1 Group and Homomorphism

De…nition 1 Groups

A group is an ordered pair (G; ) in which G is a set and is a binary

operation on G satisfying the following axioms:

1. (x y) z = x (y z);for all x; y; z 2 G
2. there exist e 2 G such that for all x 2 G; ex = xe = xe = x
1 1 1
3. for all x 2 G;there exist x 2 G such that xx =x x=e
4. A group is called Abelian group when xy = yx;for all x; y 2 G

De…nition 2 Order of Group

If number of elements in G is …nite then that group is called …nite group.
Also number of elements in a respective group is called as order of a group.

Example 3 (Z; +) is a group satis…es the folowing axioms

0 = e (identity element)
z + 0 = 0 + z;for all z 2 Z(associativity)
z + ( z) = ( z) + z;for all z 2 Z (inverse)

Example 4 let F be …eld (either R or C). The set of all invertible n n matri-
ces with enteries in F under multiplication (det(AB) = det(A) det(B);determinant
of two non-singular matrices) forms a group ..called general linear group of de-
gree n over F and is denoted by GL(n; F ): The identity of this group is identity
matrix denoted by I:

Example 5 (R+ ; ) forms a group as follows

Proof. r1 (r2 r3 ) = (r1 r2 )r3 ; r1 ; r2; r3 2 R+

(r)(1) = (1)(r) = r; 1 2 R+
(r)(1=r) = 1 = (1=r)(r); 1=r 2 R+

De…nition 6 Subgroups

A subgroup H is a non-empty subset of a group G which is a group itself

under product operation inherited from G.Generally denoted as H G.

Example 7 (Z; +); 2Z is a subgroup of set of integers.We can check as follows

Proof. Closure property:

let a; b 2 2Z
a = 2n1; b = 2n2
a + b = 2(n1 + n2 ) 2 2Z
Identity property:

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 0 = 2 0 2 2Z
Inverse property:
a 2 2Z;
a = 2n
a = 2( n) 2 2Z
2n + ( 2n) = 0
other examples are feg and G are trivial subgroups of G and Q R, nZ Z.

Example 8 The set of all even permutations in Sn (symmetric group) is called

alternating group of n letters, denoted as An :
An Sn i-e (Alternating group is subgroup of symmetric group).
we can also de…ne if permutation is written as even permutation or having
two cycles.

1 2 3
3 1 2

1 2 3

1 3 1 2
here we have two cycles or even permutations.
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Proposition 9 (Subgroup Criteria) If h; k 2 H;then hk 2H

Example 10 If H = 2Z;we have to check whether (H; +)is a subgroup of (Z; +):
let a; b 2 H;there exist n1 ; n2 2 Z such that a = 2n1 ; b = 2n2
a b = 2n1 2n2 = 2(n1 n2 ) 2 H; n1 ; n2 2 Z
hence (H; +) is a subgroup of (Z; +):

De…nition 11 Homomorphism

let G and K be two groups. A function f : G ! K is a homomorphism if

f (a; b) = f (a)f (b);for all a; b 2 G.If this mapping is bijective then such homo-
morphism is called isomorphism or invertible homomorphism.

Example 12

De…ne f : Z ! Zn by f (a) = a mod n

this mapping is homomorphism as
f (a + b) = f [a + b] = [a + b]n = [a]n + [b]n = f (a) + f (b):
De…ne f : GLn (R) ! R by f (A) = det(A) then f (AB) = det(AB) =
det(A) det(B) = f (A)f (B):

De…nition 13 Kernel & Images

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De…nition 14 Such type of a mapping in which image is always identity.let
G and K be two groups. A function f : G ! K then kernel of homomorphism
can be de…ne as ker f = fg 2 G : f (g) = eg;means set of all those elements of
group G which maps to identity.If ker f is one to one then it must contain only
one element that would be identity otherwise it would contain other elements
as well.Where as ker f is the subgroup of G and Im f = ff (g) : g 2 Gg and is
subgroup of K:

De…ne f : GLn (R) ! R by f (A) = det(A) then f (AB) = det(AB) =

det(A) det(B) = f (A)f (B): ker f in this case can be written as
ker f = fA 2 GLn (R) : det(A) = 1g

T : Rn ! Rm (linear transformation),then kernel of T can be written as

ker T = fx 2 Rn : T (x) = 0g,also called Null Space.

