On the proportion of $p$-elements in a finite group, and a modular Jordan type theorem

Abstract

In 1878, Jordan proved that if a finite group $G$ has a faithful representation of dimension $n$ over $\mathbb{C}$, then $G$ has a normal abelian subgroup with index bounded above by a function of $n$. The same result fails if one replaces $\mathbb{C}$ by a field of positive characteristic, due to the presence of large unipotent and/or Lie type subgroups. For this reason, a long-standing problem in group and representation theory has been to find the "correct analogue" of Jordan's theorem in characteristic $p>0$. Progress has been made in a number of different directions, most notably by Brauer and Feit in 1966; by Collins in 2008; and by Larsen and Pink in 2011. With a 1968 theorem of Steinberg in mind (which shows that a significant proportion of elements in a simple group of Lie type are unipotent), we prove in this paper that if a finite group $G$ has a faithful representation over a field of characteristic $p$, then a significant proportion of the elements of $G$ must have $p$-power order. We prove similar results for permutation groups, and present a general method for counting $p$-elements in finite groups. All of our results are best possible.