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Lemma 2.22. Disjoint permutations \( \alpha ,\beta \in {S}_{n} \) commute.
Proof. It suffices to prove that if \( 1 \leq i \leq n \), then \( {\alpha \beta }\left( i\right) = {\beta \alpha }\left( i\right) \) . If \( \beta \) moves \( i \), say, \( \beta \left( i\right) = j \neq i \), then \( \beta \) also moves \( j \) [otherwise, \( \beta \left( j\right) = j \) and \( \beta \left( i\right) ...
Yes
Lemma 2.23. Let \( X = \{ 1,2,\ldots, n\} \), let \( \alpha \in {S}_{X} = {S}_{n} \), and, if \( {i}_{1} \in X \), define \( {i}_{j} \) for all \( j \geq 1 \) by induction: \( {i}_{j + 1} = \alpha \left( {i}_{j}\right) \) . Write \( Y = \left\{ {{i}_{j} : j \geq 1}\right\} \), and let \( {Y}^{\prime } \) be the complem...
Proof. (i) Since \( X \) is finite, there is a smallest \( r > 1 \) with \( {i}_{1},\ldots ,{i}_{r} \) all distinct, but with \( {i}_{r + 1} = \alpha \left( {i}_{r}\right) \in \left\{ {{i}_{1},\ldots ,{i}_{r}}\right\} \) ; that is, \( \alpha \left( {i}_{r}\right) = {i}_{j} \) for \( 1 \leq j \leq r \) . If \( j > 1 \),...
Yes
Every permutation \( \alpha \in {S}_{n} \) is either a cycle or a product of disjoint cycles.
The proof is by induction on the number \( k \geq 0 \) of points moved by \( \alpha \) . The base step \( k = 0 \) is true, for \( \alpha \) is now the identity, which is a 1-cycle.\n\nIf \( k > 0 \), let \( {i}_{1} \) be a point moved by \( \alpha \) . As in Lemma 2.23, define \( Y = \) \( \left\{ {{i}_{1},\ldots ,{i}...
Yes
Theorem 2.26. Let \( \alpha \in {S}_{n} \) and let \( \alpha = {\beta }_{1}\cdots {\beta }_{t} \) be a complete factorization into disjoint cycles. This factorization is unique except for the order in which the cycles occur.
Proof. Let \( \alpha = {\gamma }_{1}\cdots {\gamma }_{s} \) be a second complete factorization of \( \alpha \) into disjoint cycles. Since every complete factorization of \( \alpha \) has exactly one 1-cycle for each \( i \) fixed by \( \alpha \), it suffices to prove, by induction on \( \ell \), the larger of \( t \) ...
Yes
Example 2.30.
<table><thead><tr><th>Cycle Structure</th><th>Number</th></tr></thead><tr><td>(1)</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>(1 2)</td><td>10</td></tr><tr><td>(1 2 3)</td><td>20</td></tr><tr><td>(1 2 3 4)</td><td>30</td></tr><tr><td>(1 2 3 4 5)</td><td>24</td></tr><tr><td>(1 2)(3 4 5)</td><td>20</td></tr><tr><td>(1 2)(3 4)</td><td>\\(...
No
Lemma 2.31. Let \( \alpha ,\gamma \in {S}_{n} \) . For all \( i \), if \( \gamma : i \rightarrow j \), then \( {\alpha \gamma }{\alpha }^{-1} : \alpha \left( i\right) \rightarrow \alpha \left( j\right) \) .
\[ {\alpha \gamma }{\alpha }^{-1}\left( {\alpha \left( i\right) }\right) = {\alpha \gamma }\left( i\right) = \alpha \left( j\right) . \]
Yes
If \( \gamma ,\alpha \in {S}_{n} \), then \( {\alpha \gamma }{\alpha }^{-1} \) has the same cycle structure as \( \gamma \) . In more detail, if the complete factorization of \( \gamma \) is\n\n\[ \gamma = {\beta }_{1}{\beta }_{2}\cdots \left( {{ij}\ldots }\right) \cdots {\beta }_{t} \]\n\nthen \( {\alpha \gamma }{\alp...
Proof. If \( \gamma \) fixes \( i \), then Lemma 2.31 shows that \( \sigma \) fixes \( \alpha \left( i\right) \) . Assume that \( \gamma \) moves a symbol \( i \), say, \( \gamma \left( i\right) = j \), so that one of the cycles in the complete factorization of \( \gamma \) is\n\n\[ \left( \begin{array}{lll} i & j & \l...
Yes
Proposition 2.33. If \( \gamma ,{\gamma }^{\prime } \in {S}_{n} \), then \( \gamma \) and \( {\gamma }^{\prime } \) have the same cycle structure if and only only if there exists \( \alpha \in {S}_{n} \) with \( {\gamma }^{\prime } = {\alpha \gamma }{\alpha }^{-1} \) .
Proof. Sufficiency has just been proved, in Proposition 2.32.\n\nConversely, assume that \( \gamma \) and \( {\gamma }^{\prime } \) have the same cycle structure; that is, \( \gamma = \) \( {\beta }_{1}\cdots {\beta }_{t} \) and \( {\gamma }^{\prime } = {\sigma }_{1}\cdots {\sigma }_{t} \) are complete factorizations w...
Yes
If \[ \gamma = \left( \begin{array}{lll} 1 & 2 & 3 \end{array}\right) \left( \begin{array}{ll} 4 & 5 \end{array}\right) \left( 6\right) \;\text{ and }\;{\gamma }^{\prime } = \left( \begin{array}{lll} 2 & 5 & 6 \end{array}\right) \left( \begin{array}{ll} 3 & 1 \end{array}\right) \left( 4\right) ,\] then \( {\gamma }^{\p...
Note that there are other choices for \( \alpha \) as well.
Yes
Proposition 2.35. If \( n \geq 2 \), then every \( \alpha \in {S}_{n} \) is a product of transpositions.
Proof. Of course, \( \left( 1\right) = \left( {12}\right) \left( {12}\right) \) is a product of transpositions, as is every transposition: \( \left( \begin{array}{ll} i & j \end{array}\right) = \left( \begin{array}{ll} i & j \end{array}\right) \left( \begin{array}{ll} 1 & 2 \end{array}\right) \left( \begin{array}{ll} 1...
Yes
Lemma 2.37. If \( k,\ell \geq 0 \) and the letters \( a, b,{c}_{i},{d}_{j} \) are all distinct, then\n\n\[ \left( {ab}\right) \left( {a{c}_{1}\ldots {c}_{k}b{d}_{1}\ldots {d}_{\ell }}\right) = \left( {a{c}_{1}\ldots {c}_{k}}\right) \left( {b{d}_{1}\ldots {d}_{\ell }}\right) \]\n\nand\n\n\[ \left( \begin{array}{ll} a & ...
Proof. The left side of the first asserted equation sends\n\n\[ a \mapsto {c}_{1} \mapsto {c}_{1} \]\n\n\[ {c}_{i} \mapsto {c}_{i + 1} \mapsto {c}_{i + 1}\text{ if }i < k \]\n\n\[ {c}_{k} \mapsto b \mapsto a \]\n\n\[ b \mapsto {d}_{1} \mapsto {d}_{1} \]\n\n\[ {d}_{j} \mapsto {d}_{j + 1} \mapsto {d}_{j + 1}\text{if}j < ...
Yes
Lemma 2.38. If \( \alpha ,\tau \in {S}_{n} \), where \( \tau \) is a transposition, then\n\n\[ \operatorname{sgn}\left( {\tau \alpha }\right) = - \operatorname{sgn}\left( \alpha \right) \]
Proof. Let \( \alpha = {\beta }_{1}\cdots {\beta }_{t} \) be a complete factorization of \( \alpha \) into disjoint cycles, and let \( \tau = \left( \begin{array}{ll} a & b \end{array}\right) \) . If \( a \) and \( b \) occur in the same \( \beta \), say, in \( {\beta }_{1} \), then \( {\beta }_{1} = \) \( \left( {a{c}...
