Subgroups Lattice of Symmetric Group S4

Aye Pyone
Associate Professor
Department Of Mathematics
Taunggyi University
09 403711872
ayepyone2006@gmail.com
23th Anniversary of Monwya University
1-2 October,2019

Abstract
In this paper, we firstly construct multiplication table of S4 and then we
determine all subgroups of S4 by using Lagrange’s Theorem and Sylow’s Third
Theorem. We find 30 subgroups of S4 . Finally, we present the subgroup lattice
diagram of S4 by applying Maple 2018 software.

1 Introduction
For an arbitrary nonempty set S, define a permutation of a set S is a function from
S to S that is one-one correspondence. A permutation group of a set S is a set
of all permutations of S that forms a group under the composition of functions. If
S is a set of 1, 2, . . . , n then its permutation group is called a symmetric group,
denoted by Sn . Sn has n! elements. That is, order of Sn is n!, |Sn | = n!. For instance,
S2 has 2 elements. The elements of S2 in cycle notation are (), (12). Also, we have
S3 = {(), (12), (13), (23), (123), (132)}. The multiplication of elements of S3 can be
seen in the following an operation table or Cayley table (Table 1). A nonempty subset
H of a group G is called a subgroup of G if it is a group under the operation of G. We
know that a test to determine whether or not a subset H of a group G is a subgroup
of G: Let H be a nonempty finite subset of G. If H is closed under the operation of
G, then H is a subgroup of G. For instance, let H = {(), (12)}. Then H is a subgroup
of S3 by the following (Table 2).

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 We see that S3 has 6 subgroups, {()}, {(), (12)}, {(), (13)}, {(), (23)}, {(), (123), (132)}
and itself.
In this paper, we determine all subgroups of S4 and then draw diagram of lattice
subgroups of S4 .

2 Preliminaries
We recall some definitions and results that will be used them later.

Definition 2.1. A subgroup H of a group G is called a normal subgroup of G if

aHa−1 = H for all a in G.

Theorem 2.2. If G is a finite group and a ∈ G then order of a is a divisor of order

of G.

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Definition 2.3. Let G be a finite group and let p be a prime divisor of |G|. If pk
divides |G| and pk+1 does not divide |G|, then any subgroup of G of order pk is called
a Sylow p-subgroup of G.

Theorem 2.4. (Sylow’s Third Theorem) Let p be a prime and let G be a group of
order pk m, where p does not divide m. Then the number n of Sylow p-subgroups of G
is equal to 1 modulo p and divides m.

Theorem 2.5. A Sylow p-subgroup of a finite group G is a normal subgroup of G iff

it is the only Sylow p-subgroup of G.

Definition 2.6. (i) A partial order  on a set S is a binary relation on S which

satisfies the following three axioms. For x, y, z ∈ S,

(a) x  x (reflexive)
(b) if x  y and y  x then x = y (antisymmetric)
(c) if x  y and y  z then x  z (transitive).

(ii) If  satisfies (a), (b), (c), and it is x  y or y  x, for x, y ∈ S(symmetric) then

the order  is called total.

(iii) A partially ordered set S is called a Lattice if every pair x, y elements of S has
a greatest lower bound and a least upper bound.

The collection of subgroups of a group forms a (complete) lattice L, that is, a

nonempty partially ordered set in which every subset has a greatest lower bound and
a least upper bound in L[3, pg. 32]. The group S4 has thirty subgroups. [3, pg. 166].
Note that the set of all subgroups of G under the subgroup relation is a lattice.
This lattice is called the lattice subgroup of G.

