1. Introduction
Throughout this paper, all groups are finite and G always denotes a finite group.
Let
$K\leq H$
and A be subgroups of G. Then we say that A avoids the pair
$(H, K)$
if
$A\cap H =A\cap K$
.
A subgroup H of G is said to be Sylow permutable or S-permutable [Reference Ballester-Bolinches, Beidleman and Heineken2, Reference Ballester-Bolinches, Esteban-Romero and Asaad3] in G if H permutes with every Sylow subgroup P of G, that is,
$HP=PH$
.
The S-permutable subgroups possess a series of interesting properties and they are closely related to subnormal subgroups. For instance, if
$ H$
is an S-permutable subgroup of G, then H is subnormal in G (Kegel [Reference Kegel10]), the normaliser
$N_{G}(H)$
of H is also S-permutable in G (Schmid [Reference Schmid12]) and the quotient
$H/H_{G}$
is nilpotent (Deskins [Reference Deskins6]).
Note also that the S-permutable subgroups of G form a sublattice of the lattice of all subnormal subgroups of G (Kegel [Reference Kegel10]) and this important result allows us to associate with each subgroup A of G two S-permutable subgroups of G: the S-core
$A_{sG}$
of A in G [Reference Skiba13], that is, the subgroup of A generated by all S-permutable subgroups of G contained in A and the S-permutable closure
$A^{sG}$
of A in G [Reference Guo and Skiba8], that is, the intersection of all S-permutable subgroups of G containing A.
The subgroups
$A_{sG}$
and
$A^{sG}$
have found numerous applications in the study of the structure of nonsimple groups (see, in particular, [Reference Guo and Skiba8, Reference Miao11, Reference Skiba13, Reference Wei, Lv, Dai, Zhang and Yang14]), and in this paper, we consider the use of such subgroups in the theory of
${PST}$
-groups.
Recall that G is a
${PST}$
-group [Reference Ballester-Bolinches, Beidleman and Heineken2, Reference Ballester-Bolinches, Esteban-Romero and Asaad3] if S-permutability is a transitive relation in G, that is, if K is an S-permutable subgroup of H and H is an S-permutable subgroup of G, then K is S-permutable in G. The description of soluble
${PST}$
-groups was first obtained by Agrawal [Reference Agrawal1].
Theorem 1.1 (Agrawal [Reference Agrawal1]).
Let
$D=G^{\mathfrak {N}}$
be the nilpotent residual of a soluble group G, that is, the intersection of all normal subgroups N of G with nilpotent
$G/N$
. Then G is a
${PST}$
-group if and only if D is an abelian Hall subgroup of G of odd order and every element of
$ G$
induces a power automorphism in D.
There are many other interesting characterisations of soluble
${PST}$
-groups (see, for example, [Reference Ballester-Bolinches, Esteban-Romero and Asaad3, Ch. 2]). In particular, a soluble group G is a
${PST}$
-group if and only if every chief factor of G between
$A^{G}$
and
$A_{G}$
is central in G for every subgroup A of G such that
$A^{G}/A_{G}$
is nilpotent [Reference Chi and Skiba5], and a soluble group G is a
${PST}$
-group if and only if for every maximal subgroup V of every Sylow subgroup of G, there is a
${PST}$
-subgroup T of G such that
$G=VT$
[Reference Guo, Guo, Safonova and Skiba7].
In this paper, we prove the following result.
Theorem 1.2. Let
$D=G^{\mathfrak {N}}$
be the nilpotent residual of a soluble group G. Then G is a
${PST}$
-group if and only if D avoids the pair
$(A^{sG}, A_{sG})$
for every subnormal subgroup A of G.
2. Preliminaries
Lemma 2.1. If D avoids the pair
$(A^{sG}, A_{sG})$
and for a minimal normal subgroup R of G we have either
$R \leq D$
or
$R \leq A$
, then
$DR/R$
avoids the pair
$((AR/R)^{s(G/R)}, (AR/R)_{s(G/R)})$
.
Proof. First assume that
$R \leq D$
. Then

However,

Therefore,
$(DR/R)\cap (AR/R)^{s(G/R)}\leq (DR/R)\cap (AR/R)_{s(G/R)} $
and hence

so
$DR/R$
avoids the pair
$((AR/R)^{s(G/R)}, (AR/R)_{s(G/R)})$
.
