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Groups

This document provides 16 practice problems related to group theory. The problems cover topics such as proving properties of subgroups, determining the order of elements in abelian and non-abelian groups, isomorphism theorems, symmetry groups, and properties of finite groups.

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Arindam Bandyopadhyay
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103 views2 pages

Groups

This document provides 16 practice problems related to group theory. The problems cover topics such as proving properties of subgroups, determining the order of elements in abelian and non-abelian groups, isomorphism theorems, symmetry groups, and properties of finite groups.

Uploaded by

Arindam Bandyopadhyay
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MAT 500 Practice group theory problems

(Not collected.)
(1) Let G be a group with |G| = 4. Prove that G is abelian.

(2) Let A, B be subgroups of a group G. Prove or give a counterexample:


(a) A ∩ B is a subgroup of G.
(b) A ∪ B is a subgroup of G.

(3) Let G be a finite abelian group and a, b ∈ G. Let n = |a| and m = |b|,
and suppose gcd(n, m) = 1. Prove that |ab| = nm. Does the conclu-
sion still hold if G is nonabelian? Prove or give a counterexample.

(4) Let G be a group and let a, b ∈ G. Prove that |ab| = |ba|.

(5) Let S be a nonempty subset of a group G. The subgroup hSi gener-


ated by S is
hSi = {x1 x2 · · · xn | xi ∈ S or x−1
i ∈ S}.
Prove that \
hSi = H.
H<G,
S⊂H

(6) Let G be a group of order 15. Show that G contains an element of


order 3.

(7) Let G be a group, and let N < G be a subgroup of index 2. Prove


that N is normal in G.

(8) Let Z be the center of a group G (recall Z C G). Prove that if the
group G/Z is cyclic, then G is abelian.

(9) Let G be a group and let G0 be the subgroup generated by the set
{aba−1 b−1 | a, b ∈ G}.
This is the commutator subgroup of G. It measures the degree to
which G fails to be abelian. (E.g. G0 = {e} if G is abelian.)

(a) Prove that G0 C G and that G/G0 is abelian.

(b) If H C G and G/H is abelian, prove that G0 < H. (Thus G/G0


is the maximal abelian quotient of G.)

(10) Determine all homomorphisms from Z to Z.


  
a b
(11) Let B = | a, b, c ∈ R, ad 6= 0 .
0 d
(a) Show that B is a subgroup of GL2 (R), and that B is nonabelian.
  
1 b
(b) Let N = | b ∈ R , called the unipotent subgroup
0 1
of GL2 (R). Prove that B/N ∼ = R∗ × R∗ , where R∗ × R∗ is the
∗
set {(x, y)|x, y ∈ R } with the abelian group operation (x, y) ·
(a, b) = (xa, yb). (Use the 1st isomorphism theorem.)

(c) Show that N is the commutator subgroup of B. (By part (b)


you know that N contains it.)

(12) Show that


V = {e, (1 2)(3 4), (1 3)(2 4), (1 4)(2 3)}
is a normal subgroup of S4 . The quotient S4 /V is isomorphic to a
familiar group. Can you find it?

(13) Consider a tetrahedron T (a pyramid with 4 congruent triangular


sides). Label the vertices 1, 2, 3, 4. Find the symmetry group of
T , i.e. the subgroup of S4 consisting of permutations which give
rotations of T .

(14) Let G be a group with |G| = pq, where p and q are primes. Show
that every proper subgroup of G is cyclic.

(15) Let H = h(1 2 4)i < A4 . Determine all right and left cosets of H in
A4 . Based on your computation, is H C A4 ?

(16) If every element of a nontrivial group G has even order, show that
there exists a 6= e such that a2 = e.

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