Herstein: Topics in Algebra - Permutation Groups

by Bret Sherfinski

July 2, 2015

11. Prove that the smallest subgroup of Sn containing (1, 2) and (1, 2, . . . , n) is Sn .(In
other words, these cycles generate Sn .)

Proof: We will show that every transposition can be generated from products of the two
permutations (1, 2) and (1, 2, . . . , n). This is achieved in 3 separate steps:

1. First observe,

(1, 2, . . . , n)−1 (1, 2)(1, 2, . . . , n) = (2, 3)

(1, 2, . . . , n)−1 (2, 3)(1, 2, . . . , n) = (3, 4)
(1, 2, . . . , n)−1 (3, 4)(1, 2, . . . , n) = (4, 5)
..
.
(1, 2, . . . , n)−1 (n − 2, n − 1)(1, 2, . . . , n) = (n − 1, n)

In short, transpositions of the form (i, i + 1) have been obtained.

2. Thus,

(1, 2)(2, 3)(1, 2) = (1, 3)

(1, 3)(3, 4)(1, 3) = (1, 4)
(1, 4)(4, 5)(1, 4) = (1, 5)
..
.
(1, n − 1)(n − 1, n)(1, n − 1) = (1, n)

In short, transpositions of the form (1, i) have been obtained.

3. Finally, (1, i)(1, j)(i, 1) = (i, j) for i 6= j.

Hence, every transposition has been generated from (1, 2) and (1, 2, . . . , n), so these generate
all of Sn .