Now assume that
$R \leq A$
. Then

Hence,
$DR/R$
avoids
$((AR/R)^{s(G/R)},(AR/R)_{s(G/R)})$
.
The following lemma is a corollary of [Reference Guo and Skiba8, Lemmas 2.4 and 2.5].
Lemma 2.2. If
$A\leq E\leq G$
, then
$A_{sG}\leq A_{sE}\leq A\leq A^{sE}\leq A^{sG}$
.
The following useful fact is obtained from [Reference Ballester-Bolinches and Ezquerro4, Proposition 2.2.8].
Lemma 2.3. Let N and E be subgroups of G, where N is normal in G. Then:
-
(1)
$(G/N)^{\frak {N}}=G^{\frak {N}}N/N$ ;
-
(2)
$E^{\frak {N}}\leq G^{\frak {N}}$ ; and
-
(3) if
$G=NE$ , then
$E^{\frak {N}}N=G^{\frak {N}}N$ .
Lemma 2.4. If the nilpotent residual
$D=G^{\mathfrak {N}}$
of G avoids the pair
$(A^{sG}, A_{sG})$
and
$A\leq E\leq G$
, then
$E^{\mathfrak {N}}$
avoids the pair
$(A^{sE}, A_{sE})$
.
Proof. We have
$A_{sG}\leq A_{sE}\leq A\leq A^{sE}\leq A^{G}$
by Lemma 2.2, and so from
$A^{sG}\cap D=A_{sG}\cap D$
and Lemma 2.3(2), it follows that
$E^{\mathfrak {N}}\cap A^{sG}\leq E^{\mathfrak {N}}\cap A_{sG}$
, where
$E^{\mathfrak {N}}\cap A^{sE}\leq E^{\mathfrak {N}}\cap A^{sG}$
and
$ E^{\mathfrak {N}}\cap A_{sG}\leq E^{\mathfrak {N_{\sigma }}}\cap A_{sE}$
.
Consequently,
$E^{\mathfrak {N}}\cap A^{sE}\leq E^{\mathfrak {N}}\cap A_{sE}\leq E^{\mathfrak {N}}\cap A^{sE}$
and
$E^{\mathfrak {N}}\cap A^{sE}= E^{\mathfrak {N}}\cap A_{sE}$
. Hence,
$E^{\mathfrak {N}}$
avoids the pair
$(A^{sEG}, A_{sE})$
. The lemma is proved.
A group G is called
$\pi $
-closed if G has a normal Hall
$\pi $
-subgroup.
Lemma 2.5. Let
$K\leq H $
be normal subgroups of G, where
$H/K$
is
$\pi $
-closed. If either
$K\leq \Phi (G)$
or
$K\leq Z_{\infty }(H)$
, then H is
$\pi $
-closed.
Proof. Let
$V/K $
be the normal Hall
$\pi $
-subgroup of
$H/K$
. Let D be a Hall
$\pi '$
-subgroup of K. Then D is a normal Hall
$\pi '$
-subgroup of V since K is nilpotent, so V has a Hall
$\pi $
-subgroup, E say, by the Schur–Zassenhaus theorem. It is clear that V is
$\pi '$
-soluble, so any two Hall
$\pi $
-subgroups of V are conjugated in V by the Hall–Chunikhin theorem on
$\pi $
-soluble groups.
Assume that
$K\leq \Phi (G)$
. By a generalised Frattini argument,
$G=VN_{G}(E)=DEN_{G}(E)=DN_{G}(E)=N_{G}(E)$
since
$D\leq K\leq \Phi (G)$
. Thus, E is normal in H, that is, H is
$\pi $
-closed since E is a Hall
$\pi $
-subgroup of H.
Finally, assume that
$K\leq Z_{\infty }(H)$
and then
$D\leq Z_{\infty }(V)$
, so
$V=D\rtimes E=D\times E$
. Hence, E is characteristic in V and so normal in H. Thus, H is
$\pi $
-closed. The lemma is proved.
