On common zeros of characters of finite groups

Abstract

Let $G$ be a finite group, and let $\text{Irr}(G)$ denote the set of the irreducible complex characters of $G$. An element $g\in G$ is called a vanishing element of $G$ if there exists $\chi\in\text{Irr}(G)$ such that $\chi(g)=0$ (i.e., $g$ is a zero of $\chi$) and, in this case, the conjugacy class $g^G$ of $g$ in $G$ is called a vanishing conjugacy class. In this paper we consider several problems concerning vanishing elements and vanishing conjugacy classes; in particular, we consider the problem of determining the least number of conjugacy classes of a finite group $G$ such that every non-linear $\chi\in\text{Irr}(G)$ vanishes on one of them. We also consider the related problem of determining the minimum number of non-linear irreducible characters of a group such that two of them have a common zero.