3 Subgroups of S4
Let S4 = {ι, σ1 , . . . , σ6 , α1 , α2 , α3 , β1 , . . . , β8 , δ1 , . . . , δ6 } with ι = (), σ1 = (12), σ2 =
(13), σ3 = (14), σ4 = (23), σ5 = (24), σ6 = (34), α1 = (12)(34), α2 = (13)(24),
α3 = (14)(23), β1 = (123), β2 = (124), β3 = (134), β4 = (234), β5 = (132), β6 = (142),
β7 = (143), β8 = (243), δ1 = (1234), δ2 = (1342), δ3 = (1432), δ4 = (1243), δ5 = (1324),
and δ6 = (1423). The multiplication of elements of S4 can be seen an operation table
or Cayley table( Table 3). Note that ι = a, σ1 = b, δ1 = c, β3 = d, β1 = e, δ2 = f ,
α2 = g, δ6 = h, δ4 = i, β7 = j, δ5 = k, α3 = l, δ3 = m, β8 = n, β5 = o, σ4 = p, β6 = q,
σ5 = r, σ2 = s, β1 = t, σ3 = u, β2 = v, σ6 = w, α1 = x in ( Table 3). The order of
elements of S4 are shown in (Table 4).

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 Elements Order
ι 1
σ1 ,. . ., σ6 , α1 , α2 , α3 2
β1 , . . . , β8 3
δ1 , . . . , δ6 4

Table 4: Order of Elements of S4

According to the Lagrange’s Theorem, nontrivial subgroups of S4 must have order

2,3,4,6,8,12. We will determine all of the subgroups of S4 .

Clearly, the subgroup of S4 of order 1 is the trivial subgroup H1 = {ι}.

Subgroups of Order 2
Let K be an arbitrary subgroup of S4 of order 2. Since 2 is a prime number, K is cyclic.
Therefore K is generated by an element of S4 of order 2. Thus, all of subgroups of S4
of order 2 are K2 = {ι, σ1 }, K3 = {ι, σ2 }, . . . , K7 = {ι, σ6 }, K8 = {ι, α1 }, K9 = {ι, α2 },
and K10 = {ι, α3 }. Hence the total number of all subgroups of S4 of order 2 is 9.

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Subgroups of Order 3
Similar to subgroups of order 2, subgroups of S4 of order 3 is generated by an element
of S4 of order 3. Thus, all of subgroups of S4 of order 3 are:

L11 =< β1 >=< β5 >= {ι, β1 , β5 },

L12 =< β2 >=< β6 >= {ι, β2 , β6 },

L13 =< β3 >=< β7 >= {ι, β3 , β7 },
L14 =< β4 >=< β8 >= {ι, β4 , β8 }.
Hence the total number of all subgroups of S4 of order 3 is 4.

Subgroups of Order 4
Let M be an arbitrary subgroup of S4 of order 4. According to Theorem 2.2, then
elements of M must have order 1, 2, or 4. If M consists an element of order 4, then
M is generated by an element of order 4. The subgroups are

M15 =< δ1 >=< δ3 >= {ι, δ1 , α2 , δ3 },

M16 =< δ2 >=< δ4 >= {ι, δ2 , α3 , δ4 },

M17 =< δ5 >=< δ6 >= {ι, δ5 , α1 , δ6 }.
If M consists an element of order 2, then M does not have element of order 4.
Therefore the order of all elements of M is 2, except identity element. We find the
remaining subgroups of S4 of order 4. From the Table 5

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 M18 = {ι, σ1 , σ6 , α1 },

M19 = {ι, σ2 , σ5 , α2 },
M20 = {ι, σ3 , σ4 , α3 }.

Also, by Table 6
M21 = {ι, α1 , α2 , α3 }.
Hence the number of all subgroups of S4 of order four is 7.

Subgroups of Order 6
Let N be any arbitrary subgroup of S4 of order 6. Since |N | = 3 × 2 according to
Theorem 2.4 ( Sylow’s Third Theorem) N has only one subgroup O of order 3. By
Theorem 2.5, this subgroup O is normal in N . There are four possibilities subgroups
of order 3, those are L11 , L12 , L13 or L14 .

Using normality O in N , we get four subgroups of order 6, those are

N22 = {ι, β1 , β5 , σ1 , σ2 , σ4 },

N23 = {ι, β2 , β6 , σ1 , σ3 , σ5 },
N24 = {ι, β3 , β7 , σ2 , σ3 , σ6 },
N25 = {ι, β4 , β8 , σ4 , σ5 , σ6 }.

