AbstractThere is a deeper structure to the ordinary character theory of finite solvable groups than might at first be apparent. Mauch of this structure, which has no analog for general finite gruops, becomes visible onyl when the character of solvable groups are viewes from the persepective of a particular set π of prime numbers. This purely expository paper discusses the foundations of this πtheory and a few of its applications. Included are the definitions and essential properties of Gajendragadkar's π-special characters and their connections with the irreducible πpartial characters and their associated Fong characters. Included among the consequences of the theory discussed here are applications to questions about the field generated by the values of a character, about extensions of characters of subgroups and about M-groups.
Ordinary character theory in a block with a cyclic defect group