Yes
Theorem 2.39. For all \( \alpha ,\beta \in {S}_{n} \) ,\n\n\[ \operatorname{sgn}\left( {\alpha \beta }\right) = \operatorname{sgn}\left( \alpha \right) \operatorname{sgn}\left( \beta \right) \]
Proof. Assume that \( \alpha \in {S}_{n} \) is given and that \( \alpha \) has a factorization as a product of \( m \) transpositions: \( \alpha = {\tau }_{1}\cdots {\tau }_{m} \) . We prove, by induction on \( m \), that \( \operatorname{sgn}\left( {\alpha \beta }\right) = \) \( \operatorname{sgn}\left( \alpha \right)...
Yes
Corollary 2.41. Let \( \alpha ,\beta \in {S}_{n} \) . If \( \alpha \) and \( \beta \) have the same parity, then \( {\alpha \beta } \) is even, while if \( \alpha \) and \( \beta \) have distinct parity, then \( {\alpha \beta } \) is odd.
Proof. If \( \operatorname{sgn}\left( \alpha \right) = {\left( -1\right) }^{q} \) and \( \operatorname{sgn}\left( \beta \right) = {\left( -1\right) }^{p} \), then Theorem 2.39 gives \( \operatorname{sgn}\left( {\alpha \beta }\right) = {\left( -1\right) }^{q + p} \), and the result follows.
Yes
Lemma 2.43. If \( * \) is an associative operation on a set \( G \), then\n\n\[ \left( {a * b}\right) * \left( {c * d}\right) = \left\lbrack {a * \left( {b * c}\right) }\right\rbrack * d \]\n\nfor all \( a, b, c, d \in G \)
Proof. If we write \( g = a * b \), then \( \left( {a * b}\right) * \left( {c * d}\right) = g * \left( {c * d}\right) = \left( {g * c}\right) * d = \) \( \left\lbrack {\left( {a * b}\right) * c}\right\rbrack * d = \left\lbrack {a * \left( {b * c}\right) }\right\rbrack * d. \)
Yes
Lemma 2.44. If \( G \) is a group and \( a \in G \) satisfies \( a * a = a \), then \( a = e \) .
Proof. There is \( {a}^{\prime } \in G \) with \( {a}^{\prime } * a = e \) . Multiplying both sides on the left by \( {a}^{\prime } \) gives \( {a}^{\prime } * \left( {a * a}\right) = {a}^{\prime } * a \) . The right side is \( e \), and the left side is \( {a}^{\prime } * \left( {a * a}\right) = \) \( \left( {{a}^{\pr...
Yes
Proposition 2.45. Let \( G \) be a group with operation \( * \) and identity \( e \) .\n\n(i) \( a * {a}^{\prime } = e \) for all \( a \in G \) .\n\n(ii) \( a * e = a \) for all \( a \in G \) .\n\n(iii) If \( {e}_{0} \in G \) satisfies \( {e}_{0} * a = a \) for all \( a \in G \), then \( {e}_{0} = e \) .\n\n(iv) Let \(...
Proof.\n\n(i) We know that \( {a}^{\prime } * a = e \), and we now show that \( a * {a}^{\prime } = e \) . By Lemma 2.43,\n\n\[ \n\left( {a * {a}^{\prime }}\right) * \left( {a * {a}^{\prime }}\right) = \left\lbrack {a * \left( {{a}^{\prime } * a}\right) }\right\rbrack * {a}^{\prime } \n\]\n\n\[ \n= \left( {a * e}\right...
Yes
Lemma 2.46. Let \( G \) be a group.\n\n(i) The cancellation laws hold: if \( a, b, x \in G \), and either \( x * a = x * b \) or \( a * x = b * x \), then \( a = b \) .
Proof.\n\n(i)\n\n\[ a = e * a = \left( {{x}^{-1} * x}\right) * a = {x}^{-1} * \left( {x * a}\right) \]\n\n\[ = {x}^{-1} * \left( {x * b}\right) = \left( {{x}^{-1} * x}\right) * b = e * b = b. \]
Yes
(iv) The nonzero complex numbers \( {\mathbb{C}}^{ \times } \) form an abelian group under multiplication. It is easy to see that multiplication is an associative operation and that 1 is the identity.
Here is the simplest way to find inverses. If \( z = a + {ib} \in \mathbb{C} \), where \( a, b \in \mathbb{R} \), define its complex conjugate \( \bar{z} = a - {ib} \) . Note that \( z\bar{z} = {a}^{2} + {b}^{2} \), so that \( z \neq 0 \) if and only if \( z\bar{z} \neq 0 \) . If \( z \neq 0 \), then\n\n\[ \n{z}^{-1} =...
Yes
Theorem 2.49 (Generalized Associativity). If \( n \geq 3 \), then every \( n \) -expression \( \left( {{a}_{1},{a}_{2},\ldots ,{a}_{n}}\right) \) in a group \( G \) needs no parentheses.
Proof. The proof is by (the second form of) induction. The base step \( n = 3 \) follows from associativity. For the inductive step, consider 2-expressions of \( G \) obtained from an \( n \) -expression \( \left( {{a}_{1},{a}_{2},\ldots ,{a}_{n}}\right) \) after two series of choices:\n\n\[ \left( {W, X}\right) = \lef...
Yes
Corollary 2.50. If \( G \) is a group, if \( a \in G \), and if \( m, n \geq 1 \), then\n\n\[ \n{a}^{m + n} = {a}^{m}{a}^{n}\;\text{ and }\;{\left( {a}^{m}\right) }^{n} = {a}^{mn}.\n\]
Proof. Both \( {a}^{m + n} \) and \( {a}^{m}{a}^{n} \) arise from the expression having \( m + n \) factors each equal to \( a \) ; in the second instance, both \( {\left( {a}^{m}\right) }^{n} \) and \( {a}^{mn} \) arise from the expression having \( {mn} \) factors each equal to \( a \) .
Yes
Proposition 2.51 (Laws of Exponents). Let \( G \) be a group, let \( a, b \in G \), and let \( m \) and \( n \) be (not necessarily positive) integers.\n\n(i) If \( a \) and \( b \) commute, then \( {\left( ab\right) }^{n} = {a}^{n}{b}^{n} \).\n\n(ii) \( {\left( {a}^{n}\right) }^{m} = {a}^{mn} \).\n\n(iii) \( {a}^{m}{a...
Proof. Exercises for the reader. -
No
Lemma 2.53. Let \( G \) be a group and assume that \( a \in G \) has finite order \( k \) . If \( {a}^{n} = 1 \), then \( k \mid n \) . In fact, \( \left\{ {n \in \mathbb{Z} : {a}^{n} = 1}\right\} \) is the set of all the multiples of \( k \) .
Proof. It is easy to see that \( I = \left\{ {n \in \mathbb{Z} : {a}^{n} = 1}\right\} \subseteq \mathbb{Z} \) satisfies the hypotheses of Corollary 1.34.\n\n(i): \( 0 \in I \) because \( {a}^{0} = 1 \) .\n\n(ii): If \( n, m \in I \), then \( {a}^{n} = 1 \) and \( {a}^{m} = 1 \), so that \( {a}^{n - m} = {a}^{n}{a}^{-m}...
Yes
Proposition 2.54. Let \( \alpha \in {S}_{n} \) .\n\n(i) If \( \alpha \) is an \( r \) -cycle, then \( \alpha \) has order \( r \) .\n\n(ii) If \( \alpha = {\beta }_{1}\cdots {\beta }_{t} \) is a product of disjoint \( {r}_{i} \) -cycles \( {\beta }_{i} \), then \( \alpha \) has order \( m = \operatorname{lcm}\left( {{r...
