If $p>3$ is a prime congruent to $3 \bmod 4$, how can I prove that are there only two non-abelian groups of order $4p$

abstract-algebrafinite-groupsgroup-theory

Take the convention that $D_{2n}$ is the dihedral group of order $2n$, and $\text{Dic}_{n}$ is the dicyclic group of order $4n$.

I want to show that if $p$ is a prime congruent to $3 \bmod 4$, $p>3$, then there are only two non-abelian groups of order $4p$ (which therefore must be $D_{4p}$ and $\text{Dic}_{p}$, since these are non-isomorphic and non-abelian. In fact, there will be a total of $4$ groups, since the only abelian ones can be $C_2 \times C_2 \times C_p$, $C_4 \times C_p$).

This reference confirms that for $p=7$, $p=11$, $p=19$ and $p=23$, the smallest $5$ primes with this property, that this result holds. Note it doesn't hold for all primes. For $p=5$, there are certainly more than $2$ non-abelian groups of order $20$, for example.

This page on groupprops confirms the result. May I have a hint as to how to start to prove this?

Best Answer

Here is an expansion of the comment by Derek Holt.

Let $G$ be a group of order $4p$, where $p$ is a prime $>3$ and $\equiv 3\pmod 4$. By Sylow's theorems, we have Sylow subgroups $S_p$ (of order $p$) and $S_2$ (of order $4$) of $G$. The number of such $S_p$ is a divisor of $4p$ and $\equiv 1\pmod p$, hence is $1$, namely $S_p$ is a unique and normal subgroup of order $p$. $S_2$ acts on $S_p$ by $$\varphi\colon S_2\rightarrow \mathrm{Aut}(S_p),\ g\mapsto (x\mapsto gxg^{-1}).$$ Clearly $S_p\cap S_2=\{1\}$ and $S_p$ and $S_2$ generate $G$, so $G$ is a semi-direct product $G\simeq S_p\rtimes S_2$. Note that $S_p=\langle x_1\rangle$ is a cyclic group with $\mathrm{Aut}(S_p)\simeq C_{p-1}$ a cyclic group of order $p-1$ whose generator $\sigma$ maps $x_1$ to $x_1^k$, where $k$ is a primitive root modulo $p$.

Next, we investigate the structure of this semi-direct product. If the map $\varphi$ is trivial, $G$ is abelian (since $S_2$ is abelian), so we omit them. If $S_2=\langle g_1\rangle$ is cyclic, the only nontrivial homomorphism $\varphi$ is $g_1\mapsto \sigma^{(p-1)/2}$ because $p\equiv 3\pmod 4$, and this gives the dicyclic group. If $S_2=\langle g_1,g_2\rangle$ is the $2$-elementary group, then the only nontrivial homomorphism $\varphi$ is such that $g_1\mapsto \mathrm{id}, g_2\mapsto \sigma^{(p-1)/2}$ up to change of generators. This gives the group $D_{4p}\simeq C_2\times D_{2p}$.

Related Question