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Cyclic Groups

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 SUBJECT : Algebra

Group Theory

Cyclic Groups

RAJESH SINGH
Department of Mathematics
University of Delhi, Delhi, India
[email protected]
+91-9716618372
 CYCLIC GROUPS 2

Table of Contents

Chapter: Cyclic Groups

1. Learning Outcomes
2. Prerequisites
3. Preliminaries
4. Cyclic Group
4.1. Generators of Cyclic Group
4.2. Subgroups of Cyclic Group

5. Solved Problems
6. Summary
7. Exercises
8. References

"𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨, 𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔:
𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃. "

𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨, 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏– 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

 CYCLIC GROUPS 3

1. Learning Outcome
We believe at the end of this chapter the reader will become well versed with the
following topics:
 Cyclic Groups.
 Generators of a Finite and Infinite Cyclic Groups.
 Subgroups of a Finite and Infinite Cyclic Groups.
Also, with lots of solved examples in text it will give the reader a depth into the concept.

2. Prerequisites
We expect the reader is well acquainted with the following concepts:
 Partially Ordered Sets and Lattices
 Group and its order
 Subgroup of a Group

3. PRELIMINARIES
To make the text self-contained we list some of the basic definitions and results that we
require to study this chapter.

Definition 3.1 A non-empty set 𝑃𝑃 along with a binary relation 𝑅𝑅 on 𝑃𝑃 is said to forma
poset (partially ordered set) if following condition are satisfied:
P1. Reflexivity: 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 ∀ 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝑃𝑃
P2. Anti-symmetry: If 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎and 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏, then 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑏𝑏. [𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝑃𝑃]
P3. Transitivity: If 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎and 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏, then 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎. [𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏, 𝑐𝑐 ∈ 𝑃𝑃]
For convenience, we use the symbol ≤ in place of 𝑅𝑅. The reason for using ≤ is that it is
in natural sync with the conditions above. Further, if 𝑎𝑎 ≤ 𝑏𝑏 𝑖𝑖. 𝑒𝑒., 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎, then the two
elements 𝑎𝑎 and 𝑏𝑏 are said to be comparable.

Definition 3.2 Let 𝑆𝑆(≠ ∅) be a subset of a poset (𝑃𝑃, ≤). An element 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝑃𝑃 is an upper
bound of 𝑺𝑺if 𝑥𝑥 ≤ 𝑎𝑎 ∀ 𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝑆𝑆. Further, if 𝑎𝑎 is an upper bound of 𝑆𝑆 such that 𝑎𝑎 ≤ 𝑏𝑏 for any
upper bound 𝑏𝑏of 𝑆𝑆, then 𝑎𝑎 is called thesupremum (𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒖𝒖𝒖𝒖𝒖𝒖𝒖𝒖𝒖 𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃)of 𝑆𝑆. We write
sup 𝑆𝑆 for supremum of 𝑆𝑆.

Definition 3.3Let 𝑆𝑆(≠ ∅) be a subset of a poset (𝑃𝑃, ≤). An element 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝑃𝑃 is called a lower
bound of 𝑆𝑆 if 𝑎𝑎 ≤ 𝑥𝑥 ∀ 𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝑆𝑆 and 𝑎𝑎 will be called infimum(𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈 𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃) of 𝑆𝑆 if
𝑏𝑏 ≤ 𝑎𝑎 for all lower bound 𝑏𝑏of 𝑆𝑆. We write inf 𝑆𝑆 for infimum of 𝑆𝑆.

Definition 3.4 A poset (𝐿𝐿, ≤) is called a lattice if for every 𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐿𝐿

sup{𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏} 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 inf{𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏} 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝐿𝐿.

Let 𝑋𝑋(≠ ∅) be any set, the power set 𝒫𝒫(𝑋𝑋) of 𝑋𝑋 forms a poset under ⊆ (usual set
containment) . Further, it is easy to observe that for any 𝐴𝐴, 𝐵𝐵 ∈ 𝒫𝒫(𝑋𝑋)
 CYCLIC GROUPS 4

𝐵𝐵 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐴𝐴 ⊆ 𝐵𝐵 𝐵𝐵 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐵𝐵 ⊆ 𝐴𝐴
sup {𝐴𝐴, 𝐵𝐵} = � 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 inf{𝐴𝐴, 𝐵𝐵} = �
𝐴𝐴 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐵𝐵 ⊆ 𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐴𝐴 ⊆ 𝐵𝐵

and hence both sup{𝐴𝐴, 𝐵𝐵} and inf{𝐴𝐴, 𝐵𝐵} exist in 𝒫𝒫(𝑋𝑋). Thus the poset (𝓟𝓟(𝑿𝑿), ⊆) forms a
lattice.

DIAGRAMMATIC REPRESENTATION OF A POSET

To draw a poset, we represent each element by a small black-filled circle and any two
comparable elements are joined by line(s) in such a way that if 𝑎𝑎 ≤ 𝑏𝑏 then a lies below 𝑏𝑏
in the diagram. Non-comparable elements are not joined. Clearly, there will be no
horizontal lines in the diagram of a poset. Figure illustrates the poset
𝑃𝑃 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10} under divisibility.

Figure 1.1

Definition 3.5A binary operation on a given set 𝑋𝑋 is a function with domain 𝑿𝑿 × 𝑿𝑿 and
co-domain 𝑿𝑿 i.e., it assigns each element of 𝑋𝑋 × 𝑋𝑋 a unique element of 𝑋𝑋.

Thus a binary operation can be considered as a method by which two members (may or
may not be distinct) of 𝐺𝐺 combine to again give an element of 𝑋𝑋. Addition, subtraction
and multiplication over the set of integers are some of the familiar examples of binary
operation. Also, it is known that division over integers is not a binary operation as we
may not always get an integer when an integer is divided by another integer.

