On connected components and perfect codes of proper order graphs of finite groups

Abstract

Let G be a finite group with the identity element e. The proper order graph of G, denoted by S * (G), is an undirected graph with a vertex set G \ {e}, where two distinct vertices x and y are adjacent whenever o(x) | o(y) or o(y) | o(x), where o(x)and o(y) are the orders of x and y, respectively. This paper studies the perfect codes of S * (G). We characterize all connected components of a proper order graph and give a necessary and sufficient condition for a connected proper order graph. We also determine the perfect codes of the proper order graphs of a few classes of finite groups, including nilpotent groups, CP-groups, dihedral groups and generalized quaternion groups.