Proof.\n\n(i) This is Exercise 2.22(i) on page 120.\n\n(ii) Each \( {\beta }_{i} \) has order \( {r}_{i} \), by (i). Suppose that \( {\alpha }^{M} = \left( 1\right) \) . Since the \( {\beta }_{i} \) commute, \( \left( 1\right) = {\alpha }^{M} = {\left( {\beta }_{1}\cdots {\beta }_{t}\right) }^{M} = {\beta }_{1}^{M}\cdo...
No
Lemma 2.56. If \( \varphi \) is an isometry of the plane, then distinct points \( P, Q, R \) in \( {\mathbb{R}}^{2} \) are collinear if and only if \( \varphi \left( P\right) ,\varphi \left( Q\right) ,\varphi \left( R\right) \) are collinear.
Proof. Suppose that \( P, Q, R \) are collinear. Choose notation so that \( R \) is between \( P \) and \( Q \) ; hence, \( \parallel P - Q\parallel = \parallel P - R\parallel + \parallel R - Q\parallel \) . If \( \varphi \left( P\right) ,\varphi \left( Q\right) ,\varphi \left( R\right) \) are not collinear, then they ...
Yes
Every isometry \( \varphi : {\mathbb{R}}^{2} \rightarrow {\mathbb{R}}^{2} \) is a bijection, and every isometry fixing 0 is a nonsingular linear transformation.
Proof. Let us first assume that \( \varphi \) fixes the origin: \( \varphi \left( 0\right) = 0 \) . By Proposition 2.57, \( \varphi \) is a linear transformation. Since \( \varphi \) is injective, \( P = \varphi \left( {e}_{1}\right), Q = \) \( \varphi \left( {e}_{2}\right) \) is a basis of \( {\mathbb{R}}^{2} \), wher...
Yes
Proposition 2.59. Both \( \operatorname{Isom}\left( {\mathbb{R}}^{2}\right) \) and \( {O}_{2}\left( \mathbb{R}\right) \) are groups under composition.
Proof. We show that \( \operatorname{Isom}\left( {\mathbb{R}}^{2}\right) \) is a group. Clearly, \( {1}_{\mathbb{R}} \) is an isometry, so that \( {1}_{\mathbb{R}} \in \operatorname{Isom}\left( {\mathbb{R}}^{2}\right) \) . Let \( {\varphi }^{\prime } \) and \( \varphi \) be isometries. For all points \( P \) and \( Q \...
No
Corollary 2.60. If \( O, P, Q \) are noncollinear points, and if \( \varphi \) and \( \psi \) are isometries of the plane such that \( \varphi \left( P\right) = \psi \left( P\right) \) and \( \varphi \left( Q\right) = \psi \left( Q\right) \), then \( \varphi = \psi \) .
Proof. Since \( O, P, Q \) are noncollinear points, the list \( P, Q \) is linearly independent in the vector space \( {\mathbb{R}}^{2} \) . Since \( \dim \left( {\mathbb{R}}^{2}\right) = 2 \), this is a basis [see Corollary 4.24(ii)], and any two linear transformations that agree on a basis are equal (see Corollary 4....
Yes
Proposition 2.64. Every subgroup \( H \leq G \) of a group \( G \) is itself a group.
Proof. Axiom (ii) (in the definition of subgroup) shows that \( H \) is closed under the operation of \( G \) ; that is, \( H \) has an operation (namely, the restriction of the operation \( * : G \times G \rightarrow G \) to \( H \times H \subseteq G \times G \) ). This operation is associative: since the equation \( ...
Yes
Proposition 2.66. A subset \( H \) of a group \( G \) is a subgroup if and only if \( H \) is nonempty and, whenever \( x, y \in H \), then \( x{y}^{-1} \in H \) .
Proof. If \( H \) is a subgroup, then it is nonempty, for \( 1 \in H \) . If \( x, y \in H \), then \( {y}^{-1} \in H \), by part (iii) of the definition, and so \( x{y}^{-1} \in H \), by part (ii). Conversely, assume that \( H \) is a subset satisfying the new condition. Since \( H \) is nonempty, it contains some ele...
Yes
Proposition 2.67. A nonempty subset \( H \) of a finite group \( G \) is a subgroup if and only if \( H \) is closed under the operation of \( G \) ; that is, if \( a, b \in H \), then \( {ab} \in H \) . In particular, a nonempty subset of \( {S}_{n} \) is a subgroup if and only if it is closed under composition.
Proof. Every subgroup is nonempty, by axiom (i) in the definition of subgroup, and it is closed, by axiom (ii). Conversely, assume that \( H \) is a nonempty subset of \( G \) closed under the operation on \( G \) ; thus, axiom (ii) holds. It follows that \( H \) contains all the powers of its elements. In particular, ...
Yes
Proposition 2.69. If \( G = \langle a\rangle \) is a cyclic group of order \( n \), then \( {a}^{k} \) is a generator of \( G \) if and only if \( \gcd \left( {k, n}\right) = 1 \) .
Proof. If \( {a}^{k} \) is a generator, then \( a \in \left\langle {a}^{k}\right\rangle \), so there is \( s \) with \( a = {a}^{ks} \) . Hence, \( {a}^{{ks} - 1} = 1 \), so that Lemma 2.53 shows that \( n \mid \left( {{ks} - 1}\right) \) ; that is, there is an integer \( t \) with \( {ks} - 1 = {tn} \), or \( {sk} - {...
Yes
Corollary 2.70. The number of generators of a cyclic group of order \( n \) is \( \phi \left( n\right) \) .
Proof. This follows at once from the Propositions 2.69 and 1.39. -
No
Every subgroup \( S \) of a cyclic group \( G = \langle a\rangle \) is itself cyclic. In fact, \( {a}^{m} \) is a generator of \( S \), where \( m \) is the smallest positive integer with \( {a}^{m} \in S \) .
Proof. We may assume that \( S \) is nontrivial; that is, \( S \neq \{ 1\} \), for the proposition is obviously true when \( S = \{ 1\} \) . Let \( I = \left\{ {m \in \mathbb{Z} : {a}^{m} \in S}\right\} \) ; it is easy to check that \( I \) satisfies the conditions in Corollary 1.34. (i): \( 0 \in I \), for \( {a}^{0} ...
Yes
Proposition 2.72. Let \( G \) be a finite group and let \( a \in G \) . Then the order of a is the number of elements in \( \langle a\rangle \) .
Proof. We will use the idea in Lemma 2.23. Since \( G \) is finite, there is an integer \( k \geq 1 \) with \( 1, a,{a}^{2},\ldots ,{a}^{k - 1} \) consisting of \( k \) distinct elements, while \( 1, a,{a}^{2},\ldots ,{a}^{k} \) has a repetition; hence \( {a}^{k} \in \left\{ {1, a,{a}^{2},\ldots ,{a}^{k - 1}}\right\} \...
Yes
Proposition 2.73. A group \( G \) of order \( n \) is cyclic if and only if, for each divisor \( d \) of \( n \), there is at most one cyclic subgroup of order \( d \) .
Proof. Suppose that \( G = \langle a\rangle \) is a cyclic group of order \( n \) . We claim that \( \left\langle {a}^{n/d}\right\rangle \) has order \( d \) . Clearly, \( {\left( {a}^{n/d}\right) }^{d} = {a}^{n} = 1 \), and it suffices to show that \( d \) is the smallest such positive integer. If \( {\left( {a}^{n/d}...
