Abstract Algebra Test #1 October 7, 2010

MATH 501 R. Hammack Name

Directions: Answer each question in the space provided. Use of any electronic device (calculators, i-pods, etc.) is not
allowed during this test.

1. (30 points) Short Answer. You do not need to show your work for problems on this page.

(a) List the generators of Z12 .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 5, 7, 11

· 1 5 7 11
1 1 5 7 11
(b) Write a multiplication table for U (12). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 5 1 11 7
7 7 11 1 5
11 11 7 5 1

n!
(c) |An | = . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2

(d) A group has 45 elements. What are the possible orders of its subgroups? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 3, 5, 9, 15, 45

(e) Suppose a is a generator of a cyclic group G. Give a generator for the subgroup ham i ∩ han i . . . . . . . alcm(m,n)

(f) Give an example of a nontrivial abelian subgroup of a non-abelian group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 ⊆ S3

 
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
(g) Write µ = ∈ S7 as a product of disjoint cycles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (152)(3647)
5 1 6 7 2 4 3

(h) Is the permutation µ from part (h) even or odd? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odd because (152) is even and (3647) is odd.

(i) Find the order of the permutation µ from part (h). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lcm(3,4)=12

(j) Write the following as a product of disjoint cycles: (215)(3142)−1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (13)(245)

2. (10 points) List the left cosets of the subgroup H = {(1), (13)} of S3 .

(1)H = {(1), (13)}

(12)H = {(12), (321)}
(23)H = {(23), (123)}

3. (10 points) Find all possible orders of elements in S7 .

In the table below, examples of permutations (as cycles or products of disjoint cycles) in S7 are paired with their orders.
Permutation order
(1) 1
(1 2) 2
(1 2 3 ) 3
(1 2 3 4) 4
(1 2 3 4 5) 5
(1 2 3 4 5 6) 6
(1 2 3 4 5 6 7) 7
(1 2)(3 4 5 6 7) lcm(2,5)=10
(1 2 3)(4 5 6 7) lcm(3,4)=12
In trying other combinations of disjoint cycles, we quickly see that the above table captures all possible orders. For
example, (12)(3458) has order gcd(2,4)=4, and this order already appears on the table, etc.

Thus the possible orders are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and 12.

4. (10 points) Prove that if a group G has no proper nontrivial subgroups, then G is cyclic.
Proof. Suppose G has no proper nontrivial subgroups. Take an element a ∈ G for which a 6= e. Consider the cyclic
subgroup hai. This subgroup contains at least e and a, so it is not trivial. But G has no proper subgroups, so it must
be that hai = G. Thus G is cyclic, by definition of a cyclic group.
5. (10 points) Suppose a group G has the property that a2 = e for every a ∈ G. Prove that G is abelian.
Proof. Suppose G has the property that a2 = e for every a ∈ G. Take arbitrary elements x, y ∈ G. By assumption we
have (xy)2 = e. We work with this as follows.

(xy)2 = e
xyxy = e
x(xyxy) = xe
(xx)(yxy) = x
e(yxy) = x
yxy = x
(yxy)y = xy
(yx)(yy) = xy
(yx)e = xy
yx = xy

This establishes xy = yx, so G is abelian.

6. (10 points) Let g be an element of a group G, and define a map λg : G → G as λg (x) = gx.
Show that λg is a permutation of G.
Proof. By definition, a permutation of G is just a bijection G → G. Thus we only need to show that λg is bijective.

First we show λg is injective. Suppose λg (x) = λg (y). This means gx = gy. Multiplying both sides by g −1 gives x = y.
It follows that λg is injective.

Next let’s show that λg is surjective. Take an arbitrary a ∈ G. Now, since g ∈ G, we must also have g −1 ∈ G, hence
g −1 a ∈ G. Now observe that λg (g −1 a) = gg −1 a = a. Thus λg is surjective.

Since it is both injective and surjective, λg is bijective, and therefore it’s a permutation of G.
7. (10 points) Let G be an abelian group. Show that the set of elements of finite order in G form a subgroup.
Proof. Let H = {a : a ∈ G and a has finite order } ⊆ G. We need to show that H is a subgroup of G.

1. Since e1 = e, the identity e has (finite) order 1, so e ∈ H.

2. Suppose a, b ∈ H. This means a and b have finite orders, say m and n, respectively. Therefore am = e and bn = e.
Now consider the product ab. Using the usual laws of exponents and the fact that G is abelian, we get

(ab)mn = (ab)(ab) · · · (ab) = aaa · · · a bbb · · · b = amn bmn = (am )n (bn )m = en em = e.

| {z } | {z } | {z }
mn mn
mn times

Therefore (ab)mn = e, so ab has finite order, and is therefore in H. This proves that H is closed under multipli-
cation.
3. Suppose a ∈ H, so a has finite order; say am = e. Then

(a−1 )m = a−m = (am )−1 = e−1 = e,

which means a−1 has finite order. Thus a−1 ∈ H, so H is closed with respect to taking inverses.

The above considerations show that H satisfies the conditions of Theorem 3.9, so H is a subgroup of G.

8. (10 points) Suppose H is a subgroup of a group G, and [G : H] = 2.

Suppose also that a and b are in G, but not in H. Show that ab ∈ H.
Proof. Suppose [G : H] = 2 and a, b ∈ / H, it follows that a−1 ∈
/ H. Now, since a ∈ / H. (Otherwise, if a−1 were in H,
its inverse a would be in H, and this is not the case.)

Since neither a−1 nor b is in H, we know that a−1 H 6= H and bH 6= H.

But since [G : H] = 2, we know that H has only two left cosets in G. One of these cosets is H. By the previous
paragraph, a−1 H and bH must both be equal to the coset that is not H, and therefore a−1 H = bH.

Now, consider an arbitrary element of a−1 H, which has form a−1 h for some h ∈ H. Since this is also an element of
bH, it must also equal bh0 for some h0 ∈ H. Therefore we have

a−1 h = bh0 .

Multiply both sides of this by a (on the left) to get h = abh0 . Now multiply both sides by the inverse of h0 (on the
right) to get
ab = h(h0 )−1 ∈ H.
This completes the proof.