Long H.

Do

Math 71
Homework 6

1. Show that every nonabelian group of order 6 has a nonnormal subgroup of order 2. Use
this to classify all groups of order 6. Note: This is the exercise you prove to justify
the statement we have been using all term, that there are exactly two isomorphism
classes of groups of order 6. So do not invoke that result here.

Solution: Call G an arbitrary group of order 6 = 3 · 2. By Sylow’s Theorem, we

know that n2 | 3 and n2 ≡ 1 (mod 2). Thus, n2 = 1 or n2 = 3. We know by the one
of the corollaries of this theorem that if n2 = 1 then this unique subgroup H2 must be
normal in G. It thus suffices to show that if n2 = 1 then G will be abelian.
We know that any subgroup of index 2 will be automatically normal in G, which means
that H3 remains the unique normal subgroup of order 3 in G.
We also know that |H2 | = 2 and |H3 | = 3. Since gcd(2, 3) = 1, by Larange’s theorem,
it follows that H2 and H3 intersect trivially.
Furthermore, |H2 ∩ H3 | = 1 so |H2 H3 | = |H2 ||H3 | = 6 = |G|. Since H2 H3 has to be a
subgroup of G, we can now conclude that G = H2 H3 .
By Theorem 9, it follows that G ∼ = H2 × H3 . Because H2 and H3 are groups of prime
orders, they are cyclic, and so are their direct product. In other words, we have G ∼
= Z6
and thus abelian.
We have shown that any group of order 6 with a normal subgroup of order 2 belong
to one class. We now proceed to classify the groups of order 6 with three, and hence,
three non-normal Sylow 2-subgroups.
We know that their exists a homomorphism ϕ : G 7→ P er(G/H2 ) ∼ = S3 called the
permutation representation associated with the left translation action of G on H2 .
We also know that the ker(ϕ) must be a normal subgroup of G contained in H2 . Since
H2 cannot be normal, we have ker(ϕ) trivial, which means that ϕ must be an injective
map by the homework problem a few weeks ago. Since G and P er(G/H2 ) ∼ = S3 all
have 6 elements, it follows that G ∼ S
= 3 if G has non-normal Sylow 2-subgroups.
Thus, any group of order 6 has to belong to either of the two classes, one represented
by Z6 , the other by S3 .

2. Show that for n ≥ 3 and p an odd prime, that every Sylow p-subgroup of D2n is cyclic
and normal in D2n .

Solution: Lemma: Call R the subset of rotations in D2n . We know that R has to be
cyclic subgroup (by the lecture and the textbook), and since it has index 2, R E D2n .
Consider p such that pa m = 2n and m - p. Since pa | 2n and we further have p
odd, it follows by Euclid’s lemma that pa | n. Consider k = pna ∈ Z. Call K the cyclic
subgroup hxk i. We know by the theorems in lecture 7 that |K| = pa and K ≤ R E D2n .
 Because K has order pa , it must be a Sylow p-subgroup of D2n . By the problem in
the take-home first mid-term, we have proven that K must be normal in D2n . This
suggests that K has to be the unique cyclic normal Sylow p-subgroup in D2n . Since
we choose p arbitrarily, we have completed the proof.
Note: I did talk to Nate a bit, though after writing down my solution.

3. List all the Sylow 2-subgroups of S4 , and given two of them, find an element σ is
S4 which conjugates one to the other. Hint: Can you find a permutation τ so that
τ (a1 a2 . . . ar )τ −1 = (b1 b2 . . . br )? Parts of §4.3 that we did not cover in class have
some interesting results!

Solution: Because 24 = 23 · 3, it follows that a Sylow 2-subgroup of S4 must have

order 8. By the last slide of Lecture 3, we also know that D8 ≤ S4 . Since |D8 | = 8, it
suffices to count the number of possible subgroups isomorphic to D8 in S4 .
We know that any rotation in D8 must be a four-cycle in S4 . In other words, a four-
cycle in S4 must be a rotation that moves a vertex to its immediate adjacent in a
subgroup isomorphic to D8 of S4 . By basic combinatorics, there are 6 four cycles in S4 .
Moreover, one must be the inverse of another, so we can partition the set of four-cycles
in S4 into three. Each of these three pairs correspond to the set of {r, −r} ∈ D8 . In
other words, there are three subgroups isomorphic to D8 in S4 , or n2 = 3.
We can list represent the three subgroups using a four-cycle (which corresponds to the
rotation element r) and a two-cycle (which corresponds to the reflection element s). It
should be noted that once we have known the rotation r, we can find s by observation.
The three subgroups are:
H2 = h(1234), (24)i
K2 = h(1324), (34)i
L2 = h(1243), (23)i
We know that Sylow 2-subgroups must conjugate. Moreover, by Proposition 11 in 4.3,
we know that two elements of S4 only conjugate if they have the same cycle type.
Thus, it suffices to find a map that conjugate the generating elements of each Sylow
2-subgroup. Knowing that τ (a1 a2 . . . ar )τ −1 = (τ (a1 ) τ (a2 ) . . . τ (ar )), we can have:
Because (23)(1234)(32) = (1324) and (23)(24)(32) = (34), τHK = (23) and τHK = (32)
conjugate H2 to K2 and vice versa.
Because (24)(1324)(42) = (1243) and (24)(34)(42) = (23), τKL = (24) and τKL = (42)
conjugate L2 to K2 and vice versa.
Because (34)(1243)(43) = (1234) and (34)(23)(43) = (24), τLH = (34) and τLH = (43)
conjugate L2 to H2 and vice versa.