Definition 3.6Let𝐺𝐺 be any non-empty set and ∗ be a binary operation on 𝐺𝐺. Then we
say that 𝐺𝐺 forms a groupw.r.t the operation ∗ if the following conditions are satisfied:

1. Associativity.𝑎𝑎 ∗ (𝑏𝑏 ∗ 𝑐𝑐) = (𝑎𝑎 ∗ 𝑏𝑏) ∗ 𝑐𝑐∀𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏, 𝑐𝑐 ∈ 𝐺𝐺.

2. Identity. There exists 𝑒𝑒 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 such that 𝑎𝑎 ∗ 𝑒𝑒 = 𝑒𝑒 ∗ 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑎𝑎∀𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐺𝐺.
3. Inverse. For each element 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐺𝐺, there exists an element 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 such that
𝑎𝑎 ∗ 𝑏𝑏 = 𝑏𝑏 ∗ 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑒𝑒.

If there is no ambiguity on the binary operation considered, then for simplicity we

denote 𝑎𝑎 ∗ 𝑏𝑏by 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎.It is important to note that in a group, identity element exists uniquely
and each element of the group has an inverse which exists uniquely (prove yourself).
 CYCLIC GROUPS 5

Also, it is worthwhile to mention here that some authors prefers to add the fourth
condition which is also known as closure property (𝑎𝑎 ∗ 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐺𝐺∀ 𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐺𝐺) while defining
groups. But since we are considering binary operation, it takes care of the closure
property required in the definition of groups. Thus if somebody equips a given set with
some operation to make it a group, then it should be checked that the operation is
indeed a binary operation i.e., 𝐺𝐺 is closed w.r.t the operation in consideration along with
the other three properties of the groups.

Definition 3.7 A group 𝐺𝐺 is an Abelian groupif 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏∀𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐺𝐺. Otherwise, we say that
the group 𝐺𝐺 is a non-Abelian group i.e., ∃ 𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 such that 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 ≠ 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏.

Definition 3.8The order of a group 𝑮𝑮, denoted by |𝑮𝑮|, is the cardinality of 𝐺𝐺. If 𝐺𝐺 is
finite then 𝐺𝐺 has finite order otherwise the order is infinite.

Definition 3.9 The order of an element 𝒈𝒈of a group 𝑮𝑮, denoted by |𝒈𝒈| is the
smallest positive integer (if it exists) 𝑛𝑛 such that 𝑔𝑔𝑛𝑛 = �����
𝑔𝑔. 𝑔𝑔 … 𝑔𝑔 = 𝑒𝑒 (𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝐺𝐺). If such an
𝑛𝑛 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡

integer does not exist then we say that the element 𝑔𝑔 hasinfinite order.

Thus to compute order of an element 𝑔𝑔 of a group 𝐺𝐺, one just need to find the sequence
𝑔𝑔, 𝑔𝑔2 , 𝑔𝑔3 , …, until the identity is achieved for the first time. If identity is never achieved,
then in that case order of𝑔𝑔is infinite. Clearly, in a finite group, order of every element is
finite.

Definition 3.10 A subset 𝐻𝐻 of a group 𝐺𝐺 is said to be a subgroup of 𝑮𝑮 if 𝐻𝐻 itself forms

a group under the operation of 𝐺𝐺. If 𝐻𝐻 is a subgroup of 𝐺𝐺, then it is denoted by 𝑯𝑯 ≤ 𝑮𝑮.
Further to indicate that 𝐻𝐻 is a proper subgroup of 𝐺𝐺 (proper in the sense of
containment), then we use 𝑯𝑯 < 𝑮𝑮. The subset {𝑒𝑒} of 𝐺𝐺 is trivially a subgroup of 𝐺𝐺.

𝑯𝑯 ≤ 𝑮𝑮 ⇔for any 𝒂𝒂, 𝒃𝒃 ∈ 𝑯𝑯, 𝒂𝒂𝒃𝒃−𝟏𝟏 ∈ 𝑯𝑯.

4. CYCLIC GROUP
Consider any group 𝐺𝐺 and any arbitrary element 𝑎𝑎 of 𝐺𝐺.The subgroup{𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 ∶ 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℤ}of 𝐺𝐺,
denoted by 〈𝑎𝑎〉, is called the cyclic subgroup of 𝑮𝑮 generated by 𝒂𝒂.

What if 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 for some 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐺𝐺? Does such groups enjoys some special properties? We call
such groups as cyclic groups and such elements as generator of that group. In this
chapter we try to explore properties associated with cyclic groups.

Definition 4.1A group 𝐺𝐺 is a cyclic group if

𝑮𝑮 = 〈𝒂𝒂〉 = {𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒏 ∶ 𝒏𝒏 ∈ ℤ} 𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇 𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒂 ∈ 𝑮𝑮 .

 CYCLIC GROUPS 6

In this case we say that 𝑮𝑮 is a cyclic group generated by 𝒂𝒂. Obviously, a cyclic group
is always an abelian group.

Example 4.2 The set ℤ of integers under usual addition is a cyclic group. Recall that
when the operation is addition then𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 in that group means 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛. Therefore

{1𝑛𝑛 ∶ 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℤ} = {𝑛𝑛1 ∶ 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℤ} = {𝑛𝑛 ∶ 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℤ} = ℤ.

Thus 1 is the generator of ℤ and henceℤ is a cyclic group. Further on the similar lines it
canbe shown that −1 is also a generator of ℤ. It is important to note here that 1 and −1
are the only generators of ℤ. This also shows that a group may have more than one
generator i.e., generator of a cyclic group need not be unique.

Example 4.3 The set ℤ𝑛𝑛 = {0,1, … , 𝑛𝑛 − 1}(𝑛𝑛 ≥ 1) under addition modulo 𝑛𝑛 is a cyclic group.
Again, 1 and −1 (= 𝑛𝑛 − 1) are generators of ℤ𝑛𝑛 . It is worthwhile to note here thatwhile the
set of integers ℤ has only two generators 1and −1, ℤ𝑛𝑛 depending on the value of 𝑛𝑛may
have more generators apart from 1 and −1. For example,ℤ10 has 1, 3, 7, 9 (= −1) as its
generators and ℤ12 has 1, 5, 7, 11 (= −1) as its generators.