2 Vector spaces & Linear Transformation:

…rstly,we will discuss the vector spaces for understanding them we must have
knowledge about …eld.

De…nition 15 Field
…eld can be de…ned as an ordered triplet (F; +; ),having two main binary
operations (+) and ( ) satisfying the following axioms.Field is denoted by K
usually are set of real numbers or complex numbers.
1.(F; +) is an abelian group
2.(F f0g; ) is an abelian group
3.addition is distributive over multiplication i-e a(b + c) = ab + ac

De…nition 16 Vector Spaces

let F be a …eld ,a vector space V over F is a nonempty set V together with
vector addition + : V V ! V and scalar multiplication : F V ! V satisfying
the following axioms.
1.(V; +) is an abelian group
2.(V; )
a.scalar multiplication
b.associative property
c.multiplicative identity except commutative law and multiplicative inverse
does not hold.
3.left distributive property
a(u + v) = au + av;where a 2 F; u; v 2 V
4.right distributive property
(a + b) u = au + bu;where a; b 2 F; u 2 V

In system of n n matrices commutative law does not holds.

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 2 3 real matrices under addition forms a group.forms a vector space

a11 a12 a13

a21 a22 a23
zero vector
0 0 0
0 0 0

inverses
a11 a12 a13
a21 a22 a23

scalar multiplication

a11 a12 a13 c a11 c a12 c a13

c =
a21 a22 a23 c a21 c a22 c a23

Similarly we can check remaining properties.

V = fReal Polynomials of degree 5 or lessg
= fa5 x5 + a4 x4 + :::::::::::::::::: + a1 x + a0 g;where ai 2 R; forms a vector
space as follows
Vector addition:
(2x5 + 3x3 7x + 11) + (3x5 6x4 5x) = 5x5 6x4 + 3x3 2x + 11
Scalar Multiplication:
2 2x5 + 3x3 7x + 11 = 4x5 + 6x3 14x + 22

V = ff (x) j f is continous on Rg;let f (x) and g(x) are continous func-

tions,as we have learned in calculus we can de…ine their addition as follows
sum of two continous functions is also continous i.e f (x) + g(x):Also f (x)
is continous then c f (x) is also continous where c is any constant.

De…nition 17 Basis and dimensions of Vector Spaces

let v1 ; v2 ; :::; vn in Rn be vector space over F:A vector v in Rn is a linear
combination of these vectors (v1 ; v2 ; :::; vn ) 2 Rn and scalars (k1;:::; kn ) 2 F

k1 v1 + k2 v2 ; ::: + kn vn = 0

De…nition 18 linear dependency and independency

let v1 ; v2 ; :::; vn in Rn be vector space over F: The set of vectors are said to
be linearly dependent,if there exist some scalars (k1;:::; kn ) 2 F not all zero such
that following equation holds i;e k1 v1 + k2 v2 ; ::: + kn vn = 0:Otherwise they are
linearly independent.i-e k1 v1 + k2 v2 ; ::: + kn vn = 0; ki 2 F; 1 i n =) ki = 0
for each 1 i n:

y = 3v1 + v2 ; (k1 = 3; k2 = 1) in this case vectors are linearly dependent

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 0 = 0v1 +0v2 ; (k1 = 0; k2 = 0) in this case vectors are linearly independent.

De…nition 19 Basis of vector spaces:

let any subset of a vector space be A is called basis if following two conditions
hold:
A is linearly independent
A generates the vector space V that is V =< A > (A is span of V ).
i-e each vector v is uniquely expressed as a linear combination of the basis
vectors.

