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Course 311, Part II: Group Theory Problems Michaelmas Term 2005

This document outlines 5 problems related to group theory: 1) automorphisms of a group G form a group, 2) the center of a group G is a normal subgroup, 3) the normalizer of a subgroup H is a subgroup that contains H as a normal subgroup, 4) the normal subgroups of A4 are {e} and A4, and 5) the conjugacy classes of A5 have sizes 1, 15, 20, 12, and 60, showing A5 is simple.

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80 views1 page

Course 311, Part II: Group Theory Problems Michaelmas Term 2005

This document outlines 5 problems related to group theory: 1) automorphisms of a group G form a group, 2) the center of a group G is a normal subgroup, 3) the normalizer of a subgroup H is a subgroup that contains H as a normal subgroup, 4) the normal subgroups of A4 are {e} and A4, and 5) the conjugacy classes of A5 have sizes 1, 15, 20, 12, and 60, showing A5 is simple.

Uploaded by

vahid mesic
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Course 311, Part II: Group Theory Problems

Michaelmas Term 2005


1. Let G be a group. An automorphism of G is an isomorphism sending
G onto itself. Show that the set Aut(G) of automorphisms of G is a
group with respect to the operation of composition of automorphisms.

2. Let G be a group. The centre Z(G) of G is defined by

Z(G) = {z ∈ G : gz = zg for all g ∈ G}.

Prove that the centre Z(G) of a group G is a normal subgroup of G.


[In particular, you should show that Z(G) is a subgroup of G.]

3. Let H be a subgroup of a group G. The normalizer N (H) of H in G


is defined by N (H) = {g ∈ G : gHg −1 = H}. Verify that N (H) is a
subgroup of G and H is a normal subgroup of N (H).

4. What are the normal subgroups of the alternating group A4 (which is


the group of all even permutations of a set with four elements)?

5. (a) Show that the elements of the alternating group A5 fall into five
conjugacy classes, and calculate the number of elements in each con-
jugacy class. Verify that the sum of the numbers obtained equals the
order of A5 .

(b) Any normal subgroup of A5 is a union of conjugacy classes. Show


how information on the sizes of the conjugacy classes of A5 can be com-
bined with Lagrange’s Theorem to show that the group A5 is simple.

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