Example 4.4Consider the group 𝑈𝑈(𝑛𝑛)under multiplication modulo 𝑛𝑛, where

𝑈𝑈(𝑛𝑛) = {𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℕ ∶ 𝑘𝑘 < 𝑛𝑛 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(𝑘𝑘, 𝑛𝑛) = 1} .

Now for 𝑛𝑛 = 10, 𝑈𝑈(10) = {1, 3, 7, 9} = {30 , 31 , 33 , 32 } = 〈3〉. Also, 𝑈𝑈(10) = {1,3,7,9} = {70 , 73 , 7, 72 } =
〈7〉. Thus both 3 and 7 are generators of 𝑈𝑈(10). Hence 𝑈𝑈(10) is a cyclic group.

Now we will show that 𝑈𝑈(8) = {1, 3, 5, 7} is not a cyclic group. But how to show it ? For that
we will find subgroup generated by each of the elements in 𝑈𝑈(8). Observe that

〈1〉 = {1}
〈3〉 = {1, 3} = {30 , 31 }
〈5〉 = {1, 5} = {50 , 51 }
〈7〉 = {1, 7} = {70 , 71 }.
Therefore, 𝑈𝑈(8) ≠ 〈𝑎𝑎〉 for any 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝑈𝑈(8) and hence the claim.

Thus we have seen that 𝑈𝑈(𝑛𝑛) is a cyclic group or not depends on the choice of 𝑛𝑛. So for
which values of 𝑛𝑛, the group 𝑈𝑈(𝑛𝑛)is cyclic? For now we will not be discussing this, but it is
a good practice to have some values of 𝑛𝑛, for which 𝑈𝑈(𝑛𝑛) is cyclic and some values of 𝑛𝑛
for which 𝑈𝑈(𝑛𝑛) is not cyclic.

4.1. GENERATORS OF A CYCLIC GROUP

Theorem4.1.1For any element 𝑎𝑎 in a group 𝐺𝐺, 〈𝑎𝑎−1 〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 .In particular, if an element 𝑎𝑎
is a generator of a cyclic group then 𝑎𝑎 −1 is also a generator of that group.
 CYCLIC GROUPS 7

Proof:Consider any 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 〈𝑎𝑎〉. Then 𝑏𝑏 = 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 for some 𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℤ. Now

𝑏𝑏 = 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 = (𝑎𝑎 −𝑘𝑘 )−1 = (𝑎𝑎−1 )−𝑘𝑘 ∈ 〈𝑎𝑎−1 〉.
Since 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 〈𝑎𝑎〉 is arbitrary, therefore
〈𝑎𝑎〉 ⊆ 〈𝑎𝑎 −1 〉.
Then it implies that
〈𝑎𝑎−1 〉 ⊆ 〈(𝑎𝑎−1 )−1 〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉.
Hence we have
〈𝑎𝑎〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎 −1 〉.
Second part immediatelyfollows from the first part. █

〈𝒂𝒂〉 = 〈𝒂𝒂−𝟏𝟏 〉 𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇 𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂 𝒂𝒂 ∈ 𝑮𝑮.

Theorem 4.1.2For any element 𝑎𝑎 in a group 𝐺𝐺, following holds:

1. If order of𝑎𝑎is infinite, then all distinct powers of 𝑎𝑎 are distinct elements i.e.,
𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 ≠ 𝑎𝑎 𝑗𝑗 𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑖𝑖 ≠ 𝑗𝑗, 𝑖𝑖, 𝑗𝑗 ∈ ℤ.
2. If order of𝑎𝑎 is 𝑛𝑛 for some 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℕ, then 〈𝑎𝑎〉 = {𝑒𝑒, 𝑎𝑎, 𝑎𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛−1 } and
𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑗𝑗 ⇔ 𝑛𝑛 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑖𝑖 − 𝑗𝑗 .

Proof:1.Order of𝑎𝑎is infinite i.e., 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 ≠ 𝑒𝑒∀𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℤ\{0}.

Suppose ∃ 𝑖𝑖, 𝑗𝑗 ∈ ℤ (𝑖𝑖 ≠ 𝑗𝑗) such that 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑗𝑗 . But then it implies that 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖−𝑗𝑗 = 𝑒𝑒, which
contradicts the fact 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 ≠ 𝑒𝑒∀𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℤ\{0} . Thus 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 ≠ 𝑎𝑎 𝑗𝑗 whenever 𝑖𝑖 ≠ 𝑗𝑗, 𝑖𝑖, 𝑗𝑗 ∈ ℤ.

2.Order of𝑎𝑎 is 𝑛𝑛i.e., 𝑛𝑛 is the smallest positive integer such that 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 = 𝑒𝑒.

Claim 1:〈𝑎𝑎〉 = {𝑒𝑒, 𝑎𝑎, 𝑎𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 −1 }.

By definition, {𝑒𝑒, 𝑎𝑎, 𝑎𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛−1 } ⊆ 〈𝑎𝑎〉. For the converse considerany 𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℤ.By division
algorithm, ∃ 𝑞𝑞, 𝑟𝑟 ∈ ℤ such that

𝑘𝑘 = 𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 + 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 0 ≤ 𝑟𝑟 < 𝑛𝑛.

Now consider

𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 = 𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 +𝑟𝑟 = 𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = (𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 )𝑞𝑞 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = 𝑒𝑒 𝑞𝑞 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 ∈ {𝑒𝑒, 𝑎𝑎, 𝑎𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛−1 }.

Thus it follows that 〈𝑎𝑎〉 = {𝑒𝑒, 𝑎𝑎, 𝑎𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 −1 }.

Claim 2:𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑗𝑗 ⇔ 𝑛𝑛 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑖𝑖 − 𝑗𝑗 .

