Isomorphisms and Automorphisms

1. Let C be the group of complex numbers under the operation of addition, and define a function
φ : C → C by
φ ( a+ bi )=a−bi
Prove that φ is an automorphism of C.
ANSWER: Clearly φ is a bijection. Furthermore, if a+ bi, c +di∈ C , then

φ ( ( a+bi )+ ( c+ di ) )=φ ( ( a+c ) + ( b+d ) i )=( a+ c )−( b+ d ) i=( a−bi ) + ( c−di ) =φ ( a+bi ) +φ ( c+ di)
, which proves that φ is an isomorphism.

2. Let G be an abelian group, and define a function φ :G →G by φ ( a )=a−1 . Prove that φ is an

automorphism of G.
ANSWER: Clearly φ is a bijection. Furthermore, if a , b ∈G , then
φ ( ab )=( ab )−1=b−1 a−1=a−1 b−1=φ (a) φ(b), which proves that φ is an isomorphism.
3. Let φ : Z 10 →U ( 11 ) be an isomorphism, and suppose that φ ( 1 )=8. Determine φ ( 3 ) .
ANSWER: φ ( 3 ) =83 mod 11=6
4. Prove that A 4 is not isomorphic to D 6 .
ANSWER: D 6 has an element of order 6, but A 4 does not.
5. List the automorphisms of Z 8. Express your answers as permutations of the set { 0,1 , … ,7 } .
ANSWER: e , ( 1 3 ) ( 26 )( 5 7 ) , ( 15 )( 3 7 ) , ( 17 )( 2 6 ) ( 35 )
6. List the four elements of Inn D 4 . Express your answers as permutations of the set
{ e , r ,r 2 , r 3 , s , rs ,r 2 s , r 3 s } .
ANSWER: e , ( s r 2 s ) ( rs r 3 s ) , ( r r 3 ) ( rsr 3 s ) , ( r r 3 ) ( s r 2 s )
7. Let α ∈ Aut ( D 5) , and suppose that α ( r )=r 2 and α ( s )=rs. Find α ( r 3 s ) .
3
ANSWER: α ( r 3 s ) =α ( r )3 α ( s ) =( r 2 ) ( rs )=r 2 s
8. Let α ϵ Aut ( Q 8 ) , and suppose that α ( i )=k and α ( j )=−i . Express α as a permutation of the set
{ 1 ,−1 , i,−i, j ,− j , k ,−k } .
ANSWER: (i k− j)(−i−k j)
9. Determine the isomorphism type of the group whose Cayley table is shown below:

e p q r s t u v
e e p q r s t u v
p p r u t q e v s
q q s r v t u p E
r r t v e u p s q
s s v p u r q e t
t t e s p v r q U
u u q t s e v r p
v v u e q p s t r

ANSWER: Q 8
Direct Products

10. Let G be a group, and define a function φ :G ×G ×G →G ×G ×G by φ ( a , b , c )=( b , c , a ) .

Prove that φ is an automorphism of G ×G ×G
ANSWER: Clearly φ is a bijection. Furthermore, if ( a , b , c ) , ( a' ,b ' , c ' ) ∈ G× G× G, then
φ ( ( a , b , c ) ( a ' , b' , c' ) ) =φ ( a a' , b b ' , c c' ) =( b b' , c c ' , a a' )=( b , c , a ) ( b' , c' , a' )=φ ( a , b , c ) φ ( a ' b' c ' ) ,
which proves that φ is an isomorphism.
11. Let G be a group, and let ∆ be the following subset of G ×G :
∆={ ( g , g ) : g ∈ G } .
Prove that ∆ is a subgroup of G ×G .
ANSWER: We shall use the one-step subgroup test. Clearly ∆ is a nonempty subset of G ×G .
Furthermore, if ( g , g ) , ( h , h ) ∈ ∆ , then ( g , g )( h , h )−1=( g , g ) ( h−1 ,h−1 )=(g h−1 , g h−1) ∈∆
which proves that ∆ is a subgroup of G ×G .
12. Let α be an autmorphism of Z5 × Z 5 satisfying α ( 1,4 )=( 2,1 ) and α ( 0,1 )=( 1,0 ) . Determine
α ( 2,0 ) .
ANSWER: Since α ( 1,0 )=α ( 1,4 )+ α ( 0,1 )= (2,1 ) + ( 1,0 )=( 3,1 ) , we conclude that
α ( 2,0 )=α ( 1,0 ) + α ( 1,0 )=( 3,1 ) + ( 3,1 )=(1,2) .

