension of the underlying field $\mathbb{F}_q$ of size $q=p^r$, we compute the expected value of the said density and establish that it follows a distribution law.Comment: 20 pages, substantial corrections. Accepted for publication at The Ramanujan Journa

On the subgroup permutability degree of some finite simple groups.

PhDConsider a finite group G and subgroups H;K of G. We say that H and K permute if HK = KH and call H a permutable subgroup if H permutes with every subgroup of G. A group G is called quasi-Dedekind if all subgroups of G are permutable. We can define, for every finite group G, an arithmetic quantity that measures the probability that two subgroups (chosen uniformly at random with replacement) permute and we call this measure the subgroup permutability degree of G. This measure quantifies, among others, how close a finite group is to being quasi-Dedekind, or, equivalently, nilpotent with modular subgroup lattice. The main body of this thesis is concerned with the behaviour of the subgroup permutability degree of the two families of finite simple groups PSL2(2n), and Sz(q). In both cases the subgroups of the two families of simple groups are completely known and we shall use this fact to establish that the subgroup permutability degree in each case vanishes asymptotically as n or q respectively tends to infinity. The final chapter of the thesis deviates from the main line to examine groups, called F-groups, which behave like nilpotent groups with respect to the Frattini subgroup of quotients. Finally, we present in the Appendix joint research on the distribution of the density of maximal order elements in general linear groups and offer code for computations in GAP related to permutabilityChrysovergis Endowment, under the auspices of the National Scholarships Foundation of Greec

The X\mathcal{X}-series of a pp-group and complements of abelian subgroups

Let $G$ be a $p$-group. We denote by $\mathcal{X}_i(G)$ the intersection of all subgroups of $G$ having index $p^i$, for $i \leq \log_p(|G|)$. In this paper, the newly introduced series $\{\mathcal{X}_i(G)\}_i$ is investigated and a number of results concerning its behaviour are proved. As an application of these results, we show that if an abelian subgroup $A$ of $G$ intersects each one of the subgroups $\mathcal{X}_i(G)$ at $\mathcal{X}_i(A)$, then $A$ has a complement in $G$. Conversely if an arbitrary subgroup $H$ of $G$ has a normal complement, then $\mathcal{X}_i(H) = \mathcal{X}_i(G) \cap H$

Common transversals and complements in abelian groups

Given a finite abelian group $G$ and cyclic subgroups $A$, $B$, $C$ of $G$ of the same order, we find necessary and sufficient conditions for $A$, $B$, $C$ to admit a common transversal for the cosets they afford. For an arbitrary number of cyclic subgroups we give a sufficient criterion when there exists a common complement. Moreover, in several cases where a common transversal exists, we provide concrete constructions.Comment: 14 page