Let 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑗𝑗 for some 𝑖𝑖, 𝑗𝑗 ∈ ℤ. Then 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖−𝑗𝑗 = 𝑒𝑒 and by minimality of 𝑛𝑛, it follows that 𝑛𝑛 ≤ |𝑖𝑖 − 𝑗𝑗|.
Again by division algorithm, ∃ 𝑞𝑞, 𝑟𝑟 ∈ ℤ such that

𝑖𝑖 − 𝑗𝑗 = 𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 + 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 0 ≤ 𝑟𝑟 < 𝑛𝑛.

Now𝑒𝑒 = 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖−𝑗𝑗 = 𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 +𝑟𝑟 = 𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = (𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 )𝑞𝑞 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = 𝑒𝑒 𝑞𝑞 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 . Thus 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = 𝑒𝑒 where 0 ≤ 𝑟𝑟 < 𝑛𝑛 and due to
the minimality of 𝑛𝑛 we must have 𝑟𝑟 = 0. Thus 𝑖𝑖 − 𝑗𝑗 = 𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 i.e., 𝑛𝑛divides 𝑖𝑖 − 𝑗𝑗.
 CYCLIC GROUPS 8

Conversely, if 𝑛𝑛divides 𝑖𝑖 − 𝑗𝑗, then 𝑖𝑖 − 𝑗𝑗 = 𝑠𝑠𝑛𝑛 for some 𝑠𝑠 ∈ ℤ and therefore 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖−𝑗𝑗 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 =
(𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 ) 𝑠𝑠 = 𝑒𝑒 𝑠𝑠 = 𝑒𝑒. Thus it follows that 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑗𝑗 whenever 𝑛𝑛divides 𝑖𝑖 − 𝑗𝑗. ∎

Next there is an immediate corollary to this theorem, which needs to be mentioned

separately because of its importance in the study of theory of groups.

Corollary 4.1.3Let 𝐺𝐺 be anygroup and 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 be an element of finiteorder 𝑛𝑛. If𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 = 𝑒𝑒for

some 𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℤ, then 𝑛𝑛 divides 𝑘𝑘.
Proof: Now
𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 = 𝑒𝑒 ⇒ 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 = 𝑎𝑎0
⇒ 𝑛𝑛 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑘𝑘 − 0 = 𝑘𝑘 [Theorem 4.1.2] ∎

𝒂𝒂𝒌𝒌 = 𝒆𝒆 ⇒ |𝒂𝒂|𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅

Corollary 4.1.4Order of a cyclic group is equal to the order of its generators i.e.,
if𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉for some 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐺𝐺, then |𝐺𝐺| = |𝑎𝑎|.
Proof: We will discuss this in two cases:
Case I|𝑎𝑎| is infinite.
Then by Theorem 4.1.2all distinct powers of 𝑎𝑎 are distinct members of 𝐺𝐺 and hence
cardinality of 𝐺𝐺 is infinite. Hence |𝐺𝐺| = |𝑎𝑎|.
Case II|𝑎𝑎| is finite say 𝑛𝑛.
Then again by Theorem 4.1.2𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 = {𝑒𝑒, 𝑎𝑎, 𝑎𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 −1 } and thus |𝐺𝐺| = 𝑛𝑛 = |𝑎𝑎|. ∎

𝑮𝑮 = 〈𝒂𝒂〉 ⇒ |𝑮𝑮| = |𝒂𝒂| 𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂

𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊 𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 𝑮𝑮 𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊 𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 |𝑮𝑮| = |𝒂𝒂| ⇒ 𝑮𝑮 = 〈𝒂𝒂〉.

Corollary 4.1.5Order of any element of a finite cyclic group𝐺𝐺 divides the order ofgroup𝐺𝐺
i.e., |𝑏𝑏|𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑|𝐺𝐺|∀ 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐺𝐺.

Proof: Let𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 for some 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 and 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 be any arbitrary element. Then ∃ 𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℤ such
that 𝑏𝑏 = 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 . But then

𝑘𝑘
𝑏𝑏 |𝐺𝐺| = (𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 )|𝐺𝐺| = �𝑎𝑎 |𝐺𝐺| � = 𝑒𝑒[𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠|𝑎𝑎| = |𝐺𝐺|𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 4.1.4]

From Corollary 4.1.3, it follows that |𝑏𝑏|𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 |𝐺𝐺|. ∎

Corollary 4.1.6For any element 𝑎𝑎 in a group 𝐺𝐺, |𝑎𝑎| = |𝑎𝑎 −1 |.

Proof:From Theorem 4.1.1 we have 〈𝑎𝑎〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎−1 〉 and hence from Corollary 4.1.4 it follows
that
|𝒂𝒂| = |〈𝒂𝒂〉| = |〈𝒂𝒂−𝟏𝟏 〉| = |𝒂𝒂−𝟏𝟏 |. ∎
 CYCLIC GROUPS 9

Theorem 4.1.7Every group of prime order is cyclic and every element other than
identity is a generator of the group.

Proof: Let 𝐺𝐺 be a group with|𝐺𝐺| = 𝑝𝑝 (prime) and 𝑎𝑎 (≠ 𝑒𝑒) ∈ 𝐺𝐺 be any element. Then from
Corollary 4.1.5, |𝑎𝑎| divides |𝐺𝐺|(= 𝑝𝑝) and therefore |𝑎𝑎| = 1or |𝑎𝑎| = 𝑝𝑝. Since 𝑎𝑎 ≠ 𝑒𝑒, therefore
|𝑎𝑎| must be prime 𝑝𝑝. Hence from Corollary 4.1.5, order of the subgroup 〈𝑎𝑎〉 of 𝐺𝐺is 𝑝𝑝. Thus
it follows that 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉. Further, since 𝑎𝑎 (≠ 𝑒𝑒) is an arbitrary element of 𝐺𝐺, therefore
𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 ∀ 𝑎𝑎(≠ 𝑒𝑒) ∈ 𝐺𝐺. █

|𝑮𝑮| = 𝒑𝒑 ( 𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑) ⇒ 𝑮𝑮 = 〈𝒂𝒂〉 ∀ 𝒂𝒂 (≠ 𝒆𝒆) ∈ 𝑮𝑮

