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CorollaryStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedprecheck passaudited 2026-08-26
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An extraspecial group of odd order has exponent p or p2, and an extraspecial 2-group has exponent 4

Statement

Let P be an extraspecial p-group of order p1+2n. If p is odd then exp⁡(P)=p when P is of plus type and exp⁡(P)=p2 when P is of minus type. If p=2 then exp⁡(P)=4, whichever type P is.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: An extraspecial p-group P of order p1+2n with n≥1.

[F1]

For a finite group G, exp⁡(G)=min⁡{n∈N:n>0 and gn=e for every g∈G} (The exponent of a finite group).

[F2]

For odd p, p+1+2n is the extraspecial group of that order with exponent p and p−1+2n the one with exponent p2; at p=2 the two are named by their number of solutions of x2=1 (Plus and minus type of an extraspecial p-group).

[F4]

For a group G and a prime p, Gp=⟨gp:g∈G⟩ (The pth-power subgroup Gp).

[L1]

For odd p there are exactly two extraspecial groups of order p1+2n, distinguished by their exponent, which is p for one and p2 for the other (For odd p and each n≥1 there are exactly two extraspecial groups of order p1+2n, distinguished by their exponent).

[L2]

For each n≥1 there are exactly two extraspecial groups of order 21+2n, separated by the number of solutions of x2=1 (For each n≥1 there are exactly two extraspecial groups of order 21+2n).

[L3]

There are n≥1 subgroups of P, each nonabelian of order p3 with centre Z(P), forming an internal central product of P (Every extraspecial p-group is an internal central product of nonabelian subgroups of order p3).

[L4]

For every prime p there are exactly two nonabelian groups of order p3; at p=2 they are Dih⁡(C4) and Q8 (For each prime there are exactly two nonabelian groups of order p3 up to isomorphism).

[L6]

For a finite p-group P the following are equivalent: P is extraspecial; P is nonabelian, ∣Z(P)∣=p and P/Z(P) is elementary abelian; P is nonabelian and Z(P)=P′=Φ(P) has order p (Three equivalent descriptions of an extraspecial p-group).

[L7]

For every finite p-group P, Φ(P)=P′Pp (Φ(P)=P′Pp for a finite p-group).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1F1F4L6L7

Every g∈P has gp∈Pp≤Φ(P)=Z(P), a group of order p, so gp2=(gp)p=e and exp⁡(P) divides p2.

1.2F2L1

For odd p the classification names the two isomorphism classes by their exponents, which are p and p2, and the plus and minus labels are those names.

2.1F1F3L2L3L4L5step 1.1∎

At p=2, take an internal central product decomposition into subgroups of order eight; each is nonabelian, hence isomorphic to Dih⁡(C4) or to Q8, and each contains an element of order four. So exp⁡(P) is a multiple of four, and by step 1.1 it divides four; hence exp⁡(P)=4 for both types.

Remarks

At p=2 the exponent does not separate the two types, and that is why the classification there uses the number of solutions of x2=1 instead. The two invariants are not interchangeable: for odd p the exponent separates the types and the number of solutions of xp=1 does so as well, while at p=2 only the second does.

Depends on

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Sources