Alphabeta Math
TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedprecheck passaudited 2026-08-26
How statement and proof provenance work

The first chip identifies the source of the statement or construction; the second identifies the source of its local proof or verification.

  • Literature-sourced: the exact statement appears in a cited source; only wording and notation differ.
  • AI-adapted: a semantically identical restatement of literature-sourced material, modulo indexing, notation, and boundary cases adopted by the library.
  • AI-generated: a genuinely novel statement formulated by AI, with no source for the claim itself.

These labels describe origin, not correctness: citations and verification chips remain separate evidence.

A nonabelian group of order p3 is extraspecial

Statement

Let p be a prime and let P be a nonabelian group of order p3. Then P is extraspecial: Z(P)=[P,P]=Φ(P) has order p and P/Z(P) is elementary abelian of order p2.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: A prime p and a nonabelian group P with ∣P∣=p3.

[F1]

Z(G):={z∈G:zg=gz for every g∈G} (The center Z(G) of a group).

[F2]

A finite p-group is a finite group whose order has the form ∣P∣=pn (A finite p-group has order pn for a prime p and some n∈N).

[L1]

If P is a nontrivial finite p-group then p divides ∣Z(P)∣ (Every nontrivial finite p-group has nontrivial center, in fact p divides ∣Z(P)∣).

[L2]

If the quotient group G/Z(G) is cyclic, then G is abelian (If G/Z(G) is cyclic, then G is abelian).

[L3]

For a finite group G and H≤G, ∣G∣=[G:H] ∣H∣ (Lagrange's theorem: ∣G∣=[G:H]∣H∣ for every subgroup H of a finite group G).

[L4]

If p is prime and G is a group of order p2, then G is abelian (Every group of order p2, for prime p, is abelian).

[L5]

An elementary abelian p-group is a finite abelian p-group in which every nonidentity element has order p (Elementary abelian p-groups).

[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]

If P is a finite p-group and H≤P then ∣H∣=pk for some k (Every subgroup of a finite p-group has order a power of p).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1F1F2L1L3L7

P is a nontrivial finite p-group, so its centre has order a power of p divisible by p; and Z(P)≠P because P is nonabelian. So ∣Z(P)∣ is p or p2.

2.1L2L3step 1.1

If ∣Z(P)∣=p2 then P/Z(P) has order p by Lagrange, hence is cyclic, and P would be abelian. So ∣Z(P)∣=p.

3.1L2L3L4L5step 2.1

By Lagrange P/Z(P) has order p2, so it is abelian; it is not cyclic, since that would again force P abelian; and an abelian group of order p2 that is not cyclic has every nonidentity element of order p, so it is elementary abelian.

4.1L6step 2.1step 3.1∎

So P is a nonabelian finite p-group with centre of order p and elementary abelian central quotient, which is the second description in the characterisation; hence P is extraspecial and Z(P)=[P,P]=Φ(P) has order p.

Remarks

Order p3 is the smallest order at which a nonabelian p-group exists, and the argument shows the extraspecial condition is automatic there. At larger orders it is not: a direct product of two nonabelian groups of order p3 is nonabelian of order p6 with centre of order p2.

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

45 results within two dependency steps of this one, each drawn at its shortest distance from it. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, so the chart reads left to right and ends at this result, which carries a heavier outline. Every node is a link to that result. Click elsewhere on the chart to enlarge it.

Sources