ASSIGNMENT 1- M501

JASON CROTHERS

1.2.7. Let
A = h a, b | a2 = b2 = (ab)n = 1 i
and let s = a and r = ab. First we will show that A is generated by the elements
s, r. If x A, since a2 = b2 = 1, we can write x in any of the following four ways.
ab ab
ab ba
ba ba
ba ab
where the factors oscillate between a and b. These can each be rewritten in terms of
r and s as follows.
ab ab = r r
ab ba = (ab) (ab)a = r rs
ba ba = aaba aba = a(ab) (ab)a = sr rs
ba ab = aaba ab = a(ab) (ab) = sr r
so r, s generates A. By definition of a and ab, s2 = rn = 1. For the remaining
relation, notice that (ab)(ba) = ab2 a = a2 = 1, so (ba) = (ab)1 and
rs = (ab)a = a(ba) = a(ab)1 = sr1
so A must be the dihedral group.
1.2.18. (a) Since v 3 = 1,
v(v 2 ) = v 3 = 1
so v 2 = v 1 .
(b) We can show that
v 2 u3 v = v 2 u2 uv
= uvv 2 u2
= u1u2
= u3
and because v 2 = v 1 this implies that
u3 v = vu3
1

JASON CROTHERS

(c) Since u4 = 1
u9 = (u4 )2 u = u
From this we have
uv = u9 v
= u3 u3 u3 v
= u3 u3 vu3
= u3 vu3 u3
= vu9
= vu
(d) Since u and v commute we have
vu = uv
= v 2 u2
= vvuu
= vuvu
= (vu)2
which means that
vu = 1
(e) Since uv = 1 we have
1 = u4 v 3 = u3 uvv 2
= u3 v 2
= u2 uvv
= u2 v
= uuv
=u
It follows that v = vu = 1
1.3.2.
= (1 13 5 10)(3 15 8)(4 14 11 7 12 9)
= (1 14)(2 9 15 13 4)(3 10)(5 12 7)(8 11)
2 = (1 5)(3 8 15)(4 11 12)(7 9 14)(13 10)
= (1 11 3)(2 4)(5 9 8 7 10 15)(13 14)
= (1 4)(3 13 12 15 11 5)(2 9)(8 10 14)
2 = (1 2 15 8 3 4 14 11 12 13 7 5 10)

ASSIGNMENT 1- M501

1.3.15. Let Sn . Then there exists disjoint cycles r1 , . . . , rm such that

= r1 rm
Because disjoint cycles commute,
k
k = (r1 rm )k = r1k rm

The powers of disjoint cycles are disjoint as well, so

k
k
=1
= 1 = r1k = = rm
r1k rm

Since rk = 1 if and only if |r| divides k, it follows that k = 1 if and only if |ri | | k
for each 1 i m. The order of is therefore the smallest positive integer such
that |ri | | k for each i, which is the least common multiple of |r1 |, . . . , |rm |. We know
that the order of a cycle is equal to the length of the cycle, so || is the least common
multiple of the lengths of the cycles.
1.4.3. The following two products are not equal, so GL2 (F2 ) is not Abelian.


 

1 1
1 0
2 1
=
0 1
1 1
1 1


 

1 0
1 1
1 1
=
1 1
0 1
1 2
1.6.4. Suppose there exists an isomorphism
: C \ {0} R \ {0}
The order of i is 4, so the order of (i) R \ {0} must be 4 as well. If x R \ {0},
x4 = 1 implies that x = 1 or x = 1 and neither of these elements has order 4, so
R \ {0} contains no elements of order 4. This is a contradiction so these two groups
are not isomorphic.
1.6.20. Let f, g, h Aut(G). Then for any x G
(f (g h))(x) = f ((g h)(x)) = f (g(h(x)))
and
((f g) h)(x) = (f g)(h(x)) = f (g(h(x)))
so composition of automorphisms is associative.
Let f, h Aut(G). Then f h is clearly a function from G to G. Suppose that
(f h)(x) = (f h)(y).
Then because f and h are injective
f (h(x)) = f (h(y)) = h(x) = h(y) = x = y
so f h is injective. Let y G, then because f and h are surjective there exists x1
such that f (x1 ) = y and there exists x2 such that h(x2 ) = x1 , so
(f h)(x2 ) = f (h(x2 )) = f (x1 ) = y
Let i : G G be the function such that i(x) = x for all x G. Then clearly i is
an automorphism. Also, for any f G,
(i f )(x) = i(f (x)) = f (x)