Lemma 2.6. Let
$D=G^{\frak {N}}$
be the nilpotent residual of G and p a prime such that
$(p-1, |G|)=1$
. If D is nilpotent and every subgroup of D is normal in G, then
$(p, |D|)=1$
. Hence, the smallest prime in
$\pi (G)$
belongs to
$\pi (|G:D|)$
. In particular,
$|D|$
is odd and so D is abelian.
Proof. Assume that p divides
$|D|$
. Then D has a maximal subgroup M such that
$|D:M|=p$
and M is normal in G. It follows that
$C_{G}(D/M)=G$
, that is,
$D/M\leq Z(G/M)$
since
$(p-1, |G|)=1$
. However,
$G/D$
is nilpotent. Therefore,
$G/M$
is nilpotent by Lemma 2.5 and hence
$D\leq M < D$
, which is a contradiction. Therefore, the smallest prime in
$\pi (G)$
belongs to
$\pi (|G:D|)$
. In particular,
$|D|$
is odd and so D is abelian since D is a Dedekind group by hypothesis. The lemma is proved.
Definition 2.7. A subgroup D of G is a special subgroup of G if D is a normal Hall subgroup of G and every element of G induces a power automorphism in D.
Lemma 2.8. If D is a special subgroup of G and
$N \trianglelefteq G$
, then
$DN/N$
is a special subgroup of
$G/N$
.
Proof. It is clear that
$DN/N$
is a normal Hall subgroup of
$G/N$
and if
$A/N\leq DN/N$
, then
$A=N(A\cap D)$
, where
$A\cap D$
is normal in G, so
$A/N$
is normal in
$G/N$
, that is, every element of
$G/N$
induces a power automorphism in
$DN/N$
. The lemma is proved.
Lemma 2.9 [Reference Ballester-Bolinches, Esteban-Romero and Asaad3, Theorem 1.2.17].
If A is a nilpotent S-permutable subgroup of G and V is a Sylow subgroup of A, then V is S-permutable in G.
Lemma 2.10. If the nilpotent residual
$D=G^{\mathfrak {N}}$
of G is a special subgroup of G and A is an S-permutable subgroup of G, then D avoids the pair
$(A^{sG}, A_{sG})$
.
Proof. Since
$A_{G}\leq A_{sG}\leq A\leq A^{sG}\leq A^{G}$
by Lemma 2.2, it is enough to show that D avoids the pair
$(A^{G}, A_{G})$
. Assume this is false and let G be a counterexample of minimal order.
First we prove that
$A\cap D=1$
. Indeed, assume that
$N:=A\cap D\ne 1$
. Then
$N\leq A_{G}$
and
$D/N=(G/N)^{\mathfrak {N}}$
is a special subgroup of
$G/N$
by Lemma 2.8, and
$A/N$
is an S-permutable subgroup of
$G/N$
by [Reference Ballester-Bolinches, Esteban-Romero and Asaad3, Lemma 1.2.7]. Therefore,
$(G/N)^{\mathfrak {N}}$
avoids the pair
$ ((A/N)^{G/N}, (A/N)_{G/N})$
by the choice of G, that is,

However,
$(A/N)^{G/N}=A^{G}/N$
and
$(A/N)_{G/N}=A_{G}/N$
, so

and

Consequently,
$D\cap A^{G}=D\cap A_{G}$
. Hence, D avoids the pair
$(A^{G}, A_{G})$
, which is a contradiction.
Therefore,
$A\cap D=1$
, so
$AD/D\simeq A= P_{1}\times \cdots \times P_{t}$
, where
$P_{i}$
is the Sylow
$p_{i}$
-subgroup of A for all i. Then
$P_{i}$
is S-permutable in G by Lemma 2.9 and so
$D\leq N_{G}(P_{i})$
for all i by [Reference Ballester-Bolinches, Esteban-Romero and Asaad3, Lemma 1.2.16]. Therefore,
$D\leq N_{G}(A)$
.