Yes
Proposition 2.74. The intersection \( \mathop{\bigcap }\limits_{{i \in I}}{H}_{i} \) of any family of subgroups of a group \( G \) is again a subgroup of \( G \) . In particular, if \( H \) and \( K \) are subgroups of \( G \), then \( H \cap K \) is a subgroup of \( G \) .
Proof. Let \( D = \mathop{\bigcap }\limits_{{i \in I}}{H}_{i} \) ; we prove that \( D \) is a subgroup by verifying each of the parts in the definition. Note first that \( D \neq \varnothing \) because \( 1 \in D \) since \( 1 \in {H}_{i} \) for all \( i \) . If \( x \in D \), then \( x \) got into \( D \) by being in ...
Yes
If \( X \) is a subset of a group \( G \), then there is a subgroup \( \langle X\rangle \) of \( G \) containing \( X \) that is smallest in the sense that \( \langle X\rangle \leq H \) for every subgroup \( H \) of \( G \) which contains \( X \) .
First of all, note that there exist subgroups of \( G \) which contain \( X \) ; for example, \( G \) itself contains \( X \) . Define \( \langle X\rangle = \mathop{\bigcap }\limits_{{X \subseteq H}}H \), the intersection of all the subgroups \( H \) of \( G \) which contain \( X \) . By Proposition 2.74, \( \langle X\...
Yes
Proposition 2.77. If \( X \) is a nonempty subset of a group \( G \), then \( \langle X\rangle \) is the set of all the words on \( X \) .
Proof. We begin by showing that \( W \), the set of all words on \( X \), is a subgroup of \( G \) . By definition, \( 1 \in W \) . If \( w,{w}^{\prime } \in W \), then \( w = {x}_{1}^{{e}_{1}}{x}_{2}^{{e}_{2}}\cdots {x}_{n}^{{e}_{n}} \) and \( {w}^{\prime } = {y}_{1}^{{f}_{1}}{y}_{2}^{{f}_{2}}\cdots {y}_{m}^{{f}_{m}} ...
Yes
Proposition 2.78. Let \( a \) and \( b \) be integers and let \( A = \langle a\rangle \) and \( B = \langle b\rangle \) be the cyclic subgroups of \( \mathbb{Z} \) they generate.\n\n(i) If \( A + B \) is defined to be \( \{ a + b : a \in A \) and \( b \in B\} \), then \( A + B = \langle d\rangle \) , where \( d = \gcd ...
Proof.\n\n(i) It is straightforward to check that \( A + B \) is a subgroup of \( \mathbb{Z} \) (in fact, \( A + B \) is precisely the set of all the linear combinations of \( a \) and \( b \) ). By Proposition 2.71, the subgroup \( A + B \) is cyclic: \( A + B = \langle d\rangle \), where \( d \) can be chosen to be t...
Yes
Lemma 2.80. Let \( H \) be a subgroup of a group \( G \), and let \( a, b \in G \). (i) \( {aH} = {bH} \) if and only if \( {b}^{-1}a \in H \). In particular, \( {aH} = H \) if and only if \( a \in H \).
(i) This is a special case of Lemma 2.19, for cosets are equivalence classes. The second statement follows because \( H = {1H} \).
No
Theorem 2.81 (Lagrange’s Theorem). If \( H \) is a subgroup of a finite group \( G \), then \( \left| H\right| \) is a divisor of \( \left| G\right| \) .
Proof. Let \( \left\{ {{a}_{1}H,{a}_{2}H,\ldots ,{a}_{t}H}\right\} \) be the family of all the distinct cosets of \( H \) in \( G \) . Then\n\n\[ G = {a}_{1}H \cup {a}_{2}H \cup \cdots \cup {a}_{t}H \]\n\nbecause each \( g \in G \) lies in the coset \( {gH} \), and \( {gH} = {a}_{i}H \) for some \( i \) . Moreover, Lem...
Yes
Corollary 2.82. If \( H \) is a subgroup of a finite group \( G \), then\n\n\[ \left\lbrack {G : H}\right\rbrack = \left| G\right| /\left| H\right| . \]
Proof. This follows at once from Lagrange's theorem. -
Yes
Corollary 2.83. If \( G \) is a finite group and \( a \in G \), then the order of \( a \) is a divisor of \( \left| G\right| \) .
Proof. By Proposition 2.72, the order of the element \( a \) is equal to the order of the subgroup \( H = \langle a\rangle \) .
No
Corollary 2.84. If a finite group \( G \) has order \( m \), then \( {a}^{m} = 1 \) for all \( a \in G \) .
Proof. By Corollary 2.83, \( a \) has order \( d \), where \( d \mid m \) ; that is, \( m = {dk} \) for some integer \( k \) . Thus, \( {a}^{m} = {a}^{dk} = {\left( {a}^{d}\right) }^{k} = 1 \) .
Yes
Corollary 2.85. If \( p \) is a prime, then every group \( G \) of order \( p \) is cyclic.
Proof. Choose \( a \in G \) with \( a \neq 1 \), and let \( H = \langle a\rangle \) be the cyclic subgroup generated by \( a \) . By Lagrange’s theorem, \( \left| H\right| \) is a divisor of \( \left| G\right| = p \) . Since \( p \) is a prime and \( \left| H\right| > 1 \), it follows that \( \left| H\right| = p = \lef...
Yes
Lemma 2.87. Let \( f : G \rightarrow H \) be a homomorphism.\n\n(i) \( f\left( 1\right) = 1 \) ;\n\n(ii) \( f\left( {x}^{-1}\right) = f{\left( x\right) }^{-1} \) ;\n\n(iii) \( f\left( {x}^{n}\right) = f{\left( x\right) }^{n} \) for all \( n \in \mathbb{Z} \) .
Proof.\n\n(i) Applying \( f \) to the equation \( 1 \cdot 1 = 1 \) in \( G \) gives the equation \( f\left( 1\right) f\left( 1\right) = f\left( 1\right) \) in \( H \), and multiplying both sides by \( f{\left( 1\right) }^{-1} \) gives \( f\left( 1\right) = 1 \) .\n\n(ii) Apply \( f \) to the equation \( {x}^{-1}x = 1 \...
Yes
We show that any two finite cyclic groups \( G \) and \( H \) of the same order \( m \) are isomorphic. It will then follow from Corollary 2.85 that any two groups of prime order \( p \) are isomorphic.
Suppose that \( G = \langle x\rangle \) and \( H = \langle y\rangle \) . Define \( f : G \rightarrow H \) by \( f\left( {x}^{i}\right) = {y}^{i} \) for \( 0 \leq i < m \) . Now \( G = \left\{ {1, x,{x}^{2},\ldots ,{x}^{m - 1}}\right\} \) and \( H = \left\{ {1, y,{y}^{2},\ldots ,{y}^{m - 1}}\right\} \) , and so it follo...
Yes
Proposition 2.91. Let \( f : G \rightarrow H \) be a homomorphism.\n\n(i) \( \ker f \) is a subgroup of \( G \) and \( \operatorname{im}f \) is a subgroup of \( H \) .\n\n(ii) If \( x \in \ker f \) and if \( a \in G \), then \( {ax}{a}^{-1} \in \ker f \) .\n\n(iii) \( f \) is an injection if and only if \( \ker f = \{ ...
Proof.\n\n(i) Lemma 2.87 shows that \( 1 \in \ker f \), for \( f\left( 1\right) = 1 \) . Next, if \( x, y \in \ker f \), then \( f\left( x\right) = 1 = f\left( y\right) \) ; hence, \( f\left( {xy}\right) = f\left( x\right) f\left( y\right) = 1 \cdot 1 = 1 \), and so \( {xy} \in \ker f \) . Finally, if \( x \in \ker f \...
Yes
Proposition 2.97. The alternating group \( {A}_{4} \) is a group of order 12 having no subgroup of order 6.
