The nontrivial center of a finite p-group theorem implies that the center of a group of order has order or . If it has order , the quotient by the center has prime order and is cyclic; a cyclic quotient by the center forces the whole group to be abelian, contradicting the assumed size of its center. Thus the group is abelian. An element of order makes it cyclic. Otherwise choose and ; their order- cyclic subgroups intersect trivially and generate the direct product of groups . The two possibilities are nonisomorphic because only the cyclic one has an element of order .
Use the class equation for the action of on itself by conjugation:
where the sum runs over noncentral conjugacy classes. By Lagrange's theorem, each noncentral class has size a positive power of greater than one. Thus . Since the identity element belongs to the center of a group,
For , the possible orders of the center of a group are . Order would make an abelian group. Order would make the quotient group have prime order and hence be a cyclic group. But a cyclic quotient by the center forces to be Abelian: if generates the quotient, any two elements are and with , and their products commute. Both larger orders contradict the hypothesis. Consequently
Suppose is generated by . Every element of can then be written with . Hence
Thus the cyclic quotient by the center condition forces to be abelian.
If , the quotient has prime order and is therefore cyclic. The result just proved would make abelian, so and the quotient would have order one, a contradiction. Therefore