13. Find an element of order 12 in Q 8 × S3.

Answer:

(i ,( 1 2 3) )
14. Find an element of order 6 in A 4 × Z 9.

Answer:

( ( 1 2 )( 3 4 ) , 3 )
15. Determine the number of elements of order 6 in D 4 × S 3.

Answer:

D4 has 5 elements of order 2, and S3 has 2 elements of order 3, so D4 × S 3 has 10 elements of

order 6 .

16. Determine the number of elements of order 9 in Z 9 × Z 9.

Answer:

Each Z 9 has 6 elements of order 9 , and 3 elements of order 1 or 3. Therefore Z 9 × Z 9 has

6 ×6 +3 ×6+6 × 3=72 elements of order 9.
17. Determine the isomorphism type of each of the following groups. In each case, express your answer
as a direct product of cyclic groups:
 a) U ( 77 )
b) U ( 165 )
c) U ( 135 )
d) U ( 72 )
Answer:

a) Z6 × Z 10
b) Z2 × Z 4 × Z10
c) Z 4 × Z 18
d) Z6 × Z 2 × Z 2

18. Determine the isomorphism type of Aut( Z 45 ). Express your answer as a direct product of cyclic
groups.

Answer:

Aut( Z 45 ) ≈ U ( 45 ) ≈ U ( 5 ) ×U ( 9 ) ≈ Z 4 × Z 6

19. Determine the isomorphism type of Aut( U ( 25 ) ). Express your answer as a direct product of cyclic
groups.

Answer:

Aut( U ( 25) ) ≈ U ( Z 20 ) ≈ U ( 20 ) ≈ U ( 4 ) ×U ( 5 ) ≈ Z 2 × Z 4

20. What is the largest order of any element of U ( 900 ) ?

Answer:

Since U ( 900)≈ U ( 4)× U (9) ×U (25) ≈ Z 2 × Z6 × Z 20, the largest possible order is lcm
( 2 , 6 ,20 ) ≡ 60.
21. List four non-isomorphic groups of order 12.

Answer:

Z12 , Z 2 × Z 6 , D 6 , A 4

22. List four non-isomorphic groups of order 30.

Answer:

Z30 , D 15 , D 3 × Z 5 , D 5 × Z 3 (Note that the last three groups all have a different number of
elements of order 2, and are therefore not isomorphic.)

Cosets and Lagrange’s Theorem

23. Let H= { e , ( 1,2 )( 3,4 ) , ( 1,3 ) ( 2,4 ) , ( 1,4 )( 2,3 ) }

a) Find the left cosets of H in A 4.

b) How many left cosets does H have in S4 ?

Answer:

a) { e , (1 2 ) ( 3 4 ) , ( 13 )( 2 4 ) , ( 1 4 ) ( 23 ) } , { ( 1 23 ) , ( 13 4 ) , ( 2 4 3 ) , ( 1 4 2 ) } , { ( 12 4 ) , ( 1 4 3 ) , ( 1 3 2 ) , ( 2 3 4 ) }
b) 6

24. Determine the left cosets of the subgroup { 1,11 } in U ( 30 ).

Answer:

{ 1 ,11 } , {7 , 17 } , { 13 ,23 } , { 19 , 29 }
25. Determine the left cosets of the subgroup { ( 0 , 0 , 0 ) , ( 1, 1 ,1 ) } in Z2 × Z 2 × Z 2.

Answer:

{ ( 0 , 0 , 0 ) , ( 1, 1 ,1 ) }, { ( 1 , 0 , 0 ) , ( 0 , 1 ,1 ) }, { ( 0 , 1 ,0 ) , ( 1 , 0 ,1 ) } , { ( 0 , 0 , 1 ) , ( 1 ,1 , 0 ) }
26. Let G be a group of order pq, where p and q are prime. Prove that every proper subgroup of G is
cyclic.

Answer:

Let H be a proper subgroup of G . By Langrange’s theorem |H | must be a factor of pq, so

|H|ϵ {1 , p , q , pq }. Since H is a proper subgroup, we know that |H|≠ pq . Therefore H either has prime
order or is trivial, which in either case implies that H is cyclic.

