Algebra (Groups, Rings, Fields)

Introduction
(A brief description of the course to be put here.)

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CONTENTS Kelly Bristow

Contents

1 Group Theory 3
1.1 Definition and examples of groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.1 Definition of groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.2 Examples and non examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.3 Some properties of groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.4 Denoting groups multiplicatively and additively . . . . . . 6
1.1.5 Subgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1.6 Order of elements in a group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

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1 Group Theory
1.1 Definition and examples of groups
1.1.1 Definition of groups

Groups

A nonempty set G is said to form a group under an operation

• : G × G → G if

i. a • (b • c) = (a • b) • c for all a, b, c ∈ G (associative law).

ii. There is an element e ∈ G such that a • e = e • a = a for all a ∈ G
(existence of an identity element).
iii. For all a ∈ G there is an element a−1 ∈ G such that
a • a−1 = a−1 • a = e (existence of inverses in G).

We write (G, •) is a group to denote that G forms a group under •.

Abelian Groups

In addition G is said to form an Abelian (or commutative) group under

• if a • b = b • a for all a, b ∈ G.

If G is finite then the number of elements in G is called the order (or size)
of G.
If G has infinitely many elements then G will be called a group of infinite order
(or infinite size).

1.1.2 Examples and non examples

Considering the definition of groups it is apparent that we have already seen
many examples of groups possibly without knowing that we call such things
“groups”. Nevertheless let us see some examples.

e1. Let + denote the usual addition. Then (R, +), (Q, +) and (Z, +) are
groups. In fact each of them is an Abelian group.

e2. If − denotes the usual subtraction, then none of the sets R, Q, Z form a
group under −. Because the associative law is violated.

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1. GROUP THEORY Kelly Bristow

Words of caution
∗ We need to guarantee closure too. For instance if W is the set of
all irrational numbers and W0 is W ∪ {0} then W0 under + satisfies all
the three axioms we mentioned in the definition. But it fails to be closed
under + and hence is not a group.
∗ Another important thing is to check that inverses of elements are
in the group itself. For instance Z+0 does not form a group under the
usual addition.

The following is an interesting exercise (which is elementary and not a typical

group theoretic exercise).

Exercise
Let S ⊆ R be such that all irrational numbers are in S and S is closed
under addition. Show that S = R.

Let us see some more examples.

e3. (the trivial finite group) For any x the singleton set {x} is a group under
the operation • where x • x 7→ x. (This is trivial).

e4. Let n be a positive integer and [n] = {1, 2, ..., n} then it is easy to see that
[n] always forms a group under the modulo n addition1 and further these are
finite groups.

e5. Let GLn (R) denote the set of all invertible n × n matrices with real
entries. Then GLn (R) forms a group under the matrix multiplication and fur-
ther these are non-Abelian group.

Exercise
Show that the examples we mentioned in e4 and e5 are indeed valid
and that they are finite groups and Abelian groups respectively.

Now we will see an important example (but understand the importance later
though).

e6. Let for a nonempty set S the set A(S) denote the set of all one one
functions from S onto S. Then A(S) always forms a group under the composi-
tion of functions.

1 For a positive integer n and integers a, b the sum a + b modulo n is the remainder we get

when we divide a + b by n. It is often denoted by a + b (mod n).

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1. GROUP THEORY Kelly Bristow

Exercise
1. Show that e6 is indeed a valid example. In other words all you need
to show that A(S) is closed under composition of elements of A(S) and
obeys the three group axioms.
2. Find the number of elements in A(S) if S is finite and has n elements.
3. Show that if S has ≥ 3 elements then A(S) is non-Abelian.

Thus convince yourself that now we have a family of finite non-Abelian groups.
As we will see later, finite groups (especially Abelian groups) are quite interesting.