Standard basis of V2 (F ) = f(1; 0); (0; 1)g and for Vn (F ) = f(1; 0; 0; :::0); (0; 1; 0; :::; 0); :::; (0; 0; 0; :::; 1)g
are called canonical basis.
let 2 3 2 3 2 3
2 0 1
v1 = 4 1 5 ; v2 = 4 2 5 ; v3 = 4 1 5
1 2 1

span (v1 ; v2 ; v3 ) = av1 + bv2 + cv3 ; where(a; b; c 2 F )

23 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3
2 0 1 2a 0 c
= a4 1 5 + b4 2 5 + c4 1 5 = 4 a 5 + 4 2b 5 + 4 c 5
1 2 1 a 2b c
2 3
2a c
= 4 a + 2b c 5 is the span of V:
a + 2b c

De…nition 20 Dimensions
No of elements in the …nite basis of a vector space V is called dimensions
of vector space.It is denoted by dim V and if dim V = n then V is called n-
dimensional vector space.A vector space having …nite basis is called …nite di-
mensional vector space other in…nite dimensional vector space in case of in…nte
basis.

R2 (R) has two basis B = f(1; 0); (0; 1)g

F n (F ) is of n-dimensional basis will be e1 = (1; 0; 0; :::0); e2 = (0; 1; 0; :::; 0); :::; en =

(0; 0; 0; :::; 1):

De…nition 21 Subspaces
Smallest set in a vector space V which is a vector space itself.For subset U
of V to be a subspace following conditions must hold.
a.if u; v 2 U;then u + v 2 U
b.if k 2 F; u 2 U then cu 2 U

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 The set Rn is a subspace of itself ,as it contains zero and is closed under
addition and scalar multiplication.
The set f0g containing only the zero vector is a subspace of Rn ;it contains
zero,and if you add zero to itself or multiply it by a scalar you always get
zero.

De…nition 22 Linear transformation

formally we can say that homomorphsim on two vector spaces. let W and
V be two vector spaces over the …eld F .Then the mapping f : W ! V is called
a linear transformation or homomorphism of W into V if following conditions
satisfy:
1. f (x + y) = f (x) + f (y)
2. f ( x) = f (x); for all 2 F; x; y 2 W
V is called homomorphic image of W:

De…nition 23 Kernel of linear transformation

The kernel or null space of transformation is the set of all those elements
which maps to identity.i-e set of all x 2 W;such that f (x) = 0 where 0 is the
zero vector in V:The dimensions of a null space is called nulity i-e n(f ) =nulity
of f = dim N (f ):Also Im f = ff (x); x 2 W g:Where ker f is a subspace of W
and Im f is subspace of V:

If f : W ! V;is de…ned by f (x) = 0;for all x 2 W;then f is a linear

transformation and ker f = V; Im f = f0g

De…nition 24 Eigen Vectors and Eigen Values:

A eigen vector of an n n matrix C is a nonzero vector x0 such that Cx = Cx0
for some scalar is called eigen value of C:If there is a non-trivial solution x0
of Cx0 = x0 such a vector x0 is called eigen vector.

(C I)x = 0
let
3 2 1 2
A= ;u = ;v =
1 0 1 1

3 2 1 3 2 5
Au = = = 6= u
1 0 1 1+0 1

Example 25

3 2 2 4 2
Av = = =2
1 0 1 2 1

hence v is an eigen vector and 2 is an eigen value.

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3 Group Presentations:
Presenting a group G is a way of visualizing G as a group of matrices.Representation
theory is a branch of mathematics that studies abstract algebraic structures by
representing their elements as linear transformation of vector spaces.

De…nition 26 Representation:

A representation of a group G is a homomorphism : G ! GL(V ),where V is

…nite dimensional vector space.Formally speaking representation is a particular
map (homomorphism) that take us from the group to a group of invertible
matrices. is called representation.

