TITLE: Exhibiting a special subgroup whose involutions are all conjugate to a given involution?
QUESTION [5 upvotes]: I'm trying to work through a sketch proof attributed to Walter Feit on characterizing $S_5$. 

Suppose $G$ is a finite group with exactly two conjugacy classes of involutions, with $u_1$ and $u_2$ being representatives. Suppose $C_1=C(u_1)\simeq \langle u_1\rangle\times S_3$ and $C_2=C(u_2)$ be a dihedral group of order $8$. The eventual result is that $G\simeq S_5$. Also, $C(u)$ denotes the centralizer of $u$ in $G$.

I'm trying to deduce that $|S_2|=0$ or $4$, where $S_i$ is the set of pairs $(x,y)$ with $x$ conjugate to $u_1$, $y$ conjugate to $u_2$, and $(xy)^n=u_i$ for some $n$, and that $C_2$ then has a noncyclic subgroup $V$ such that all involutions in $V$ are conjugate to $u_2$ in $G$. This is part of exercise 10 of page 83, Jacobson's Basic Algebra I. Thanks for any help.

My sparse thoughts: I know a few facts I think are useful (proofs are linked in the numbers to the left hand side):
1. If $c_i=|C(u_i)|$ and $s_i=|S_i|$, then $|G|=c_1s_2+c_2s_1$.
2. $C_2$ is a Sylow $2$-subgroup, and I observe from this that one can assume $u_1\in C_2$ by taking a conjugate.
3. There are $3$ classes of involutions in $C_2$, and if $x$ is an involution distinct from $u_2$, then $x$ is conjugate to $xu_2$ in $C_2$. 
I'm lost on how to use this info on the involutions in $C_2$ to count the size of $S_2$. Identifying $C_2$ with $D_8=\langle r,s\mid r^4=s^2=1,\; sr=r^3s\rangle$ and $r^2$ with $u_2$, I know that the two noncyclic subgroups of order $4$ are $\{1,s,r^2,r^2s\}$ and $\{1,rs,r^2,r^3s\}$. I consider the intersection $C:=C_1\cap C_2$. This is a subgroup with order dividing $8$ and $12$, but since I already know $1,u_1,u_2\in C$, then $|C|=4$. I think this might be the desired subgroup $V$. I'm not sure what action of $C_1$ on $u_2$ to consider, since I don't know if left multiplication or conjugation will send $u_2$ back into $C_2$.

REPLY [3 votes]: As noted in the OP, we may assume $u_1\in C(u_2)$, i.e. $u_1$ and $u_2$ commute. 
The key property here is what is called "Exercise 8" in Jacobson's book : in a dihedral group of even rank, the largest element is central.
This immediately implies that $x$ and $y$ are both in $C(u_i)=C_i$ whenever $(x,y) \in S_i$. Denote by $I_2$ the set of involutions in $C_2$ other than $u_2$, $X_2$ the set of involutions in $I_2$ that are conjugate (in $G$) to $u_1$, and $Y_2$ the set of involutions in $I_2$ that are conjugate (in $G$) to $u_2$. Then we must count the elements in
$$
S_2= X_2\times Y_2  
$$
In $I_2$ there are two $C_2$-conjugacy classes of cardinality $2$.
   If those two classes merge in $G$, then $X_2=I_2$ and $Y_2=\emptyset$, so $s_2=0$.
  If those two classes do not merge, then $|X_2|=|Y_2|=2$ so $s_2=2 \times 2=4$.
We do something similar for $S_1$.
There is a subgroup $A$, isomorphic to ${\mathfrak S}_3$ (let us denote its elements by $a_{\sigma}, \sigma \in {\mathfrak S}_3$), such that $C_1$ is the disjoint union of $A$ and $u_1A$. Note that we may replace $A$ with $A'=\lbrace u_1^{{\sf signature}(\sigma)}a_{\sigma}| \sigma \in {\mathfrak S}_3 \rbrace$ which is a subgroup sharing exactly the same properties as $A$. 
   If $u_2\not\in u_1A$ then $u_2\in u_1A'$, so we may assume without loss of generality that $u_2\in u_1A$ : $u_2=u_1a_{\tau}$ for some $\tau$ which must be of order $2$. We can assume $\tau=(1,2)$.
Denote by $I_1$ the set of involutions in $C_1$ . Also, put
$$
\Gamma=\lbrace (x,y) \in I_1^2| \exists n, (xy)^n=u_1 \rbrace 
$$
There are three conjugacy classes in $I_1$ :
$$
K_1=\lbrace u_1 \rbrace, \ K_2=\lbrace u_1a_{(i,j)} | 1 \leq i \lt j \leq 3 \rbrace, \ 
K_3=\lbrace a_{(i,j)} | 1 \leq i \lt j \leq 3 \rbrace 
$$
It is easy to check that
$$
\Gamma = (K_2 \times K_3) \cup (K_3 \times K_2)
$$
Now $u_1$ and $u_1u_2$ are conjugates in the dihedral group $C_2$. We deduce that $K_3$ merges with $K_1$ in $G$,  so $S_1=K_3 \times K_2$ so $s_1=9$.