Proof. First of all, \( \left| {A}_{4}\right| = {12} \), by Exercise 2.29 on page 121. If \( {A}_{4} \) contains a subgroup \( H \) of order 6, then \( H \) has index 2, and so \( {\alpha }^{2} \in H \) for every \( \alpha \in {A}_{4} \) , by Proposition 2.95(i). If \( \alpha \) is a 3-cycle, however, then \( \alpha \)...
No
Proposition 2.98. \( \left\lbrack a\right\rbrack = \left\lbrack b\right\rbrack \) in \( {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \) if and only if \( a \equiv b{\;\operatorname{mod}\;m} \) .
Proof. If \( \left\lbrack a\right\rbrack = \left\lbrack b\right\rbrack \), then \( a \in \left\lbrack a\right\rbrack \), by reflexivity, and so \( a \in \left\lbrack a\right\rbrack = \left\lbrack b\right\rbrack \) . Therefore, \( a \equiv b{\;\operatorname{mod}\;m} \) .\n\nConversely, if \( c \in \left\lbrack a\right\r...
Yes
Proposition 2.99. Let \( m \geq 2 \) be given.\n\n(i) If \( a \in \mathbb{Z} \), then \( \left\lbrack a\right\rbrack = \left\lbrack r\right\rbrack \) for some \( r \) with \( 0 \leq r < m \) .
Proof.\n\n(i) For each \( a \in \mathbb{Z} \), the division algorithm gives \( a = {qm} + r \), where \( 0 \leq r < m \) ; hence \( a - r = {qm} \) and \( a \equiv r{\;\operatorname{mod}\;m} \) . Therefore \( \left\lbrack a\right\rbrack = \left\lbrack r\right\rbrack \), where \( r \) is the remainder after dividing \( ...
Yes
Lemma 2.100. If \( m \geq 2 \), then the function \( \alpha : {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \times {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \rightarrow {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \), given by \[ \alpha \left( {\left\lbrack a\right\rbrack ,\left\lbrack b\right\rbrack }\right) = \left\lbrack {a + b}\right\rbrack \] is an operation on \( {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \) .
Proof. The operation appears to depend on choosing names \( \left\lbrack a\right\rbrack \) and \( \left\lbrack b\right\rbrack \) ; what if we had chosen names \( \left\lbrack {a}^{\prime }\right\rbrack \) and \( \left\lbrack {b}^{\prime }\right\rbrack \) ? To see that \( \alpha \) is a (well-defined) function, we must ...
Yes
Proposition 2.101. \( {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \) is an additive cyclic group of order \( m \) with generator [1].
Proof.\n\nIn this proof only, we shall write \( \boxplus \) for addition of congruence classes:\n\n\[ \alpha \left( {\left\lbrack a\right\rbrack ,\left\lbrack b\right\rbrack }\right) = \left\lbrack a\right\rbrack \boxplus \left\lbrack b\right\rbrack = \left\lbrack {a + b}\right\rbrack . \]\n\nAssociativity of the opera...
Yes
Corollary 2.102. Every cyclic group of order \( m \geq 2 \) is isomorphic to \( {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \) .
Proof. We have already seen, in Example 2.88, that any two finite cyclic groups of the same order are isomorphic.
No
Proposition 2.103. The function \( \mu : {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \times {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \rightarrow {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \), given by\n\n\[ \mu \left( {\left\lbrack a\right\rbrack ,\left\lbrack b\right\rbrack }\right) = \left\lbrack {ab}\right\rbrack \]\n\nis an operation on \( {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \). This operation is associative ...
Proof. The operation appears to depend on choosing names \( \left\lbrack a\right\rbrack \) and \( \left\lbrack b\right\rbrack \) ; what if we had chosen names \( \left\lbrack {a}^{\prime }\right\rbrack \) and \( \left\lbrack {b}^{\prime }\right\rbrack \) ? To see that \( \mu \) is a (well-defined) function, we must sho...
Yes
Corollary 2.105 (Fermat). If \( p \) is a prime and \( a \in \mathbb{Z} \), then\n\n\[ \n{a}^{p} \equiv a{\;\operatorname{mod}\;p} \n\]
Proof. By Proposition 2.98, it suffices to show that \( \left\lbrack {a}^{p}\right\rbrack = \left\lbrack a\right\rbrack \) in \( {\mathbb{I}}_{p} \) . If \( \left\lbrack a\right\rbrack = \) [0], then Proposition 2.103 gives \( \left\lbrack {a}^{p}\right\rbrack = {\left\lbrack a\right\rbrack }^{p} = {\left\lbrack 0\righ...
Yes
\[ U\left( {I}_{m}\right) = \left\{ {\left\lbrack r\right\rbrack \in {\mathbb{I}}_{m} : \left( {r, m}\right) = 1}\right\} . \]
Let \( E = \left\{ {\left\lbrack r\right\rbrack \in {\mathbb{I}}_{m} : \left( {r, m}\right) = 1}\right\} \) . If \( \left\lbrack r\right\rbrack \in E \), then \( \left( {r, m}\right) = 1 \), so there are integers \( s \) and \( t \) with \( {sr} + {tm} = 1 \) . Hence, \( {sr} \equiv 1{\;\operatorname{mod}\;m} \) . Ther...
Yes
Theorem 2.107 (Euler). If \( \left( {r, m}\right) = 1 \), then\n\n\[{r}^{\phi \left( m\right) } \equiv 1{\;\operatorname{mod}\;m}.\]
Proof. If \( G \) is a finite group of order \( n \), then Corollary 2.84 to Lagrange’s theorem gives \( {x}^{n} = 1 \) for all \( x \in G \) . Here, if \( \left\lbrack r\right\rbrack \in U\left( {I}_{m}\right) \), then \( {\left\lbrack r\right\rbrack }^{\phi \left( m\right) } = \left\lbrack 1\right\rbrack \) , by Lemm...
Yes
Theorem 2.109 (Wilson's Theorem). An integer \( p \) is a prime if and only if\n\n\[ \left( {p - 1}\right) ! \equiv - 1{\;\operatorname{mod}\;p}. \]\n
Proof. Assume that \( p \) is a prime. If \( {a}_{1},{a}_{2},\ldots ,{a}_{n} \) is a list of all the elements of a finite abelian group \( G \), then the product \( {a}_{1}{a}_{2}\ldots {a}_{n} \) is the same as the product of all elements \( a \) with \( {a}^{2} = 1 \), for any other element cancels against its invers...
Yes
Lemma 2.110. If \( K \) is a normal subgroup of a group \( G \), then\n\n\[ \n{bK} = {Kb} \n\]\n\nfor every \( b \in G \) .
Proof. Let \( {bk} \in {bK} \) . Since \( K \) is normal, \( {bk}{b}^{-1} \in K \), say \( {bk}{b}^{-1} = {k}^{\prime } \in K \), so that \( {bk} = \left( {{bk}{b}^{-1}}\right) b = {k}^{\prime }b \in {Kb} \), and so \( {bK} \subseteq {Kb} \) . For the reverse inclusion, let \( {kb} \in {Kb} \) . Since \( K \) is normal...
Yes
Theorem 2.111. Let \( G/K \) denote the family of all the cosets of a subgroup \( K \) of \( G \) . If \( K \) is a normal subgroup, then\n\n\[ \n{aKbK} = {abK} \n\]\n\nfor all \( a, b \in G \), and \( G/K \) is a group under this operation.
Proof. The product of two cosets \( \left( {aK}\right) \left( {bK}\right) \) can also be viewed as the product of 4 elements in \( \mathcal{S}\left( G\right) \) . Hence, associativity in \( \mathcal{S}\left( G\right) \) gives generalized associativity:\n\n\[ \n\left( {aK}\right) \left( {bK}\right) = a\left( {Kb}\right)...
