Commutators of elements of coprime orders in finite groups

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to find out which properties of a finite group G can be expressed in terms of commutators of elements of coprime orders. A criterion of solubility of G in terms of such commutators is obtained. We also conjecture that every element of a nonabelian simple group is a commutator of elements of coprime orders and we confirm this conjecture for the alternating groups.