Department of Mathematics, IIT Guwahati

MA 521: Modern Algebra

Tutorial Sheet- I
July-November 2023

1. Determine all the finite subgroups of the following groups.

(a) Z, Q, R, C under addition.
(b) Q× , R× , C× under multiplication.
2. Let p and q be distinct primes. Suppose that H is a proper subset of the integers and H is
a group under addition that contains exactly three elements of the set {p, p + q, pq, pq , q p }.
Determine which of the following are the three elements in H.
(a) pq, pq , q p (b) p + q, pq, pq (c) p, p + q, pq (d) p, pq , q p (e) p, pq, pq .
3. Show that G = R \ {−1} is a group under the binary operation defined by a ∗ b := a + b + ab
for a, b ∈ G.
4. Let G be a finite group. Show that the number of elements x in G with x2 6= 1 is even.
Conclude that if G is a finite group of even order, then G has an element of order 2.
5. Let a and b be two noncommuting elements of a group G. Show that the elements 1, a, b, ab, ba
in G are all distinct. Conclude that a non-abelian group is of order at least 6.
6. Let A be a subset of a finite group G and |A| > |G|/2. Prove that each element of G is a
product of two elements of A.
7. (a) Show that the elements of finite order in an abelian group G form a subgroup of G.
(b) Show by an example that the corresponding statement for non-abelian groups is false.
8. Let (G, ∗) be a group.
(a) (x−1 )−1 = x for every x ∈ G.
(b) (x ∗ y)−1 = y −1 ∗ x−1 .
9. Let (G, ∗) be a group and a, b ∈ G. The equations a ∗ x = b and y ∗ a = b have unique
solutions for x, y ∈ G. In particular, the left and right cancelation laws hold in G, that is,
(a) if a ∗ u = a ∗ v, then u = v, and
(b) u ∗ b = v ∗ b, then u = v.
10. Let x and y be elements of a group G. Let e be the identity element of G.
(a) If xn = e for some non-zero integer n, then o(x)|n.
(b) We have o(x) = o(x−1 ), o(yxy −1 ) = o(x), and o(xy) = o(yx).
(c) If o(x) is infinite, then o(xk ) is also infinite for any non-zero integer k.
o(x)
(d) If o(x) is finite, then o(xk ) = for k > 0.
gcd(k, o(x))
11. Let G be a group and let x and y be elements of G of finite order such that xy = yx. Let
` = lcm(o(x), o(y)).
(a) Show that o(xy) divides `.
(b) Give an example of commuting elements x and y such that the order of xy is not equal
to `.
(c) If hxi ∩ hyi = {e}, show that o(xy) = lcm(o(x), o(y)).
Deduce that, if gcd(o(x), o(y)) = 1 then o(xy) = `.
∗∗∗