From Theorem 4.1.2, it is easy to deduce that if𝑎𝑎 is an element of order 𝑛𝑛, then
multiplication between elements in 〈𝑎𝑎〉 is done byaddition modulo 𝑛𝑛 i.e., 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 . 𝑎𝑎 𝑗𝑗 = 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 where
𝑘𝑘 = (𝑖𝑖 + 𝑗𝑗)𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚. Thus given any group 𝐺𝐺 and an arbitary element 𝑎𝑎 of 𝐺𝐺 of finite order 𝑛𝑛,
multiplication in 〈𝑎𝑎〉behaves in a similar manner as addition in ℤ𝑛𝑛 . Similarly, if𝑎𝑎 is an
element of infinite order, then 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 . 𝑎𝑎 𝑗𝑗 = 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖+𝑗𝑗 and thus multiplication in 〈𝑎𝑎〉behaves in a
manner similar to addition in ℤ.

Based on these discussion, every cyclic group of finite order 𝑛𝑛 can be regarded as ℤ𝑛𝑛 in
the abstract sense i.e., in view of group theoretic properties and every group of infinite
order can be thought of as the group of integers ℤ under usual addition.

In Example 4.3, we saw that 1, 3, 7, 9 were generators of ℤ10 whereas 2, 4, 5, 8 were not.
Similarly, 1, 5, 7, 11 were generators of ℤ12 and 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 are not. Notice here that
each of 1, 3, 5, 7 are relatively prime to 10 and each of 1, 5, 7, 11 are relatively prime to 12.
Is this giving us a trend here? We will see in the next theorem and its subsequent
corollaries that this is indeed a trend.

Theorem 4.1.8(𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮 𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇 𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪)Let𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 be a finite cyclic. Then

𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉 ⇔ 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(𝑘𝑘, 𝑛𝑛) = 1 , 𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒|𝐺𝐺| = 𝑛𝑛 .
Proof:Let 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(𝑘𝑘, 𝑛𝑛) = 1, then there exist integers 𝑠𝑠, 𝑡𝑡 ∈ ℤ such that 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 + 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 = 1. But then

𝑎𝑎 = 𝑎𝑎1 = 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 +𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 = 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 = (𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 )𝑠𝑠 (𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 )𝑡𝑡 = (𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 )𝑠𝑠 ∈ 〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉.

Thus 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉, which further implies that all the powers of 𝑎𝑎 belongs to 〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉 i.e., every
element of 𝐺𝐺 is in 〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉. Hence 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉.

𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪,let 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉.Since 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉, there exists 𝑚𝑚 ∈ ℤ such that 𝑎𝑎 = (𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 )𝑚𝑚 = 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 .
Now 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 = 𝑎𝑎 implies that 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 −1 = 𝑒𝑒, then from Corollary 4.1.3 it follows that
|𝑎𝑎|𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 1 i.e., 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 − 1. Therefore 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 − 1 = 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 for some 𝑝𝑝 ∈ ℤ. Thus 1 = 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 +
𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 for 𝑚𝑚, 𝑟𝑟 ∈ ℤ and therefore we must have 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(𝑘𝑘, 𝑛𝑛) = 1. █
 CYCLIC GROUPS 10

If 𝒂𝒂 is a generator of a finite cyclic group, then 𝒂𝒂𝒌𝒌 is a generator of the

group if and only if 𝒌𝒌 is relatively prime to order of 𝒂𝒂. Thus a finite cyclic
group of order 𝒏𝒏 has 𝝓𝝓(𝒏𝒏) generators, where 𝝓𝝓(𝒏𝒏) is the number of positive
integers less than 𝒏𝒏and relatively prime to 𝒏𝒏.

Corollary 4.1.9ℤ𝑛𝑛 is generated by an integer 𝑘𝑘 in ℤ𝑛𝑛 if and only if 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑 (𝑘𝑘, 𝑛𝑛) = 1. That is,
the generators of ℤ𝑛𝑛 are precisely the elements of 𝑈𝑈(𝑛𝑛).

Proof: Note that ℤ𝑛𝑛 is a cyclic group with 1 as one of the generators.Thus taking 𝐺𝐺 = ℤ𝑛𝑛
and 𝑎𝑎 = 1 in Theorem 4.1.8 yields the desired result. █

The importance of Theorem 4.1.8 lies in the fact that if one of the generators of a cyclic
group is known, then it gets relatively easier to find the other generators of that group.
We illustrate this with the help of the example of 𝑈𝑈(50) under multiplication modulo 50.
Now
𝑈𝑈(50) = {1,3,7,9,11,13,17,19,21,23, 27,29,31,33,37,39,41,43,47,49}

and therefore |𝑈𝑈(50)| = 20. Further, from the table it is easy to see that 𝑈𝑈(50) is a cyclic
group with 3 as one of its generators. Since 1, 3, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, 19 are relatively prime to
20(= |𝑈𝑈(50)|), therefore from Theorem 4.1.8, we have that 31 , 33 , 37 , 39 , 311 , 313 , 317 , 319 are
all the generators of 𝑈𝑈(50). Thus
𝑈𝑈(50) = 〈3〉 = 〈27〉 = 〈37〉 = 〈33〉 = 〈47〉 = 〈23〉 = 〈13〉 = 〈17〉.