Yes
Every normal subgroup \( K \vartriangleleft G \) is the kernel of some homomorphism.
Proof. Define the natural map \( \pi : G \rightarrow G/K \) by \( \pi \left( a\right) = {aK} \) . With this notation, the formula \( {aKbK} = {abK} \) can be rewritten as \( \pi \left( a\right) \pi \left( b\right) = \pi \left( {ab}\right) \) ; thus, \( \pi \) is a (surjective) homomorphism. Since \( K \) is the identit...
Yes
Theorem 2.114 (First Isomorphism Theorem). If \( f : G \rightarrow H \) is a homomorphism, then\n\n\[ \ker f \vartriangleleft G\;\text{ and }\;G/\ker f \cong \operatorname{im}f. \]\n\nIn more detail, if \( \ker f = K \), then the function \( \varphi : G/K \rightarrow \operatorname{im}f \leq H \), given by \( \varphi : ...
Proof. We have already seen, in Proposition 2.91(ii), that \( K = \ker f \) is a normal subgroup of \( G \) . Now \( \varphi \) is well-defined: if \( {aK} = {bK} \), then \( a = {bk} \) for some \( k \in K \), and so \( f\left( a\right) = f\left( {bk}\right) = f\left( b\right) f\left( k\right) = f\left( b\right) \), b...
Yes
Proposition 2.118 (Product Formula). If \( H \) and \( K \) are subgroups of a finite group \( G \), then\n\n\[ \left| {HK}\right| \left| {H \cap K}\right| = \left| H\right| \left| K\right| \]\n\nwhere \( {HK} = \{ {hk} : h \in H \) and \( k \in K\} \) .
Proof. Define a function \( f : H \times K \rightarrow {HK} \) by \( f : \left( {h, k}\right) \mapsto {hk} \) . Clearly, \( f \) is a surjection. It suffices to show, for every \( x \in {HK} \), that \( \left| {{f}^{-1}\left( x\right) }\right| = \left| {H \cap K}\right| \) , where \( {f}^{-1}\left( x\right) = \{ \left(...
Yes
Theorem 2.119 (Second Isomorphism Theorem). If \( H \) and \( K \) are subgroups of a group \( G \) with \( H \vartriangleleft G \), then \( {HK} \) is a subgroup, \( H \cap K \vartriangleleft K \), and \[ K/\left( {H \cap K}\right) \cong {HK}/H. \]
Proof. We begin by showing first that \( {HK}/H \) makes sense and then describing its elements. Since \( H \vartriangleleft G \), Proposition 2.117 shows that \( {HK} \) is a subgroup. Normality of \( H \) in \( {HK} \) follows from a more general fact: if \( H \leq S \leq G \) and if \( H \) is normal in \( G \), the...
Yes
Theorem 2.120 (Third Isomorphism Theorem). If \( H \) and \( K \) are normal subgroups of a group \( G \) with \( K \leq H \), then \( H/K \vartriangleleft G/K \) and\n\n\[ \left( {G/K}\right) /\left( {H/K}\right) \cong G/H \]
Proof. Define \( f : G/K \rightarrow G/H \) by \( f : {aK} \mapsto {aH} \) . Note that \( f \) is a (well-defined) function, for if \( {a}^{\prime } \in G \) and \( {a}^{\prime }K = {aK} \), then \( {a}^{-1}{a}^{\prime } \in K \leq H \), and so \( {aH} = {a}^{\prime }H \) . It is easy to see that \( f \) is a surjectiv...
Yes
Proposition 2.121 (Correspondence Theorem). If \( G \) is a group and \( K \vartriangleleft G \) , then \( S \mapsto S/K \) is a bijection \( \operatorname{Sub}\left( {G;K}\right) \rightarrow \operatorname{Sub}\left( {G/K}\right) \) . Denoting \( S/K \) by \( {S}^{ * } \) , we have\n\n(i) \( T \leq S \leq G \) in \( \m...
Proof. Let \( \Phi : \operatorname{Sub}\left( {G;K}\right) \rightarrow \operatorname{Sub}\left( {G/K}\right) \) denote the function \( \Phi : S \mapsto S/K \) (it is routine to check that if \( S \) is subgroup of \( G \) containing \( K \), then \( S/K \) is a subgroup of \( G/K \) ).\n\nTo see that \( \Phi \) is inje...
Yes
If \( G \) is a finite abelian group, then \( G \) has a subgroup of order \( d \) for every divisor \( d \) of \( \left| G\right| \) . In particular, if \( p \) is a prime divisor of \( \left| G\right| \) , then \( G \) contains an element of order \( p \) .
We begin by proving, by induction on \( n = \left| G\right| \), that for every prime divisor \( p \) of \( \left| G\right| \), there is an element of order \( p \) in \( G \) . The base step \( n = 1 \) is true, for there are no prime divisors of 1 . For the inductive step, choose \( a \in G \) of order \( k > 1 \) . I...
No
The four-group \( \mathbf{V} \) is isomorphic to \( {\mathbb{I}}_{2} \times {\mathbb{I}}_{2} \).
The reader may check that the function \( f : \mathbf{V} \rightarrow {\mathbb{I}}_{2} \times {\mathbb{I}}_{2} \), defined by\n\n\[ f : \left( 1\right) \mapsto \left( {\left\lbrack 0\right\rbrack ,\left\lbrack 0\right\rbrack }\right) \]\n\n\[ f : \left( {12}\right) \left( {34}\right) \mapsto \left( {\left\lbrack 1\right...
Yes
Proposition 2.124. Let \( G \) and \( {G}^{\prime } \) be groups, and let \( K \vartriangleleft G \) and \( {K}^{\prime } \vartriangleleft {G}^{\prime } \) be normal subgroups. Then \( K \times {K}^{\prime } \) is a normal subgroup of \( G \times {G}^{\prime } \), and there is an isomorphism\n\n\[ \left( {G \times {G}^...
Proof. Let \( \pi : G \rightarrow G/K \) and \( {\pi }^{\prime } : {G}^{\prime } \rightarrow {G}^{\prime }/{K}^{\prime } \) be the natural maps. The reader may check that \( f : G \times {G}^{\prime } \rightarrow \left( {G/K}\right) \times \left( {{G}^{\prime }/{K}^{\prime }}\right) \), given by\n\n\[ f : \left( {g,{g}...
No
Proposition 2.125. If \( G \) is a group containing normal subgroups \( H \) and \( K \) with \( H \cap K = \{ 1\} \) and \( {HK} = G \), then \( G \cong H \times K \) .
Proof. We show first that if \( g \in G \), then the factorization \( g = {hk} \), where \( h \in H \) and \( k \in K \), is unique. If \( {hk} = {h}^{\prime }{k}^{\prime } \), then \( {h}^{\prime - 1}h = {k}^{\prime }{k}^{-1} \in H \cap K = \{ 1\} \) . Therefore, \( {h}^{\prime } = h \) and \( {k}^{\prime } = k \) . W...
No
Theorem 2.126. If \( m \) and \( n \) are relatively prime, then\n\n\[{\mathbb{I}}_{mn} \cong {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \times {\mathbb{I}}_{n}\]
Proof. If \( a \in \mathbb{Z} \), denote its congruence class in \( {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \) by \( {\left\lbrack a\right\rbrack }_{m} \) . The reader can show that the function \( f : \mathbb{Z} \rightarrow {\mathbb{I}}_{m} \times {\mathbb{I}}_{n} \), given by \( a \mapsto \left( {{\left\lbrack a\right\rbrack }_{m},{\left\l...
No
Proposition 2.127. Let \( G \) be a group, and let \( a, b \in G \) be commuting elements of orders \( m \) and \( n \), respectively. If \( \left( {m, n}\right) = 1 \), then ab has order \( {mn} \) .
