Assignment 2 – Due Friday, September 19

Turn this in at the start of recitation on Friday, September 19.

1. Read Sections 2.5–2.6 of Herstein. (Judson covers similar material in Chapters 3, 6, and 10.)
2. In recitation, you proved that the set of invertible n × n real matrices GLn (R) is a group. Let

SLn (R) = {M ∈ GLn (R) | det M = 1}.

Show that SLn (R) is a subgroup of GLn (R). Describe the right cosets of SLn (R) in GLn (R).
3. Let H be a subgroup of a group G, and suppose that g1 , g2 ∈ G. Show that if Hg1 = Hg2 , then
g1−1 H = g2−1 H.
4. Suppose that G is a finite group and a, b ∈ G.

(a) Suppose that o(a) = 3 and o(b) = 7. Show that the order of G must be at least 21.
(b) Suppose that o(a) = 6 and o(b) = 9. What’s the smallest that the order of G can be? Find a
cyclic group G and two elements a and b that satisfy this property.
5. Let a ∈ G. Show that an = e if and only if n is a multiple of o(a). (Hint: What’s the remainder of n
divided by o(a)?)

6. Herstein, p. 46: #1, 3

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 Solutions for Assignment 2

#2 To show that SLn (R) is a subgroup, we need to prove that it is closed under matrix multi-
plication and contains inverses. If A, B ∈ SLn (R), then det(AB) = det(A) det(B) = 1,
so AB ∈ SLn (R). Likewise, if det(A) = 1, then det(A−1 ) = 1, so SLn (R) is closed
under taking inverses.
Suppose that M ∈ GLn (R). Let

C = SLn (R)M = {AM | A ∈ SLn (R)}

be a right coset of M . Any N ∈ C can be written as a product AM where det(A) = 1,

so det(N ) = det(A) det(M ) = det(M ). Therefore,

C ⊂ {N ∈ GLn (R) | det(N ) = det(M )}

On the other hand, if N ∈ GLn (R) and det(N ) = det(M ), then

det(N M −1 ) = det(N ) det(M )−1 = 1,

so N M −1 ∈ SLn (R) and N M −1 · M = N ∈ C. So

C = {N ∈ GLn (R) | det(N ) = det(M )}.

Thus, there is one coset of SLn (R) for each real number D 6= 0, consisting of all the
matrices with determinant D.

#3 For any g ∈ G, let (Hg)−1 = {x−1 | x ∈ Hg}. We claim that g −1 H = (Hg)−1 .

On one hand, if g −1 h ∈ g −1 H for some h ∈ H, then (g −1 h)−1 = h−1 g ∈ Hg, because
h−1 ∈ H. Therefore, g −1 H ⊂ (Hg)−1 . On the other hand, if (hg)−1 ∈ (Hg)−1 for some
h ∈ H, then (hg)−1 = g −1 h−1 ∈ g −1 H, so (Hg)−1 ⊂ g −1 H, and g −1 H = (Hg)−1 as
desired.
Therefore, g1−1 H = (Hg1 )−1 = (Hg2 )−1 = g2−1 H as desired.

#4 1. The order of any element divides the order of the group, so the order of the group
is a multiple of 3 and a multiple of 7. The least common multiple of 3 and 7 is
21, so the group must have order at least 21.
2. The least common multiple of 6 and 9 is 18, so o(G) ≥ 18. If G = Z18 , a = 3 and
b = 2, then o(a) = 6 and o(b) = 9.

#5 Suppose that n is a multiple of o(a), so that n = ko(a). Then an = ako(a) = (ao(a) )k =

ek = e.
On the other hand, suppose that an = e. Let q, r ∈ Z be such that n = qo(a) + r and
0 ≤ r < o(a). Then
an = aqo(a) ar = ar = e.
Since r < o(a), we know r ≤ 0, so r = 0 and n = qo(a).

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p. 46, #1 Suppose that H and K are subgroups of G. Then H ∩K is nonempty (it contains
e). If a, b ∈ H ∩ K, then ab ∈ H and ab ∈ K (because H and K are closed under
multiplication) so ab ∈ H ∩ K. Likewise, a−1 ∈ H and a−1 ∈ K because H and K are
closed under multiplication, so a−1 ∈ H ∩ K. Therefore H ∩ K is a subgroup.

p. 46, #3 Suppose that a ∈ G is not the identity element. Then hai is a subgroup of G
that is not the identity subgroup. By the assumption, G = hai is a cyclic group and
o(G) = o(a).
Suppose that o(G) = ∞. Then G = {ai | i ∈ Z}, but ha2 i = {a2i | i ∈ Z} is a
nontrivial subgroup of G. This is a contradiction, so o(G) must be finite.
Suppose that o(G) is not prime, and suppose that o(G) = pq, where 1 < p ≤ q < o(G).
Since p < o(G), we have ap 6= e, so hap i = G. But

(ap )q = apq = ao(G) = e,

so o(hap i) ≤ q. This is a contradiction, so o(G) must be finite and prime.