Let
$\pi =\pi (D)$
. Then G is
$\pi $
-soluble since every subgroup of D is normal in G by hypothesis. Moreover, D has a complement M in G since D is a Hall
$\pi $
-subgroup of G and for some
$x\in G$
, we have
$A\leq M^{x}$
by the Chunikhin–Hall theorem [Reference Huppert9, VI, Hauptsatz 1.7]. Finally,
$D\leq N_{G}(A)$
and hence
$A^{G}=A^{DM^{x}}=A^{M^{x}}\leq M_{G}\leq M$
, so
$A^{G}\cap D=1$
. Therefore, D avoids
$(A^{G}, A_{G})=(A^{G}, 1)$
, contrary to the choice of G. The lemma is proved.
3. Proof of Theorem 1.2
First suppose that D avoids the pair
$(A^{sG}, A_{sG})$
for every subnormal subgroup A of G. We show that, in this case, G is a
${PST}$
-group. Assume this is false and let G be a counterexample of minimal order. Then
$D\ne 1$
since
$G/D$
is nilpotent and so
$G/D$
is a
${PST}$
-group.
Claim 1. If R is a minimal normal subgroup of G, then
$G/R$
is a
${PST}$
-group.
In view of the choice of G, it is enough to show that the hypothesis holds for
$G/R$
. First note that
$DR/R=(G/R)^{\mathfrak {N}}$
by Lemma 2.3 and if
$A/R$
is a subnormal subgroup of
$G/R$
, then A is subnormal in G, so D avoids the pair
$(A^{sG}, A_{sG})$
by hypothesis. Therefore,
$DR/R$
avoids the pair
$((A/R)^{s(G/R)}, (A/R)_{s(G/R)})$
by Lemma 2.1. This proves Claim 1.
Claim 2. If E is a proper subnormal subgroup of G, then E is a
${PST}$
-group.
Every subnormal subgroup A of E is subnormal in G, so D avoids the pair
$(A^{sG}, A_{sG})$
by hypothesis. However, then
$E^{\mathfrak {N}}$
avoids the pair
$(A^{sE}, A_{sE})$
by Lemma 2.4. Hence, the hypothesis holds for E, so Claim 2 holds by the choice of G.
Claim 3. D is nilpotent and every subgroup of D is S-permutable in G. Hence, every chief factor of G below D is cyclic.
First we show that if
$L\leq D$
, where L is a minimal normal subgroup of G, then L is cyclic. Since G is soluble,
$L\leq G_{p}$
for some Sylow subgroup
$G_{p}$
of G and then some maximal subgroup V of L is normal in
$G_{p}$
and V is subnormal in G. Assume that V is not S-permutable in G. Then
$V\ne 1$
and
$V^{sG}=L$
, so
$V^{sG}\cap D=L=V_{sG}\cap D < V< L,$
which is a contradiction. Hence, V is S-permutable in G, so
$G=G_{p}O^{p}(G)\leq N_{G}(V)$
by [Reference Ballester-Bolinches, Esteban-Romero and Asaad3, Lemma 1.2.16]. Therefore,
$V=1$
, so
$|L|=p$
.
Now we show that D is nilpotent. Assume that this is false and let R be a minimal normal subgroup of G. Then
$G/R$
is a
${PST}$
-group by Claim 1.
Note also that
$(G/R)^{\frak {N}}=RD/R \simeq D/(D\cap R)$
by Lemma 2.3, where
$(G/R)^{\frak {N}}$
is abelian by Theorem 1.1, so
$R\leq D$
and if N is a minimal normal subgroup of G, then
$N=R$
since otherwise
$D\simeq D/1=D/(N\cap R)$
is abelian. Moreover,
$|R|=p$
for some prime p and
$R\nleq \Phi (G)$
by Lemma 2.5, so for some maximal subgroup M of G, we have
$G=R\rtimes M$
and
$C_{G}(R)\cap M$
is a normal subgroup of G, so
$C_{G}(R)\cap M=1$
. Therefore,
$C_{G}(R)=R(C_{G}(R)\cap M)=R$
and then
$G/R=G/C_{G}(R)$
is cyclic. Hence,
$R=D$
is nilpotent. This contradiction shows that D is nilpotent. So, for every subgroup A of D,

Therefore, every subgroup of D is S-permutable in G.
By Theorem 1.1 and Claim 1, every chief factor of G between R and D is cyclic, so every chief factor of G below D is cyclic by the Jordan–Hölder theorem for the chief series. Hence, Claim 3 holds.