Proof. Since \( a \) and \( b \) commute, we have \( {\left( ab\right) }^{r} = {a}^{r}{b}^{r} \) for all \( r \), so that \( {\left( ab\right) }^{mn} = \) \( {a}^{mn}{b}^{mn} = 1 \) . It suffices to prove that if \( {\left( ab\right) }^{k} = 1 \), then \( {mn} \mid k \) . If \( 1 = {\left( ab\right) }^{k} = \) \( {a}^{...
Yes
Proposition 2.129. If \( G \) is a finite abelian group having a unique subgroup of order \( p \) for every prime divisor \( p \) of \( \left| G\right| \), then \( G \) is cyclic.
Proof. Choose \( a \in G \) of largest order, say, \( n \) . If \( p \) is a prime divisor of \( \left| G\right| \), let \( C = {C}_{p} \) be the unique subgroup of \( G \) having order \( p \) ; the subgroup \( C \) must be cyclic, say \( C = \langle c\rangle \) . We show that \( p \mid n \) by showing that \( c \in \...
Yes
Theorem 2.130 (Cayley). Every group \( G \) is (isomorphic to) a subgroup of the symmetric group \( {S}_{G} \) . In particular, if \( \left| G\right| = n \), then \( G \) is isomorphic to a subgroup of \( {S}_{n} \) .
Proof. For each \( a \in G \), define \
No
Theorem 2.131 (Representation on Cosets). Let \( G \) be a group, and let \( H \) be a subgroup of \( G \) having finite index \( n \) . Then there exists a homomorphism \( \varphi : G \rightarrow {S}_{n} \) with \( \ker \varphi \leq H \) .
Proof. Even though \( H \) may not be a normal subgroup, we still denote the family of all the cosets of \( H \) in \( G \) by \( G/H \).\n\nFor each \( a \in G \), define \
No
Proposition 2.132. Every group \( G \) of order 4 is isomorphic to either \( {\mathbb{I}}_{4} \) or the four-group \( \mathbf{V} \) . Moreover, \( {\mathbb{I}}_{4} \) and \( \mathbf{V} \) are not isomorphic.
Proof. By Lagrange’s theorem, every element in \( G \), other than 1, has order either 2 or 4 . If there is an element of order 4, then \( G \) is cyclic. Otherwise, \( {x}^{2} = 1 \) for all \( x \in G \), so that Exercise 2.38 on page 143 shows that \( G \) is abelian.\n\nIf distinct elements \( x \) and \( y \) in \...
No
Proposition 2.133. If \( G \) is a group of order 6, then \( G \) is isomorphic to either \( {\mathbb{I}}_{6} \) or \( {S}_{3}.{}^{20} \) Moreover, \( {\mathbb{I}}_{6} \) and \( {S}_{3} \) are not isomorphic.
Proof. By Lagrange's theorem, the only possible orders of nonidentity elements are 2,3, and 6 . Of course, \( G \cong {\mathbb{I}}_{6} \) if \( G \) has an element of order 6 . Now Exercise 2.40 on page 144 shows that \( G \) must contain an element of order 2, say, \( t \) . Let \( T = \langle t\rangle \) .\n\nSince \...
No
Proposition 2.134. If \( \alpha : G \times X \rightarrow X \) is an action of a group \( G \) on a set \( X \) , then \( g \mapsto {\alpha }_{g} \) defines a homomorphism \( G \rightarrow {S}_{X} \) . Conversely, if \( B : G \rightarrow {S}_{X} \) is a homomorphism, then \( \beta : G \times X \rightarrow X \), defined ...
Proof. If \( \alpha : G \times X \rightarrow X \) is an action, then we claim that each \( {\alpha }_{g} \) is a permutation of \( X \) . Indeed, its inverse is \( {\alpha }_{{g}^{-1}} \), because \( {\alpha }_{g}{\alpha }_{{g}^{-1}} = {\alpha }_{g{g}^{-1}} = {\alpha }_{1} = {1}_{X} \) . It follows that \( A : G \right...
Yes
Let \( X = \{ 1,2,\ldots, n\} \), let \( \sigma \in {S}_{n} \), and regard the cyclic group \( G = \langle \sigma \rangle \) as acting on \( X \) . If \( i \in X \), then\n\n\[ \mathcal{O}\left( i\right) = \left\{ {{\sigma }^{k}\left( i\right) : k \in \mathbb{Z}}\right\} \]
Let \( \sigma = {\beta }_{1}\cdots {\beta }_{t\left( \sigma \right) } \) be the complete factorization of \( \sigma \), and let \( i = {i}_{0} \) be moved by \( \sigma \) . If the cycle involving \( {i}_{0} \) is \( {\beta }_{j} = \left( \begin{array}{llll} {i}_{0} & {i}_{1} & \ldots & {i}_{r - 1} \end{array}\right) \)...
Yes
Proposition 2.140. If \( G \) acts on a set \( X \), then \( X \) is the disjoint union of the orbits. If \( X \) is finite, then\n\n\[ \left| X\right| = \mathop{\sum }\limits_{i}\left| {\mathcal{O}\left( {x}_{i}\right) }\right| \]\n\nwhere one \( {x}_{i} \) is chosen from each orbit.
Proof. This follows from Proposition 2.20, for the orbits form a partition of \( X \) .\n\nThe count given in the second statement is correct: since the orbits are disjoint, no element in \( X \) is counted twice. \( \; \bullet \)
Yes
Theorem 2.141. If \( G \) acts on a set \( X \) and \( x \in X \), then\n\n\[ \left| {\mathcal{O}\left( x\right) }\right| = \left\lbrack {G : {G}_{x}}\right\rbrack \]
Proof. Let \( G/{G}_{x} \) denote the family of all the cosets of \( {G}_{x} \) in \( G \) . We will exhibit a bijection \( \varphi : \mathcal{O}\left( x\right) \rightarrow G/{G}_{x} \) ; this will give the result, since \( \left| {G/{G}_{x}}\right| = \) \( \left\lbrack {G : {G}_{x}}\right\rbrack \), by Corollary 2.82 ...
Yes
Corollary 2.142. If a finite group \( G \) acts on a set \( X \), then the number of elements in any orbit is a divisor of \( \left| G\right| \) .
Proof. This follows at once from Theorem 2.141 and Lagrange's theorem. -
Yes
If \( x \) lies in a finite group \( G \), then the number of conjugates of \( x \) is the index of its centralizer:
Proof. As in Example 2.138, the orbit of \( x \) is its conjugacy class \( {x}^{G} \), and the stabilizer \( {G}_{x} \) is the centralizer \( {C}_{G}\left( x\right) \) .
Yes
If \( \alpha \in {S}_{n} \), then the number of permutations in \( {S}_{n} \) having the same cycle structure as \( \alpha \) is a divisor of \( n \) !.
This follows at once from Corollary 2.143 once one recalls Proposition 2.33 which says that two permutations in \( {S}_{n} \) are conjugate in \( {S}_{n} \) if and only if they have the same cycle structure.
Yes
Theorem 2.145 (Cauchy). If \( G \) is a finite group whose order is divisible by a prime \( p \), then \( G \) contains an element of order \( p \) .
Proof. We prove the theorem by induction on \( \\left| G\\right| \) ; the base step \( \\left| G\\right| = 1 \) is vacuously true, for there are no prime divisors of 1 . If \( x \\in G \), then the number of conjugates of \( x \) is \( \\left| {x}^{G}\\right| = \\left\\lbrack {G : {C}_{G}\\left( x\\right) }\\right\\rbr...
Yes
Theorem 2.146. If \( p \) is a prime and \( G \) is a \( p \) -group with more than one element, then \( Z\left( G\right) \neq \{ 1\} \) .
