17

The same argument shows a more general fact: If jGj is a prime power,
then there is some g in G for which o(g) = exp(G). Later we shall obtain
an analogous result for arbitrary Abelian groups, cf. Remark 7.120 .)
(iii) Exp(Euler(8)) = 2, whereas jEuler(8)j = 4.
(iv) If jGj is a product of distinct prime numbers then jGj = exp(G),
by Proposition 3. In particular, exp(S3 ) = 6 = jS3 j; although S3 is far from
cyclic (in contrast to (ii)).
proposition 5. If exp(G) = 2, then G is Abelian.
Proof. For any a; b in G we have a2 b2 = e = (ab)2 = abab; canceling a on
the left and b on the right yields ab = ba. 
This result cannot be generalized directly to exponent 3, since we shall
see for any odd prime p there are non-Abelian groups of order p3 and
exponent p:
Sn : Our Main Example
To gain intuition we now begin a detailed investigation of Sn , which is
carried through the next few sections. Recall an element of Sn , called a
permutation, is a 1:1 onto transformation : f1; : : : ; ng ! f1; : : : ; ng. Writ-
ing i for the image of i, we can rewrite  in terms of its action on each
element, i.e., as  
1 2 ::: n :
1 2 : : : n
 
The neutral permutation is 11 22 :::::: nn , which we also denote as (1). By
    
convention  denotes   . Thus 11 23 32 21 12 33 = 13 21 32 :
The permutations in S3 are
           
(1) = ; 11 23 32 ; 21 12 33 ; 21 32 13 ; 13 21 32 ; 31 22 13 :
1 2 3
1 2 3

One can see easily that in dening  2 Sn there are n choices for 1,
n 1 remaining choices for 2, etc., and so jSn j = n(n 1)


= n!
S3 claims the distinction of being the smallest non-Abelian group. In-
deed, any group of prime order is cyclic, and any group of order 4 either
has exponent 4 (and thus is cyclic by Example 4(ii)), or has exponent 2
(and thus is Abelian).
Subgroups of Sn
For any k < n; Sn has a subgroup consisting of those permutations that x
k + 1; k + 2; : : : ; n; i.e., all permutations of the form
 
1 2 ::: k k + 1 ::: n :
1 2 : : : k k + 1 : : : n