4. Let G be a group of order 105 = 3 · 5 · 7. For each prime p dividing 105, let Hp denote
a Sylow p-subgroup of G.

• Show that n5 = 1 or n7 = 1.
• Use that to conclude that H5 H7 is a normal subgroup of G and that n5 = n7 = 1.

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 • Show that if n3 = 1, then G is cyclic.

Solution: By Sylow’s theorem, we have n5 | 21 and n5 ≡ 1 (mod 5) while n7 | 15

and n7 ≡ 1 (mod 7). Thus, n5 = 1 or n5 = 21, and n7 = 1 or n7 = 15. It suffices
to show that we cannot have both n5 = 21 and n7 = 15. Consider H5 ∈ Syl5 (G)
and H7 ∈ Syl7 (G). Because 5 and 7 are prime numbers, by Larange’s theorem, each
Sylow 5-subgroup can intersect trivially with one another, each Sylow 7-subgroup can
intersect trivially with one another, and each Sylow 5-subgroup can intersect trivially
with another Sylow 7-subgroup. This means that there are 6 elements of order 7 offered
by each Sylow 7-subgroup, meaning that with n7 = 15 we will have 6 · 15 = 90 elements
of order 7 in G. Likewise, there are 4 elements of order 5 offered by each Sylow 5-
subgroup, meaning that with n5 = 21 we will have 4 · 21 = 84 elements of order 7 in
G. This must be a contradiction because G cannot have more than 105 elements in
total. Thus, n5 = 1 or n7 = 1.
As we have argued above, H5 and H7 intersect trivially. By the Second Isomorphism
Theorem, it follows that |H5 H7 | = |H5 ||H7 | = 35. Thus, H5 H7 has index 3. Since
p = 3 remains the smallest prime divisor of 105 = |G|, we can have H5 H7 E G.
Since 5 and 7 are primes and 5 - (7 − 1) = 6, we know that any group of order 35 must
be cyclic. Thus, we have H5 H7 as a cyclic normal subgroup of G. Moreover, since
H5 ≤ H5 H7 E G and H7 ≤ H5 H7 E G, by the problem in the take-home midterm
exam, we can argue that both H5 and H7 must be normal subgroups of G. This gives
us n5 = n7 = 1.
Using the same reasoning above, because gcd(35, 3) = 1, it follows that H5 H7 and
H3 intersect trivially. This also gives us H5 H7 H3 = G because the former remains a
subgroup of the latter while both have the same order 105. Moreover, since n3 = 1, it
follows that H3 must be a normal subgroup of G. We therefore have G ∼ = H5 ×H7 ×H3 .
∼
With 3, 5 and 7 all being primes, we can further have G = Z105 . This completes the
proof that G has to be cyclic.

5. Determine all the distinct isomorphism classes of abelian groups of order 9801 = 34 ·112 .
Give two lists, one using elementary divisors and the other using invariant factors.

Solution: We know that 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 + 1 + 2 = 1 + 3 = 2 + 2 = 4, which

shows that 4 has 5 distinct partitions. The groups corresponding to this partition are,
respectively, as follows: Z3 × Z3 × Z3 × Z3 , Z3 × Z3 × Z9 , Z3 × Z27 , Z9 × Z9 and Z81 .
We call the set of these groups A.
Meanwhile, 1 + 1 = 2 so 2 has two distinct partitions. The groups corresponding to
this partition are, respectively, as follows: Z11 × Z11 and Z121 . Call the set of these
groups B.
Thus, groups of order 9801 has 2 · 5 = 10 classes of isomorphism. We proceed listing
them by considering the Cartesian cross product of two sets: A × B. Since 3 < 11, this
would give us the list with elementary factors (left column). Combining the factors
that are mutually co-prime, we get the list with invariant factors (right column).

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Z81 × Z121 ∼
= Z9801
Z81 × Z11 × Z11 ∼
= Z11 × Z891
∼
Z9 × Z9 × Z121 = Z9 × Z1089
Z9 × Z9 × Z11 × Z11 ∼
= Z99 × Z99
∼
Z3 × Z27 × Z121 = Z3 × Z3267
Z3 × Z27 × Z11 × Z11 ∼
= Z33 × Z297
Z3 × Z3 × Z9 × Z121 ∼
= Z3 × Z3 × Z1089
Z3 × Z3 × Z9 × Z11 × Z11 ∼
= Z3 × Z33 × Z99
Z3 × Z3 × Z3 × Z3 × Z121 ∼
= Z3 × Z3 × Z3 × Z363
Z3 × Z3 × Z3 × Z3 × Z11 × Z11 ∼
= Z3 × Z3 × Z33 × Z33