Proof. Consider the class equation\n\n\[ \left| G\right| = \left| {Z\left( G\right) }\right| + \mathop{\sum }\limits_{i}\left\lbrack {G : {C}_{G}\left( {x}_{i}\right) }\right\rbrack \]\n\nEach \( {C}_{G}\left( {x}_{i}\right) \) is a proper subgroup of \( G \), for \( {x}_{i} \notin Z\left( G\right) \) . Since \( G \) i...
Yes
Corollary 2.147. If \( p \) is a prime, then every group \( G \) of order \( {p}^{2} \) is abelian.
Proof. If \( G \) is not abelian, then its center \( Z\left( G\right) \) is a proper subgroup, so that \( \left| {Z\left( G\right) }\right| = 1 \) or \( p \), by Lagrange’s theorem. But Theorem 2.146 says that \( Z\left( G\right) \neq \) \( \{ 1\} \), and so \( \left| {Z\left( G\right) }\right| = p \) . The center is a...
Yes
Proposition 2.150. If \( G \) is a group of order \( \left| G\right| = {p}^{e} \), then \( G \) has a normal subgroup of order \( {p}^{k} \) for every \( k \leq e \) .
Proof. We prove the result by induction on \( e \geq 0 \) . The base step is obviously true, and so we proceed to the inductive step. By Theorem 2.146, the center of \( G \) is nontrivial: \( Z\left( G\right) \neq \{ 1\} \) . If \( Z\left( G\right) = G \), then \( G \) is abelian, and we have already proved the result ...
Yes
Proposition 2.151. An abelian group \( G \) is simple if and only if it is finite and of prime order.
Proof. If \( G \) is finite of prime order \( p \), then \( G \) has no subgroups \( H \) other than \( \{ 1\} \) and \( G \), otherwise Lagrange’s theorem would show that \( \left| H\right| \) is a divisor of \( p \) . Therefore, \( G \) is simple.\n\nConversely, assume that \( G \) is simple. Since \( G \) is abelian...
Yes
Lemma 2.152. All 3-cycles are conjugate in \( {A}_{5} \) .
Proof. Let \( G = {S}_{5},\alpha = \left( \begin{array}{lll} 1 & 2 & 3 \end{array}\right) \), and \( H = {A}_{5} \) . We know that \( \left| {\alpha }^{{S}_{5}}\right| = {20} \) , for there are 20 3-cycles in \( {S}_{5} \) (as we saw in Example 2.30). Therefore, \( {20} = \) \( \left| {S}_{5}\right| /\left| {{C}_{{S}_{...
Yes
Lemma 2.153. Every element in \( {A}_{5} \) is a 3-cycle or a product of 3-cycles.
Proof. If \( \alpha \in {A}_{5} \), then \( \alpha \) is a product of an even number of transpositions: \( \alpha = {\tau }_{1}{\tau }_{2}\cdots {\tau }_{{2n} - 1}{\tau }_{2n} \) . As the transpositions may be grouped in pairs \( {\tau }_{{2i} - 1}{\tau }_{2i} \), it suffices to consider products \( \tau {\tau }^{\prim...
Yes
Theorem 2.154. \( {A}_{5} \) is a simple group.
Proof. We shall show that if \( H \) is a normal subgroup of \( {A}_{5} \) and \( H \neq \{ \left( 1\right) \} \), then \( H = {A}_{5} \) . Now if \( H \) contains a 3-cycle, then normality forces \( H \) to contain all its conjugates. By Lemma 2.152, \( H \) contains every 3-cycle, and by Lemma 2.153, \( H = {A}_{5} \...
Yes
Lemma 2.155. \( {A}_{6} \) is a simple group.
Proof. Let \( H \neq \{ \left( 1\right) \} \) be a normal subgroup of \( {A}_{6} \) ; we must show that \( H = {A}_{6} \) . Assume that there is some \( \alpha \in H \) with \( \alpha \neq \left( 1\right) \) which fixes some \( i \), where \( 1 \leq i \leq 6 \) . Define\n\n\[ F = \left\{ {\sigma \in {A}_{6} : \sigma \l...
Yes
Theorem 2.156. \( {A}_{n} \) is a simple group for all \( n \geq 5 \) .
Proof. If \( H \) is a nontrivial normal subgroup of \( {A}_{n} \) [that is, \( H \neq \left( 1\right) \) ], then we must show that \( H = {A}_{n} \) ; by Exercise 2.116 on page 205, it suffices to prove that \( H \) contains a 3-cycle. If \( \beta \in H \) is nontrivial, then there exists some \( i \) that \( \beta \)...
No
Theorem 2.158 (Burnside’s Lemma). \( {}^{23} \) Let \( G \) act on a finite set \( X \) . If \( N \) is the number of orbits, then\n\n\[ N = \frac{1}{\\left| G\\right| }\\mathop{\\sum }\\limits_{{\\tau \\in G}}F\\left( \\tau \\right) \]\n\nwhere \( F\\left( \\tau \\right) \) is the number of \( x \\in X \) fixed by \( ...
Proof. List the elements of \( X \) as follows: choose \( {x}_{1} \\in X \), and then list all the elements in the orbit \( \\mathcal{O}\\left( {x}_{1}\\right) \) ; say, \( \\mathcal{O}\\left( {x}_{1}\\right) = \\left\\{ {{x}_{1},{x}_{2},\\ldots ,{x}_{r}}\\right\\} \) ; then choose \( {x}_{r + 1} \\notin \\mathcal{O}\\...
No
Theorem 2.160. Let \( \mathcal{C} \) be a set of \( q \) colors, and let \( \tau \in {S}_{n} \) .\n\n(i) If \( F\left( \tau \right) \) is the number of \( x \in {\mathcal{C}}^{n} \) fixed by \( \tau \), and if \( t\left( \tau \right) \) is the number of cycles in the complete factorization of \( \tau \), then\n\n\[ F\l...
Proof.\n\n(i) Let \( \tau \in {S}_{n} \) and let \( \tau = {\beta }_{1}\cdots {\beta }_{t} \) be a complete factorization, where each \( {\beta }_{j} \) is an \( {r}_{j} \) -cycle. If \( {i}_{1},\ldots ,{i}_{{r}_{j}} \) are the symbols moved by \( {\beta }_{j} \), then \( {i}_{k + 1} = {\tau }^{k}{i}_{1} \) for \( k < ...
Yes
Proposition 2.162. If \( \left| X\right| = n \) and \( G \) is a subgroup of \( {S}_{n} \), then the number of \( \left( {q, G}\right) \) -colorings of \( X \) is \( {P}_{G}\left( {q,\ldots, q}\right) \), where \( {P}_{G}\left( {{x}_{1},\ldots ,{x}_{n}}\right) \) is the cycle index.
Proof. By Theorem 2.160, the number of \( \left( {q, G}\right) \) -colorings of \( X \) is\n\n\[ \n\frac{1}{\left| G\right| }\mathop{\sum }\limits_{{\tau \in G}}{q}^{t\left( \tau \right) }\n\]\n\nwhere \( t\left( \tau \right) \) is the number of cycles in the complete factorization of \( \tau \) . On the other hand,\n\...
Yes
Theorem 2.163 (Pólya). Let \( G \leq {S}_{X} \), where \( \left| X\right| = n \), let \( \left| \mathcal{C}\right| = q \), and, for each \( i \geq 1 \), define \( {\sigma }_{i} = {c}_{1}^{i} + \cdots + {c}_{q}^{i} \) . Then the number of \( \left( {q, G}\right) \) -colorings of \( X \) having \( {f}_{r} \) elements of ...
Proofs of P 'olya's theorem can be found in combinatorics books (for example, see Biggs, Discrete Mathematics).
No