On the Structure of the Power Graph and the Enhanced Power Graph of a Group

Let G be a group. The power graph of G is a graph with the vertex set G, having an edge between two elements whenever one is a power of the other. We characterize nilpotent groups whose power graphs have finite independence number. For a bounded exponent group, we prove its power graph is a perfect graph and we determine its clique/chromatic number. Furthermore, it is proved that for every group G, the clique number of the power graph of G is at most countably infinite. We also measure how close the power graph is to the commuting graph by introducing a new graph which lies in between. We call this new graph the enhanced power graph. For an arbitrary pair of these three graphs we characterize finite groups for which this pair of graphs are equal.