GROUPS OF FINITE NORMAL LENGTH

Abstract

Let $k$ be a nonnegative integer. A subgroup $X$ of a group $G$ has normal length $k$ in $G$ if all chains between $X$ and its normal closure $X^{G}$ have length at most $k$, and $k$ is the length of at least one of these chains. The group $G$ is said to have finite normal length if there is a finite upper bound for the normal lengths of its subgroups. The aim of this paper is to study groups of finite normal length. Among other results, it is proved that if all subgroups of a locally (soluble-by-finite) group $G$ have finite normal length in $G$, then the commutator subgroup $G^{\prime }$ is finite and so $G$ has finite normal length. Special attention is given to the structure of groups of normal length $2$. In particular, it is shown that finite groups with this property admit a Sylow tower.