30 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 50 = 1 𝟑𝟑𝟏𝟏 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 = 𝟑𝟑 32 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 50 = 9 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 = 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 34 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 50 = 31

35 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 50 = 43 36 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 50 = 29 𝟑𝟑𝟕𝟕 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 = 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 38 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 50 = 11 𝟑𝟑𝟗𝟗 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 = 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑

310 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 50 = 49 𝟑𝟑𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 = 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 312 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 50 = 41 𝟑𝟑𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 = 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 314 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 50 = 19

315 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 50 = 7 316 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 50 = 21 𝟑𝟑𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 318 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 50 = 39 𝟑𝟑𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

Though we had to do some calculations to find all the generators, but still the effort was
much less than finding all the generators using direct calculations without taking the help
of Theorem 4.1.8.

Theorem 4.1.8 depicts all the generators of a cyclic group of finite order. Now the
question to be answered is how many generators an infinite cyclic group would have and
what are they. We answer this in our next few theorems.

Theorem 4.1.10Order of every non-identity element in an infinite cyclic group is

infinite.
 CYCLIC GROUPS 11

Proof:Let 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 be a cyclic group of infinite order. Then order of 𝑎𝑎 is infinite. We claim
that order of every non-identity element is infinite. Suppose on the contrary, there exists
𝑏𝑏(≠ 𝑒𝑒) ∈ 𝐺𝐺 of finite order 𝑚𝑚. Since 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐺𝐺, ∃ 𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℤ such that 𝑏𝑏 = 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 . Now 𝑒𝑒 = 𝑏𝑏 𝑚𝑚 = (𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 )𝑚𝑚 =
𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 , a contradiction to the fact |𝑎𝑎| is infinite. Thus our assumption is wrong and order of
every non-identity element is infinite. █

Everynon-identity element of a cyclic group of

infinite order is of infinite order.

Now if 𝑥𝑥 is an element of a finite cyclic group 𝐺𝐺 such that |𝑥𝑥| = |𝐺𝐺|, then obviously, 𝐺𝐺 =
〈𝑥𝑥〉. Is there the same trend in case of cyclic group of infinite order? In other words, if
𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 is such that |𝑥𝑥| = |𝐺𝐺| = ∞, then 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑥𝑥〉? Further, since from Theorem 4.1.10every
element of an infinite cyclic group has infinite order, does it imply that every element of
an infinite cyclic group is a generator ? This is not true. For example, the group ℤ of
integers under ordinary addition is an infinite cyclic group with 1 and −1 as their only
generators. In fact in the next theorem we show that an infinite cyclic group has only
two generators.

Theorem4.1.11(𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂 𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊 𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈)Let𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 be a cyclic group of

infinite order. Then 𝐺𝐺 has precisely two generators 𝑎𝑎and 𝑎𝑎 −1 .

Proof: Since 𝑎𝑎 is a generator, therefore 𝑎𝑎−1 is also a generator of 𝐺𝐺. Thus it is enough to
prove that no element other than 𝑎𝑎 and 𝑎𝑎−1 is a generator of 𝐺𝐺. Let 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 be any
generator of 𝐺𝐺. Then 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 = 〈𝑏𝑏〉 and therefore there exist 𝑝𝑝, 𝑞𝑞 ∈ ℤ such that 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑏𝑏 𝑝𝑝 and
𝑏𝑏 = 𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞 . Consider
𝑎𝑎 = 𝑏𝑏 𝑝𝑝 = (𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞 )𝑝𝑝 = 𝑎𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
⇒ 𝑎𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 −1 = 𝑒𝑒
⇒ 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 − 1 = 0 [𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 |𝑎𝑎| 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖]
⇒ 𝑝𝑝 = 𝑞𝑞 = 1 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑝𝑝 = 𝑞𝑞 = −1.
Thus either 𝑏𝑏 = 𝑎𝑎 or 𝑏𝑏 = 𝑎𝑎−1 and hence 𝑎𝑎 and 𝑎𝑎−1 are precisely the generators of 𝐺𝐺. █

We can summarize the above results as follows :

Theorem 4.1.12Let 𝐺𝐺 be a group and let 𝑎𝑎 be any element of 𝐺𝐺. Then

1. 〈𝑎𝑎〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎 −1 〉and |𝑎𝑎| = |𝑎𝑎 −1 | = |〈𝑎𝑎〉|.

2. |𝑎𝑎| = 𝑛𝑛 ⇔ 〈𝑎𝑎〉 = {𝑒𝑒, 𝑎𝑎, 𝑎𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 −1 }
3. 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 = 𝑒𝑒 ⇔ |𝑎𝑎|𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
4. 𝐺𝐺 is finite cyclic group ⟹ |𝑎𝑎| divides |𝐺𝐺|
5. |𝐺𝐺| = 𝑝𝑝 (𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝) and 𝑎𝑎(≠ 𝑒𝑒) ∈ 𝐺𝐺 ⟹ 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉
6. 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉finite cyclic group. Then 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉 ⇔ 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(𝑘𝑘, 𝑛𝑛) = 1.
 CYCLIC GROUPS 12

Thus we now know about all the generators of a given cyclic group (finite or infinite ). In
the next section we will be discussing some of the problems in order to get more depth
into the topic.

4.2. SUBGROUPS OF A CYCLIC GROUP

Theorem 4.2.1 A subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic. Further, if 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 is a finite cyclic
group and 𝐻𝐻 is any subgroup of 𝐺𝐺then |𝐻𝐻|𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑|𝐺𝐺|. In other words, order of any
subgroup of a finite cyclic group divides the order of that group.

Proof: Let 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 be a cyclic group and 𝐻𝐻 be any subgroup of 𝐺𝐺. Since 𝐺𝐺 is generated by
𝑎𝑎, therefore every element of 𝐻𝐻 is some power of 𝑎𝑎. Now let 𝑚𝑚 be the least positive
integer such that 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 ∈ 𝐻𝐻. We claim that 𝐻𝐻 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 〉.

