Group Theory Assignment 1

Harkrit Singh
November 1, 2019

Chapter 1, Pg 35

Q2. Write out a complete multiplication table for D3 .

D3 is the dihedral group containing the symmetries of an equilateral triangle.

It consists of six elements including three rotations (R0 , R120 , R240 ) and three
reflections (S1 , S2 , S3 ).

E D

A F B

| D3 | = 6
= {3 reflections + 3 rotations}
= {R0 , R120 , R240 , S1 , S2 , S3 }

Rotation by 0◦ = R0 Reflection axis AD = S1

Rotation by 120◦ = R120 Reflection axis BE = S2
Rotation by 240◦ = R240 Reflection axis CF = S3

The movement of the vertices of the equilateral triangle when subjected to the
given six symmetries can be summarised with the help of the following table:

R0 R120 R240 S1 S2 S3
A↔A A↔C A↔B A↔A A↔C A↔B
B↔B B↔A B↔C B↔C B↔B B↔A
C↔C C↔B C↔A C↔B C↔A C↔C

1
Cayley’s Table for D3

R0 R120 R240 S1 S2 S3
R0 R0 R120 R240 S1 S2 S3
R120 R120 R240 R0 S3 S1 S2
R240 R240 R0 R120 S2 S3 S1
S1 S1 S2 S3 R0 R120 R240
S2 S2 S3 S1 R240 R0 R120
S3 S3 S1 S2 R120 R240 R0

As can be clearly seen from the Cayley’s Table for this group, we observe
R0 is the identity element,
R120 and R240 are inverse of each other having order three,
and all the three reflections (S1 , S2 , S3 ) are self-inverse, each having order two.
Also the group D3 is a non-abelian group.
Eg. R120 S2 = S3 and S2 R120 = S1
⇒ R120 S2 6= S2 R120