Claim 4. D is a Hall subgroup of G.
Suppose that this is false and let P be a Sylow p-subgroup of D such that
${1 < P < G_{p}}$
, where
$G_{p}\in \text {Syl}_{p}(G)$
.
(a)
$D=P$
is a minimal normal subgroup of G and
$|D|=p$
. Hence,
$D\leq Z(G_{p})$
and
$G_{p}$
is normal in G.
Let R be a minimal normal subgroup of G contained in D. Then R is a q-group for some prime q and
$D/R=(G/R)^{\mathfrak {N}}$
is a Hall subgroup of
$G/R$
by Claim 1 and Theorem 1.1.
Suppose that
$PR/R \ne 1$
. Then
$PR/R \in \text {Syl}_{p}(G/R)$
. If
$q\ne p$
, then
$P \in \text {Syl}_{p}(G)$
. This contradicts the fact that
$P < G_{p}$
. Hence,
$q=p$
, so
$R\leq P$
and therefore,
$P/R \in \text {Syl}_{p}(G/R)$
and again
$P \in \text {Syl}_{p}(G)$
. This contradiction shows that
$PR/R=1$
, which implies that
$R=P$
is the unique minimal normal subgroup of G contained in D. Since D is nilpotent, a
$p'$
-complement E of D is characteristic in D and so it is normal in G. Hence,
$E=1$
, which implies that
$R=D=P$
. Claim 3 implies that
$|D|=p$
, so
$D\leq Z(G_{p})$
. Finally, since
$G/D$
is nilpotent and
$D \leq G_{p}$
,
$G_{p}$
is normal in G.
(b)
$D\nleq \Phi (G)$
. Hence,
$G=D\rtimes M$
for some maximal subgroup M of G and
$C_{G}(D)=D\times (C_{G}(D)\cap M$
).
This follows from part (a) since G is not nilpotent.
(c) If G has a minimal normal subgroup
$L\ne D$
, then
$G_{p}=D\times L$
. Hence,
$O_{p'}(G)=1$
.
Indeed,
$DL/L\simeq D$
is a Hall subgroup of
$G/L$
by Theorem 1.1 and Claim 1. Hence,
$G_{p}L/L=DL/L$
, so
$G_{p}=D\times (L\cap G_{p})=D\times L$
since
$G_{p}$
is normal in G by part (a). Thus,
$O_{p'}(G)=1$
.
(d)
$G_{p}\cap M\ne 1$
is normal in G.
Observe that
$V\kern1.3pt{:=}\kern1.3pt G_{p}\cap M$
is normal in M by part (a). Also from
$G_{p}\kern1.3pt{=}\kern1.3pt G_{p}\kern1.3pt{\cap}\kern1.3pt D\rtimes M= D(G_{p}\cap M)$
, where
$D\leq Z(G_{p})$
by part (a), it follows that V is normal
$G_{p}$
. Therefore, V is normal in G and
$V\ne 1$
since
$D < G_{p}$
.
(e) If
$L\leq G_{p}\cap M$
, where L is a minimal normal subgroup of G, then
$L= G_{p}\cap M$
and so
$G_{p}=D\times L$
is abelian.
This follows from parts (c) and (d).
(f) Every normal subgroup Z of G contained in
$G_{p}$
with
$1\ne Z\ne G_{p}$
is G-isomorphic to either L or D. In particular, Z is a minimal normal subgroup of G and either
$Z\in \{D, L\}$
or
$D\simeq _{G}Z\simeq _{G}L$
, and so
$C_{G}(D)=C_{G}(Z)=C_{G}(L)$
.
Assume that
$D\ne Z\ne L$
. If
$Z\cap L\ne 1$
, then
$L\leq Z$
and so
$Z=L(Z\cap D)=L$
since
$1\ne Z\ne G_{p}=LD,$
which is a contradiction. Hence,
$Z\cap L=1$
and
$Z\cap D=1$
. Therefore,
$G_{p}=D\times Z =D\times L$
and so the G-isomorphisms
${L\kern1.3pt{\simeq}\kern1.3pt LD/D\kern1.3pt{=}\kern1.3pt G_{p}/D \kern1.3pt{=}\kern1.3pt DZ/D\kern1.3pt{\simeq}\kern1.3pt Z }$
and
$D\simeq DL/L= G_{p}/D = LZ/L \simeq Z $
yield
$D\simeq _{G}Z\simeq _{G}L$
. In particular, Z is a minimal normal subgroup of G and
$C_{G}(D)=C_{G}(Z)=C_{G}(L)$
.
