Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
It is known † that, if G is any p-group (group whose order is a power of the prime p) the class of which is less than p, then the order of a product of elements of G cannot exceed the orders of all the factors. This result in general ceases to hold when the class of G exceeds p − 1. In the present paper, we prove the following general results.
† Hall, , Proc. London Math. Soc. (2), 36 (1933), 73–77.Google Scholar
† Z 1 is the central of G; and, for i> 1, Z i/Z i−1 is the central of G/Z i−1.
† Hall, , Proc. London Math. Soc. (2), 40 (1936), 477.Google Scholar If H is a subgroup of G, [G:H] denotes the index of H in G.
† Hall, , Proc. London Math. Soc. (2), 40 (1936), 485.Google Scholar