arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to George Glauberman.
Suppose $p$ is a prime and $S$ is a Sylow $p$-subgroup of a finite group $G$. If $S$ is normal in $G$, then $Z(S)$ is the direct product of $S \cap Z(G)$ with $[Z(S), G]$. We prove an analogous result for all groups except in some cases where $p=2$ and $G$ is not solvable, where we have counterexamples. We also extend this result to fusion systems.
We study here the higher derived limits of mod $p$ cohomology on the centric orbit category of a saturated fusion system on a finite $p$-group. It is an open problem whether all such higher limits vanish. This is known in many cases, including for fusion systems realized by a finite group and for many classes of fusion systems which are not so realized. We prove that the higher limits of $H^j$ vanish provided $j \leq p-2$, by showing that the same is true for the contravariant part of a simple Mackey composition factor of $H^j$ under the same conditions.
A rigid automorphism of a linking system is an automorphism which restricts to the identity on the Sylow subgroup. A rigid inner automorphism is conjugation by an element in the center of the Sylow subgroup. At odd primes, it is known that each rigid automorphism of a centric linking system is inner. We prove that the group of rigid outer automorphisms of a linking system at the prime $2$ is elementary abelian, and that it splits over the subgroup of rigid inner automorphisms. In a second result, we show that if an automorphism of a finite group $G$ restricts to the identity on the centric linking system for $G$, then it is of $p'$-order modulo the group of inner automorphisms, provided $G$ has no nontrivial normal $p'$-subgroups. We present two applications of this last result, one to tame fusion systems.
Suppose that p is an odd prime and G is a finite group having no normal non-trivial p'-subgroup. We show that if a is an automorphism of G of p-power order centralizing a Sylow p-group of G, then a is inner. This answers a conjecture of Gross. An easy corollary is that if p is an odd prime and P is a Sylow p-subgroup of G, then the center of P is contained in the generalized Fitting subgroup of G. We give two proofs both requiring the classification of finite simple groups. For p=2, the result fails but Glauberman in 1968 proved that the square of a is inner. This answered a problem of Kourovka posed in 1999.
M.Newman has asked if it is the case that whenever H and K are isomorphic subgroups of a finite solvable group G with H maximal, then K is also maximal. This question was considered in a paper of I.M. Isaacs and the second author, where (among other things) the answer was shown to be affirmative if H has an Abelian Sylow 2-subgroup. Here, we show that the answer is affirmative unless the index of H is a power of a prime less than 5 and we obtain further restrictions on the structure of a purported minimal counterexample.
A. Chermak has recently proved that to each saturated fusion system over a finite $p$-group, there is a unique associated centric linking system. B. Oliver extended Chermak's proof by showing that all the higher cohomological obstruction groups relevant to unique existence of centric linking systems vanish. Both proofs indirectly assume the classification of finite simple groups. We show how to remove this assumption, thereby giving a classification-free proof of the Martino-Priddy conjecture concerning the $p$-completed classifying spaces of finite groups. Our main tool is a 1971 result of the first author on control of fixed points by $p$-local subgroups. This result is directly applicable for odd primes, and we show how a slight variation of it allows applications for $p=2$ in the presence of offenders.