A criterion for nilpotency of a finite group by the sum of element orders

Abstract: Denote the sum of element orders in a finite group $G$ by $\psi(G)$ and let $C_n$ denote the cyclic group of order $n$. In this paper, we prove that if $|G|=n$ and $\psi(G)>\frac{13}{21}\,\psi(C_n)$, then $G$ is nilpotent. Moreover, we have $\psi(G)=\frac{13}{21}\,\psi(C_n)$ if and only if $n=6m$ with $(6,m)=1$ and $G\cong S_3\times C_m$. Two interesting consequences of this result are also presented.