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SECTION 4 Groups
SECTION 4 Groups
Definition
A group G, is a set G, closed under a binary operation , such that
the following axioms are satisfied:
1) Associativity of :
For all a, b, cG, we have (a b) c = a (b c).
3) Inverse a’ of a:
For each a G, there is an element a’ in G such that
a a’ = a’ a = e.
Examples
Definition
A group G is abelian if its binary operation is commutative.
Example:
• The set Z+ under addition
is not a group. since there is no identity element for + in Z+.
Theorem 4.15
If G is a group with binary operation , then the left and right cancellation
laws hold in G.
that is, a b=a c implies b=c, and b a=c a implies b=c for all a, b, c G.
Every group table is a Latin square; that is, each element of the group
appears exactly once in each row and each column.
One-element Group
{e} with the binary operation defined by e e=e
Two-element Group
Example: {e, a}, try to find a table for a binary operation on {e, a} that
gives a group structure on {e, a}.
e a
e e a
a a x
Since every element can occur exactly once in each row and each
column, we have x =e .
Three-element group
Three-element group
Example: {e, a, b}, try to find a table for a binary operation on {e, a, b}
that gives a group structure on {e, a, b}.
e a b
e e a b
a a x y
b b z w
Since every element can occur exactly once in each row and each
column, we have x=b, y=e, z= e, w=a.