On cyclic subgroups of finite groups

Abstract

In [3] Laffey has shown that if Z is a cyclic subgroup of a finite subgroup G, then either a nontrivial subgroup of Z is normal in the Fitting subgroup F(G) or there exists a g in G such that Zg∩Z = 1. In this note we offer a simple proof of the following generalisation of that result:Theorem. Let G be a finite group and X and Y cyclic subgroups of G. Then there exists a g in G such that Xg∩Y⊴F(G).