The Wielandt subgroup of metacyclic p-groups

Abstract

The Wielandt subgroup is the intersection of the normalisers of all the subnormal subgroups of a group. For a finite group it is a non-trivial characteristic subgroup, and this makes it possible to define an ascending normal series terminating at the group. This series is called the Wielandt series and its length determines the Wielandt length of the group. In this paper the Wielandt subgroup of a metacyclic p–group is identified, and using this information it is shown that if a metacyclic p–group has Wielandt length n, its nilpotency class is n or n + 1.