Appendix A - Background facts about groups
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2011
Summary
We collect here, for reference, some of the standard results in group theory which have been used throughout the book. We begin with some of the standard elementary properties of p-groups and Sylow subgroups.
Lemma A.1For any pair of p-groups P ≤ Q, if NQ(P) = P, then Q = P.
Proof. This is a general property of nilpotent groups (finite or not). If G is nilpotent and H < G, then by definition, there is K > H such that [G, K] ≤ H. Hence H < K ≤ NG(H). That all p-groups are nilpotent is shown, e.g., in [A4, 9.8] or [G1, Theorem 2.3.3].
Lemma A.2Fix a p-group P, and an automorphism α ∈ Aut(P) of order prime to p. Assume 1 = P0 ⊴ P1 ⊴ … ⊴ Pm = P is a sequence of subgroups all normal in P, such that for each 1 ≤ i ≤ m,α|Pi ≡ IdPi (mod Pi-1). Thenα = IdP.
Proof. See, for example, [G1, Theorem 5.3.2]. It suffices by induction to prove this when m = 2, and when the order of α is a prime q ≠ p. In this case, for each g ∈ P, α acts on the coset gP1 with fixed subset of order ≡ |gP1| (mod q). Since |gP1| = |P1| is a power of p, this shows that α fixes at least one element in gP1. Thus α is the identity on P1 and on at least one element in each coset of P1, and so α = IdP.
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- Fusion Systems in Algebra and Topology , pp. 300 - 305Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011