De…nition 27 Degree of Representation:

Dimensions of a vector space V is called degree of. .The general notations

we used for denoting representations are g ; (g); g (v); v 2 V:

Trivial Representation Homomorphism:

: G ! C ;where C are non-zeros complex numbers

(g) = 1; for all g 2 G

Z
: 2Z ! C :::(1)

([K]) = ( 1)K

[0] = f0; 2; 4; :::g ! (1);because ([2]) = ( 1)2 = 1

[1] = f1; 3; 5; :::g ! ( 1);because ([1]) = ( 1)1 = 1
similarly we can …nd for n = 3; 4; :::; n
Z 2 iK
hence we can generallize : nZ ! C ; where ([K]) = e n :::(2)
by using (2) we can verify (1) as follows:
Z 2 iK
considering : 2Z ! C ;here n = 2 putting in (2) we get ([K]) = e 2 =
e iK
when K = 2 =) ([2]) = e2 i
= cos(2 ) + i sin(2 ) = 1 + 0 = 1 (By
Eulers Identity)

De…nition 28 Equivalence of two Representations:

let two representations be ' : G ! GL(V ) and : G ! GL(W ) are said to be
equivalent if there exist an isomorphism T : V ! W such that g = T 'g T 1 ;for
all g 2 G or g T = T 'g ;for all g 2 G::::(3)

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 Z cos( 2 nK ) sin( 2 nK )
Example 29 De…ne : ! GL2 (C) by ([K]) = 2 K ;matrix
nZ sin(
" n ) cos( 2 nK#)
2 iK
2 K e n 0
rotation by n :let another representation be ([K]) = 2 iK
0 e n

i i
solution:Let T be represented by a matrix B = ;we can also …nd
1 1
1 adj(B) 1 1 i
its inverse by B = jBj = 2i ,then we have to show by eq (3);
1 i
1
B ([K])B = ([K])
L.H.S:

1
=B ([K])B

1 1 i cos( 2 nK ) sin( 2 nK ) i i
=
2i 1 i sin( 2 nK ) cos( 2 nK ) 1 1
" 2 iK
#
1 2i e n 0
= 2 iK
2i 0 2i e n

= ([K])

this proves that :

De…nition 30 kernel of Representations

As we have studied earlier kernel of a representation is the set of all group
elements g 2 G; for which (g); gives identity matrix.i-e ker = fg 2 G : (g) =
Ig

Example 31 Trivial Representation Homomorphism

: G ! C ;where C are non-zeros complex numbers
(g) = 1;for all g 2 G,here ker is the set of all group elements of which
map to identity matrix.

4 F G Modules:
De…nition 32 let V be a vector space over a …eld F and let G be a group then V
is known as F G module if there exist a multiplication g v (for all v 2 V; g 2 G)
satisfying the following axioms:
let u; v 2 V; 2 F and g; h 2 G

g v2V
(g h) v = g (h v)

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 e v=v
g ( v) = (g v)
g (u + v) = g u + g v
formally F G module is a vector space together with a group action (multi-
plication of group elements and vectors)
Example 33 Consider G = D8 = fa; b=a4 = b2 = e; b 1 ab = a 1 g;then real
0 1 1 0
representations given as (a) = ; (b) = ; V = R2
1 0 0 1
1 0
let e1 = ; e2 = are basis unit vectors of V = R2 ;then in matrix
0 1
vector multiplication and in F G module can be de…ned as follows

0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1
(a) e1 = = = e2 ; (a) e2 = = = e1
1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0
a e1 = e2 ; b e1 = e1
a e2 = e1 ; b e2 = e2
similarly we can check the remaining properties so if G = D8 ; V = R2 and
: D8 ! GL(2; R),then V is an F G-module called as RD8 -Module.
De…nition 34 Relation between F G-Modules and Representations
let V be an F G- module then dim V = n; from above de…nition we can see
that group action is closed and linear which clearly shows that group action is
endomorphism and endomorphism of any …nite dimensional vector space can be
mapped to a square matrix by picking the basis of V .Consider the map : G !
GL(n; F ) where must be a homomorphism and g ! [g]B where B are the basis
which tells us how to convert group action an endomorphism into a matrix then
is a representation.
Example 35 Consider G = D8 = fa; b=a4 = b2 = e; b 1
ab = a 1 g;then real
0 1 1 0
representations given as (a) = ; (b) = ; V = R2
1 0 0 1

