Group Theory – Proving G is Cyclic of Order p^n for Maximum Subgroup H

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Consider the following statement:

Let $G$ be a finite group, and $H\lneq G$ a proper subgroup that is maximum, meaning that every proper subgroup $H'\lneq G$ is contained in $H$. If $[G:H]=p$ with $p$ prime, then $G$ is cyclic of order $p^n$.

If every proper subgroup is contained in $H$, then we can take $\sigma \in G\setminus H$ (that is nonempty), and so $\langle \sigma \rangle \nsubseteq H$, then $\langle \sigma \rangle$ cannot be a proper subgroup, thus $\langle \sigma \rangle =G$. But why is the cardinality of $G$ a power of $p$?

Best Answer

Suppose $G$ is not a $p$-group, then any Sylow-$p$ subgroup of $G$ is a non-trivial (since $[G:H] = p$) proper subgroup of $G$. By assumption, $H$ contains this Sylow-$p$ subgroup, but this contradicts the fact that $[G:H] = p$.

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