JASON CROTHERS

and
(f i)(x) = f (i(x)) = f (x)
for all x G, so f i = i f = f .
Let f Aut(G). Then f is a bijection, so f 1 : G G exists and is also a
bijection. We need to show that f 1 is a homomorphism. Let x, y G. Then
f (f 1 (xy)) = xy
and
f (f 1 (x)f 1 (y)) = f (f 1 (x))f (f 1 (y)) = xy
Since f is injective
f 1 (xy) = f 1 (x)f 1 (y)
so f 1 Aut(G).
1.6.26. We need to show that (i) and (j) satisfy the relations of the quaternion group,
which is
h1, i, j, k | (1)2 = 1, i2 = j 2 = k 2 = ijk = 1i
The corresponding elements in GL2 (C) are







1
0
1
0
1
0

(1) = I, (i) =
, (j) =
, (k) =
1 0
0
1
1
0
(I)2 = I



2 
1
0
1
0

=
= I
(i) =
0 1
0
1

2 

0 1
1 0
2
(j) =
=
= I
1 0
0 1


2 

1
1
0
2

(k) =
=
= I
0 1
1
0




0
1
0
1

(i)(j)(k) =
= (k)2 = I
1
0
1
0
So, extends to a homomorphism.
The homomorphism is a surjective homomorphism from Q8 to (Q8 ). Since
|Q8 | = |(Q8 )| = 8, must be injective.
1.7.19. Suppose h1 x = h2 x. Then by multiplying the right side by x, we have
2

h1 = h2
so the map is injective. Also, for any y O, y = hx for some h H. So clearly
h hx.
The orbits of the action of H on G partition G into disjoint sets as follows
G = O1 Ok
where Oi are the distinct orbits. Since the orbits are distinct and all have the same
cardinality as H,
|G| = |O1 | + + |Ok | = |H| + + |H| = k|H|
Thus, |H| divides |G|.

ASSIGNMENT 1- M501

1.7.21. Let G be the group of symmetries of the cube. Choose 2 adjacent vertices on the
cube and label them a and b. For any rigid motion, there are 8 vertices to send a
to. Then, because a and b are adjacent, b can go to 3 different vertices. This gives a
total of 8 3 = 24 = |G| symmetries of the cube.
If we label the 4 pairs of adjacent vertices 1, 2, 3, 4, then every rigid motion of
the cube permutes these 4 pairs and G acts on the set A = {1, 2, 3, 4}. We will now
show that this action is faithful, i.e. distinct symmetries give distinct permutations
of the pairs of adjacent vertices.
Let , G be distinct symmetries of the cube. We can split this into two cases:
(a) = (a) and (a) 6= (a). Let a0 and b0 be the vertices opposite from a and b
respectively.
Case 1: Suppose (a) = (a). If (b) = (b), then = , so (b) 6= (b). No two
vertices which are adjacent to (a) can be opposite each other. Since (b) and
(b) are both adjacent to (a), they cannot be opposite each other. Therefore,
these two symmetries must send (b, b0 ) to distinct pairs of opposite vertices.
Case 2: Label the vertices of the cube as

Suppose that (a) 6= (a). For sake of contradiction suppose that and
permute A in the same way. Then because they are not equal, (a) must be
opposite (a). It follows then that (b) must be opposite (b). So, the vertices
are oriented like this

Using the right hand rule, we can see that (c) and (c) cannot be opposite each
other. This is a contradiction so and must be distinct.