(g) If
$N=\langle ab \rangle $
, where
$D=\langle a \rangle $
and b is an element of order p in L, then
$|N|=p$
and
$N\cap D=N\cap L=1.$
Since
$G_{p}=D\times L$
is abelian by part (e) and
$|D|=p$
by part (a),
$|ab|=|N|=p$
. Hence,
$N\cap D=N\cap L=1$
since
$a\not \in L$
and
$b\not \in D$
.
(h) N is a minimal normal subgroup of G.
First we show that N is normal in G. In view of [Reference Ballester-Bolinches, Esteban-Romero and Asaad3, Lemma 1.2.16] and part (e), it is enough to show that
$N=N^{sG}$
is S-permutable in G. Assume that
$N < N^{sG}$
. Then
$|N^{sG}|> p$
. Since
$G_{p}=DL$
by part (f) and
$|D|=p$
by part (a),

so
$N^{sG}\cap L\ne 1$
. However,
$N^{sG}\cap L$
is S-permutable in G by [Reference Ballester-Bolinches, Esteban-Romero and Asaad3, Theorem 1.2.19] and so
$N^{sG}\cap L$
is normal in G by [Reference Ballester-Bolinches, Esteban-Romero and Asaad3, Lemma 1.2.16] and part (e). Hence,
$L\leq N^{sG}$
by the minimality of L. Then
$N^{sG} = N^{sG}\cap G_{p}=L(N^{sG}\cap D).$
However, N is subnormal in G and so
$N^{sG}\cap D=N_{sG}\cap D=1$
. Hence,
$N^{sG}=L$
and then
$N\cap L\ne 1$
, in contrast to part (g). Hence,
$N = N^{sG}$
and so N is normal in G. Therefore, N is a minimal normal subgroup of G since
$|N|=p$
. This proves part (h).
(i) The final contradiction to prove Claim 4.
In view of parts (f), (g) and (h),
$C_{G}(D)=C_{G}(N)=C_{G}(L)$
. However,
$C_{G}(L)=G$
by part (e) since
$G/D\simeq M$
is nilpotent and
$L\leq M$
. Therefore,
$D\leq Z(G)$
and so G is nilpotent. This contradiction proves Claim 4.
Claim 5. Every subgroup A of D is normal in G. Hence, every element of
$ G$
induces a power automorphism in D.
Since D is nilpotent by Claim 3, it is enough to consider the case when A is a p-group for some prime p. Moreover, A is S-permutable in G by Claim 3 and the Sylow p-subgroup
$D_{p}$
of D is a Sylow p-subgroup of G by Claim 4. Therefore,
${G=D_{p}O^{p}(G)=DO^{p}(G)\leq N_{G}(A)}$
by [Reference Ballester-Bolinches, Esteban-Romero and Asaad3, Lemma 1.2.16]. This proves Claim 5.
Claim 7. The final contradiction.
From Claims 3–6, it follows that G is a
${PST}$
-group by Theorem 1.1, in contrast to the choice of G. Hence, there is no minimal counterexample and G is a
${PST}$
-group.
Finally, given that G is a
${PST}$
-group, we show that D avoids the pair
$(A^{sG}, A_{sG})$
for every subnormal subgroup A of G. There is a series
$A=A_{0} \trianglelefteq A_{1} \trianglelefteq \cdots \trianglelefteq A_{n}=G$
, so A is S-permutable in G since G is a
${PST}$
-group. However,
$D=G^{\mathfrak {N}}$
is a special subgroup of G by Theorem 1.1 and so D avoids the pair
$(A^{sG}, A_{sG})$
by Lemma 2.10.
The theorem is proved.
Acknowledgement
The authors are deeply grateful for the helpful suggestions of the referee.