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Subgroups of Order 8
Let P be arbitrary subgroup of S4 of order 8. Since there is no element of S4 of order
8, then every element of P must have order 1, 2 or 4. Also, since |S4 | = 23 3, then by
Theorem 2.5, the number of subgroups of S4 of order 8 is 1 or 3.

We try construct all of the possibilities and we will stop if we get three subgroups.
We get a subgroup of S4 of order 8 from the Table 7. So,

P26 = {ι, δ1 , δ3 , σ2 , σ5 , α1 , α2 , α3 }.

Similarly, we get
P27 = {ι, δ2 , δ4 , σ3 , σ4 , α1 , α2 , α3 },
P28 = {ι, δ4 , δ5 , σ1 , σ6 , α1 , α2 , α3 }.

Subgroups of Order 12
Obviously, the alternating group A4 = {ι, α1 , α2 , α3 , β1 , . . . , β8 } is a subgroup of S4 of
order 12. We prove that A4 is the unique subgroup of S4 of order 12. Let Q ≤ S4 where
|Q| = 12 and Q 6= A4 . By Theorem 2.4, we conclude that there four possibilities:
(i) The number of subgroups of Q of order 4 is 1 and of order 3 is 1.

(ii) The number of subgroups of Q of order 4 is 1 and of order 3 is 4.

(iii) The number of subgroups of Q of order 4 is 3 and of order 3 is 1.

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(iv) The number of subgroups of Q of order 4 is 3 and of order 3 is 4.
Case(i) Let the subgroup of order 4 is K and let the subgroup of order 3 is L. By
Theorem 2.5, K and L are normal subgroups of Q. Thus qKq −1 = K and qLq −1 = L
so that qKLq −1 = KL for all q in Q. So, KL is a normal subgroup of Q. Since
|KL| = 12, KL = Q. Hence Q must be abelian group. Since K, and L are subgroups
of S4 , we conclude that this case is not occur.

Case(ii) Let the subgroup of order 4 is K. By Theorem 2.5, K is a normal sub-

group of Q. Thus qKq −1 = K. We have seen that S4 has 7 normal subgroups of order
4 and 4 subgroups of order 3. Let A be the set of all 4 subgroups of order 3. Then

A = {ι, β1 , . . . , β8 }.

The order of union of set A and any subgroup of order 4 is 12. A ∪ M15 , A ∪ M16 ,
A ∪ M17 , A ∪ M18 , A ∪ M19 , and A ∪ M20 are not group since β1 δ1 = δ2 , β1 δ2 = σ6 ,
β1 δ5 = σ5 , β1 σ1 = σ3 , β1 σ2 = σ4 and β1 σ3 = δ6 . The only one subgroup of order 12 is
A ∪ M21 by the following Table 8. This subgroup equal to the alternating group A4 .

Case(iii) Let A be a collection of the three subgroups of order 4 and K is the

subgroup of order 3. By Theorem 2.5, K is a normal subgroup of Q. Giving counter
examples for every possibilities of K we conclude this condition is not help for every
subgroup of K of order 3. This means that this case cannot occur.

Case(iv) is not occur because three subgroups of order 4 together with one subgroup
of order 3 consist more than 12 elements.

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 Figure 1: Subgroups lattice of S4

According to this result, we have the diagram of lattice subgroups of S4 is shown

as Figure 1 below.

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my professors Dr U Sein Win and Dr Khin Maw Maw in Taunggyi
University for their encouragement. This paper has benefited from all of my teachers
and colleagues who gave generously of their time and expertise. My special thanks
to my parents and all brothers and sisters who give patiently support throughout my
life.

References
[1] J. A. Gallian, 1967. Contemporary Abstract Algebra, 7th Edt., Brooks/Cole, Cen-
gage Learning, Belmont, USA., 2010.

[2] I. N. Herstein, Abstract Algebra, 3rd Edt., Prentice-Hall Inc., NJ., 1990.

[3] H. E. Rose, A Course on Finite Groups, Springer-Verlag, London, 2009.

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[4] R. Sulaiman, Subgroups Lattice of Symmetric Group S4 , International Journal
of Algebra, Surabaya, Indonesia, International Journal of Algebra, Vol. 6, No. 1,
2012.

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