1 0
let e1 = ; e2 = are basis unit vectors of V = R2 ;then in matrix
0 1
vector multiplication and in F G-module can be de…ned as follows

0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1
(a) e1 = = = e2 ; (a) e2 = = = e1
1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0
a e1 = e2 ; b e1 = e1
a e2 = e1 ; b e2 = e2
from the above example if B denotes the basis e1 ; e2 then g ! [g]B ; (g 2 G)
is just the representation :

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De…nition 36 F G-Modules and equivalent representations:
let de…nes the group action on vector space V so that V becomes F G-
module then there exist a basis of vector space V such that (g) = [g]B :Now if we
0
de…ne another basis for a vector space be B then the representation ' : g ! [g]B 0
of G is equivalent to i-e [g]B = T 1 [g]B 0 T must hold.therefore and ' de…nes
the group action on V and are therefore same F G-modules.

Example 37 let G = C3 = fc : c3 = 1g;there is a representation of group G

which is given by

1 0 0 1 1 1
1 = ;c = ; c2 =
0 1 1 1 1 0
as V is a two dimensional vector space over C having basis v1 ; v2 then we
can convert this vector space in to a CG-module then by theorem we can convert
this vector space in to F G-module.

Theorem 38 if : G ! GL(F; n) is a representation of G over F and V =

F n then V beomes an F G-Module,if we de…ne the multiplication gv by vg =
v ( g) ; v 2 V and g 2 G.
moreover there is a basis B of V such that g = [g]B for all g 2 G.

Example 39 1v1 = v1 ; cv1 = v2 ; c2 v1 = v1 v2

1v2 = v2 ; cv2 = v1 v2 ; c2 v2 = v1
then in matrix form

1 0 0 1 1 1
[1]B = ; [c]B = ; c2 =
0 1 1 1 B 1 0

Now let u1 = v1 and u2 = v1 + v2 ;then u1 ; u2 is another basis of V called as

0
B so
1u1 = u1 ; cu1 = u1 + u2 ; c2 u1 = u2
1u2 = u2 ; cu2 = u1 ; c2 u2 = u1 u2
we obtain another representation ' : g ! [g]B 0 where

1 0 1 1 0 1
[1]B 0 = ; [c]B 0 = ; c2 B0
=
0 1 1 0 1 1
1 1
above can be verify as 1u1 = 1 = ;similarly we can calculate
0 0
1 0 1 1
1u2 :Also cu1 = u1 + u2 = + = and cu2 =
0 1 1 0
1 1 1 0
therefore [c]B 0 = and so on.Now if T = ,then we can
1 0 1 1
1
verify [g]B = T [g]B 0 T ,as follows

1 0 1 1 1 0
[g]B =
1 1 1 0 1 1

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 1+0 1+0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
= = =
1 1 1+0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1
1
similarly we can check [g]B = T [g]B 0 T for other group actions.

De…nition 40 Permutations modules:

Consider G Sn ;let V be an F G module having basis v1 ; v2 ; :::vn then g vi =
vig ;for all vi 2 V;and for all g 2 G then V is an permutation module for G over
F and B are the basis.
0 1
a1
Example 41 let g = 1 2 3 and v = a1 e1 +a2 e2 +a3 e3 = @ a2 A ;where
a3
B = fe1 ; e2 ; e3 g
g v= 1 2 3 (a1 e1 + a2 e2 + a3 e3 );here group action is linear
g v = a1 1 2 3 e1 + a2 1 2 3 e2 + a3 1 2 3 e3
g v=a e + a
01 2 12 3 e + a e
3 1 = a e
3 1 + a e
1 2 + a e
2 3
a3
g v = @ a1 A
a2
same components of above column vector but the are permuted.

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