1.1.3 Some properties of groups

The Basic Lemma

Let (G, ·) be a group. Then the following must be true

i. The identity element of G is unique.
ii. Each element of G has a unique inverse.
iii. (a−1 )−1 = a for all a ∈ G
iv. (a · b)−1 = b−1 · a−1 for all a, b ∈ G
v. (the directional cancellation holds) If x, y, z ∈ G are such that
x · y = x · z then y = z. Similarly if x · y = z · y then x = z.

The proof is elementary (we just need some multiplication from the left or
right by inverses of suitable stuff).

This lemma can be (although rarely) used to quickly check if something is

a group or not (especially to show that something is not a group). Here is an
example.

Solved exercise
Problem
Let (X, ·) be a group such that x · y = e (the identity element) for all
x, y ∈ X. Show that X must be singleton.

Solution : One can directly solve this using associative property

of groups. But we will make use of the lemma.
Note that the given condition means that for every x, y ∈ X we must
have x = y −1 . But y must have a unique inverse in X. Thus X must be
singleton. 

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1. GROUP THEORY Kelly Bristow

Exercise
1. Let (G, ·) be a group with identity element e, such that x · x = e for
all x ∈ G. (Such groups are called Boolean groups). Show that G must
be Abelian.
2. Let (G, ·) be a group such that (a · b)2 = a2 · b2 for all a, b ∈ G. Show
that G is Abelian.

1.1.4 Denoting groups multiplicatively and additively

Here we describe two very common ways of denoting groups. In most of the
examples of groups we saw till now, the binary operation was more or less an
analogous version of addition or multiplication.
Hence with an underlying belief that most of the groups that we come across will
have a binary operation that is almost analogous to addition or multiplication,
we describe two ways of denoting a group. These are the additive groups and
the multiplicative groups.
More precisely, for a group (G, ?) if the operation ? is seen analogous to addition
then we call (G, ?) to be an additive group. And if ? is seen analogous to
multiplication then we call (G, ?) to be a multiplicative group.
To be friendly with our notations, we often write 0 for denoting the identity
element of additive groups, and 1 for denoting that of a multiplicative group.
Further inverse of x is denoted by −x and x−1 for additive groups and multi-
plicative groups respectively.
In particular if (G, ⊕) is (seen as) an additive group then for any x ∈ G and
any n ∈ Z+ we write nx to denote x ⊕ x ⊕ ... ⊕ x. And for an integer k > 0 the
| {z }
n times
element −kx will be used to denote k(−x).
If (G, ·) is (seen as) a multiplicative group then for any x ∈ G and any positive
integer n we will write xn to denote x x · ... · x}. And x−n will denote (x−1 )n .
| · x · {z
n times

However one must always keep in mind that these notations are not universal
(what someone calls a multiplicative group can also be seen as an additive group
by someone else).

Here is a quick exercise solving which will make you feel more comfortable
with this new terminology.

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Exercise
1. Show that if (G, ·) is a multiplicative group then xm+n = xm · xn for
all x ∈ G and all integers m, n.
2. Show that if (G, ⊕) is an additive group then (m + n)x = mx + nx for
all x ∈ G and all integers m, n.
3. Let G be a multiplicative group. For x ∈ G and m ∈ Z show that
(xm )−1 = (x−1 )m .
4. Let G be an additive group. For x ∈ G and m ∈ Z show that
−(mx) = m(−x) (where as usual for any g ∈ G we write −g to denote
the inverse of g).
5.

1.1.5 Subgroup

Recall that in the example e1 we saw that (Z, +), (Q, +) and (R, +) all are
groups, and we know that R ⊇ Q ⊇ Z. So this can make us think that it is
possible from a given group (G, ·) to extract sets of smaller sizes that still form
a group under the operation ·.

1.1.6 Order of elements in a group

Order of an element in a group

If (G, ·) be a group with e being the identity element of G and x ∈ G

then we define order of x to be the smallest positive integer n for which
| · x {z
x · ... · x} = e.
n times
If no such positive integer exists then we say x to have infinite order or
just say order of x is infinity.