Groups where the centers of the irreducible characters form a chain

Abstract

We consider groups where the centers of the irreducible characters form a chain. We obtain two alternate characterizations of these groups, and we obtain some information regarding the structure of these groups. Using our results, we are able to classify those groups where the kernels of the irreducible characters form a chain. We show that a result of Nenciu regarding nested GVZ groups is really a result about nested groups. We obtain an alternate proof of a theorem of Isaacs regarding the existence of $p$-groups with a given set of irreducible character degrees.