27. Compute the following:

a) 515 mod 7
b) 713 mod 11
c) 850 mod 35

Answer:

a) 6
b) 2
c) 29

28. Suppose that a group contains elements of orders 1 through 10. What is the minimum possible
order of the group?

Answer:

lcm{ 1 , 2, 3 , 4 ,5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ,10 }=23 × 32 × 5× 7=2520

29. Let G be the permutation group with the following eight elements:
{ e , (1 2 ) ( 3 4 ) , ( 13 )( 2 4 ) , ( 1 4 ) ( 23 ) , ( 13 )( 5 6 ) , ( 2 4 ) ( 5 6 ) , (1 2 3 4 )( 5 6 ) }
a) Find the stabilizer of 1 in G .
b) Find the orbit of 1 under G .
c) Find the stabilizer in 5 in G .
d) Find the orbit of 5 under G .

Answer:

a) { e , ( 2 4 ) ( 5 6 ) }
b) { 1 , 2, 3 , 4 }
c) { e , (1 2 ) ( 3 4 ) , ( 13 )( 2 4 ) , ( 1 4 ) ( 23 ) }
d) { 5 , 6 }

30. Let G be a permutation group of order 60 and suppose that the order of 1 under G is { 1 ,3 , 4 , 6 }.
Determine the order of the stabilizer of 1 in G .

Answer:

60
=15
4

1. Find all generators of Z6 , Z 8, and Z20 .

Answers:

For Z6 , generators are 1 and 5; for Z 8, generators are 1, 3, 5, and 7; for Z20 , generators are 1, 3,
7, 9, 13, 17, and 19.

2. List all elements of the subgroup ⟨ 30 ⟩ in Z 80.

Answer: 0 , 10 , 20 ,30 , 40 , 50 , 60 ,70

3. If |a|=60, what is the order of a 24?

Answer: Since ⟨ a24 ⟩= ⟨ a 12⟩ is a subgroup of order 5, the elements a 24 must have order 5 as well.

4. How many subgroups does Z20 have? List the possible generators for each subgroup.
Answer: Six subgroups. Z20 (generated by 1 ,3 ,7 , 9 , 11 , 13 ,17 ,or 19) the subgroup of the even
numbers (generated by 2 , 6 ,14 , 18), the subgroup of the multiples of 4 (generated by 4 , 8 ,12 ,
or 16), the subgroup of multiples of 5 (generated by 5 or 15), the subgroup of multiples of 10
(generated by 10), and the trivial subgroup (generated by 0).

5. Suppose that |a|=24. Find a generator for ⟨ a21 ⟩ ∩ ⟨ a 10 ⟩. In general, what is the generator for
the subgroup ⟨ am ⟩ ∩ ⟨ an ⟩ ?

Answer: ⟨ a21 ⟩ ∩ ⟨ a 10 ⟩= ⟨ a6 ⟩

6. In Z60 , list all generators for the subgroup of order 12.

Answer: 5 , 25 ,35 , and 55.

7. Let G be a group and let a be an element of G.

a. If a 12=e, what can we say about the order of a?

b. If a m=e , what can we say about the order of a?

Answer:
a. |a| is 1 ,2 , 5 , or 10
b. |a| divides m

8. List all elements of order 8 in Z 8000000. How do you know your list is complete?

Answer: 1000000, 3000000, 5000000, 7000000

9. Determine the subgroup lattice for Z p q , where p and q are distinct primes.
2

Answer:
<1>
Z p2 q

<p> <q>> Z pq Zp 2

>
or

< p2 > <pq> Zq Zp

 <0> trivial

10. Determine the subgroup lattice for Z p , where p is a prime and n is some positive integer.
n

Answer:

⟨1 ⟩ or Zp n

⟨ p⟩ Zp n−1

⟨ p2 ⟩ Zp n−2

⋮ ⋮

⟨ pn−1 ⟩ Zp

⟨ 0⟩ trivial
11. If |x|=40, list all elements of ⟨ x ⟩ that have prder 10

Answer: x 4 , x12 , x 28 , x 36

12. Determine the orders of the elements of D33 and how many there are of each.

Answer: 33 of order 2, 20 of order 33, 10 of order 11, 2 of order 3, 1 of order 1.

13. If |a 5|=12, what are the possibilities for |a|? What if |a 5|=15?

Answer: |a|=12 or |a|=60; |a|=75