Let 𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝐻𝐻 be any element. As 𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 there exists 𝑠𝑠 ∈ ℤ such that 𝑥𝑥 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑠𝑠 . By division

algorithm, there exist 𝑞𝑞, 𝑟𝑟 ∈ ℤ such that 𝑠𝑠 = 𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 + 𝑟𝑟where 0 ≤ 𝑟𝑟 < 𝑚𝑚. Now

𝑥𝑥 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑠𝑠 = 𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 +𝑟𝑟 = 𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟

⇒ 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = 𝑥𝑥. (𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 )−𝑞𝑞 ∈ 𝐻𝐻[𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠, 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 ∈ 𝐻𝐻].

If 0 < 𝑟𝑟 < 𝑚𝑚, then 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 ∈ 𝐻𝐻 contradicts the minimality of 𝑚𝑚. Hence we must have 𝑟𝑟 = 0 i.e.,
𝑠𝑠 = 𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 which further implies that 𝑎𝑎 𝑠𝑠 = 𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 ∈ 〈𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 〉. Thus it follows that 𝐻𝐻 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 〉.

Now if 𝐺𝐺 is finite, then from Theorem 4.1.12, |𝐻𝐻| = |𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 |and|𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 |𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 |𝐺𝐺|.
Hence|𝐻𝐻|𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑|𝐺𝐺|. █

Thus a subgroup of a cyclic group is always cyclic. Is the converse true? In other words,
is the subgroup of a non-cyclic group always non-cyclic. In our next example we show
that converse need not be true.

Example 4.2.2Consider the example of 𝑈𝑈(8) = {1, 3, 5, 7}, group under multiplication
modulo 8. Observe that

〈1〉 = {1}
〈3〉 = {1, 3} = {30 , 31 }
〈5〉 = {1, 5} = {50 , 51 }
〈7〉 = {1, 7} = {70 , 71 }.
Therefore, 𝑈𝑈(8) ≠ 〈𝑎𝑎〉 for any 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝑈𝑈(8) and hence 𝑈𝑈(8) is not a cyclic group. But it is
interesting to note that every subgroup of 𝑈𝑈(8) is cyclic. To prove this we will show that
〈1〉, 〈3〉, 〈5〉 and 〈7〉 are the only proper subgroups of 𝑈𝑈(8). Let 𝐻𝐻 ≠ 〈 𝑖𝑖 〉 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 = 1,3,5,7 be any
subgroup of 𝑈𝑈(8). Now we have three possibilities:
Case 1.3, 5 ∈ 𝐻𝐻
Then 3.5 = 7 ∈ 𝐻𝐻 and therefore 7.7 = 1 ∈ 𝐻𝐻. Thus 𝐻𝐻 = 𝑈𝑈(8).
 CYCLIC GROUPS 13

Case 2.3,7 ∈ 𝐻𝐻
Then 3.7 = 5 ∈ 𝐻𝐻and 7.7 = 1 ∈ 𝐻𝐻. Thus 𝐻𝐻 = 𝑈𝑈(8).
Case 3.5,7 ∈ 𝐻𝐻
Then 5.7 = 3 ∈ 𝐻𝐻and 7.7 = 1 ∈ 𝐻𝐻. Thus 𝐻𝐻 = 𝑈𝑈(8).
Thus in all the cases we get 𝐻𝐻 = 𝑈𝑈(8). It follows that 〈1〉, 〈3〉, 〈5〉 and 〈7〉 are the only proper
subgroups of (8) . Hence 𝑈𝑈(8) serves as an example of a non-cyclic group, all of whose
proper subgroups are cyclic.

Theorem 4.2.3 Let 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 be a finite cyclic group of order 𝑛𝑛. For each positive divisor
𝑘𝑘of 𝑛𝑛, 〈𝑎𝑎 𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘 〉is the unique subgroup of order 𝑘𝑘.
Proof: First we claim that �〈𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘 〉� = 𝑘𝑘. For that we just need to show that �𝑎𝑎 𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘 � = 𝑘𝑘
(Theorem 4.1.12). Let �𝑎𝑎 𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘 � = 𝑡𝑡.
𝑘𝑘 𝑡𝑡
Consider �𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘 � = 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 = 𝑒𝑒, thus �𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘 � 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑘𝑘 i.e., 𝑡𝑡 | 𝑘𝑘. Now 𝑒𝑒 = �𝑎𝑎 𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘 � = 𝑎𝑎 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘 and
therefore by 𝑛𝑛 ≤ 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘. Now consider

𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛
𝑛𝑛 ≤ ≤ = 𝑛𝑛 [∵ 𝑡𝑡 ≤ 𝑘𝑘]
𝑘𝑘 𝑘𝑘
𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛
⇒ = ⇒ 𝑡𝑡 = 𝑘𝑘.
𝑘𝑘 𝑘𝑘

Thus �𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘 � = 𝑘𝑘 and hence order of 〈𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘 〉is 𝑘𝑘.

Now we shallprove that 〈𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘 〉 is the only subgroup of 𝐺𝐺 of order 𝑘𝑘. Let 𝐻𝐻 be any
subgroup of order 𝑘𝑘. Then by Theorem 4.2.1, 𝐻𝐻 is a cyclic subgroup of 𝐺𝐺 and 𝐻𝐻 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 〉
where 𝑚𝑚 is the smallest positive integer such that 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 ∈ 𝐻𝐻. By division algorithm ∃ 𝑞𝑞, 𝑟𝑟 ∈
ℤwith 0 ≤ 𝑟𝑟 < 𝑚𝑚such that 𝑛𝑛 = 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 𝑟𝑟. Now

𝑒𝑒 = 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 = 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 +𝑟𝑟 = 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟

⇒ 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = 𝑎𝑎−𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ∈ 𝐻𝐻 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 〉
⇒ 𝑟𝑟 = 0 [𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑚 is the smallest positive integer such that 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 ∈ 𝐻𝐻]
Therefore 𝑚𝑚 is a divisor of 𝑛𝑛, hence as proved earlier in the theorem |𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 | = 𝑛𝑛⁄𝑚𝑚 . Hence
𝑞𝑞 = 𝑛𝑛⁄𝑚𝑚 = |𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 | = |𝐻𝐻| = 𝑘𝑘.
Consequently 𝑚𝑚 = 𝑛𝑛⁄𝑘𝑘 and 𝐻𝐻 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎 𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘 〉. Thus 〈𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 ⁄𝑘𝑘 〉 is unique subgroup of order 𝑘𝑘. █

Given any positive integer 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℕ, let ℱ(𝑛𝑛) denote the set of all positive factors of 𝑛𝑛 i.e.,
ℱ(𝑛𝑛) = {𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℕ ∶ 𝑘𝑘 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑛𝑛}.
Also, let ℋ𝐺𝐺 denote the set of all subgroups of 𝐺𝐺 i.e.,
ℋ𝐺𝐺 = {𝐻𝐻 ∶ 𝐻𝐻 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝐺𝐺 𝑖𝑖. 𝑒𝑒. , 𝐻𝐻 ≤ 𝐺𝐺}.

Now putting Theorem 4.2.1 and Theorem 4.2.3 together we obtain a well known
theorem.
 CYCLIC GROUPS 14

Theorem 4.2.4(FUNDAMENTAL THEOREM OF CYCLIC GROUPS)

Let 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 be a cyclic group of order 𝑛𝑛. Then

𝓗𝓗𝑮𝑮 = �〈𝒂𝒂𝒌𝒌 〉 ∶ 𝒌𝒌 ∈ 𝓕𝓕(𝒏𝒏)�,

where for each 𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℱ(𝑛𝑛), order of subgroup 〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉 is 𝑛𝑛⁄𝑘𝑘 . In other words, if 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 is a
cyclic group of order 𝑛𝑛 and 𝑘𝑘 is a divisor of 𝑛𝑛, then 〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉 is unique subgroup of order 𝑛𝑛⁄𝑘𝑘 .

Proof: Consequence of Theorem 4.2.1 and Theorem 4.2.3. █

To illustrate what Theorem 4.2.4 means, consider a cyclic group 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑏𝑏〉 of order 30. Here
ℱ(30) = {1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 15, 30} is the set of all factors of 30. The set of all subgroups of 𝐺𝐺 is
given by
ℋ𝐺𝐺 = {〈𝑏𝑏 𝑘𝑘 〉 ∶ 𝑘𝑘 = 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 15, 30}
= {〈𝑏𝑏1 〉, 〈𝑏𝑏 2 〉, 〈𝑏𝑏 3 〉, 〈𝑏𝑏 5 〉, 〈𝑏𝑏 6 〉, 〈𝑏𝑏10 〉, 〈𝑏𝑏15 〉, 〈𝑏𝑏 30 〉}.
Further,
〈𝑏𝑏〉 = {𝑒𝑒, 𝑏𝑏, 𝑏𝑏 2 , … , 𝑏𝑏 29 } = 𝐺𝐺 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 30,
〈𝑏𝑏 2 〉 2 4
= {𝑒𝑒, 𝑏𝑏 , 𝑏𝑏 , … , 𝑏𝑏 28 }
𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 15,
〈𝑏𝑏 3 〉 = {𝑒𝑒, 𝑏𝑏 3 , 𝑏𝑏 6 , … , 𝑏𝑏 27 } 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 10,
〈𝑏𝑏 5 〉 5 10 15
= {𝑒𝑒, 𝑏𝑏 , 𝑏𝑏 , 𝑏𝑏 , 𝑏𝑏 , 𝑏𝑏 20 25 }
𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 6,
〈𝑏𝑏〉 = {𝑒𝑒, 𝑏𝑏 6 , 𝑏𝑏12 , 𝑏𝑏18 , 𝑏𝑏 24 } 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 5,
〈𝑏𝑏10 〉 = {𝑒𝑒, 𝑏𝑏10 , 𝑏𝑏 20 } 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 3,
〈𝑏𝑏15 〉 = {𝑒𝑒, 𝑏𝑏 15 }
𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 2,
〈𝑏𝑏30 〉 = 〈𝑒𝑒〉 = {𝑒𝑒} 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 1.
Thus we see that every subgroup of 𝐺𝐺 is cyclic and corresponding to each divisor 𝑘𝑘of 30,
there exists exactly one subgroup, namely, 〈𝑏𝑏 𝑘𝑘 〉 of 𝐺𝐺 of order 𝑛𝑛⁄𝑘𝑘 .

We have an obvious but important consequence of Theorem 4.2.4. We take the special
case when the given group is 𝑍𝑍𝑛𝑛 .

Corollary 4.2.5(Subgroups of 𝒁𝒁𝒏𝒏 )

For each factor𝑘𝑘of 𝑛𝑛, 〈𝑘𝑘〉 is the unique subgroup of 𝑍𝑍𝑛𝑛 of order 𝑛𝑛⁄𝑘𝑘 . Furthermore, these
are the only possible subgroups of 𝑍𝑍𝑛𝑛 i.e.,
𝓗𝓗𝒁𝒁𝒏𝒏 = {〈𝒌𝒌〉 ∶ 𝒌𝒌 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒏𝒏 𝒊𝒊. 𝒆𝒆. , 𝒌𝒌 ∈ 𝓕𝓕(𝒏𝒏)}.

Proof: Since 𝑍𝑍𝑛𝑛 is a cyclic group with 1 as one of its generator i.e., 𝑍𝑍𝑛𝑛 = 〈1〉. Therefore
taking 𝐺𝐺 = 𝑍𝑍𝑛𝑛 and 𝑎𝑎 = 1 in Theorem 4.2.4, we get the required result. █

List of all subgroups of 𝑍𝑍20 along with their generators:

< 1 > = {0,1, … ,19}
< 2 > = {0,2, … ,18}
 CYCLIC GROUPS 15

< 4 > = {0,4,8,12,16}

< 5 > = {0,5,10,15}
< 10 > = {0,10}
< 20 > = {0} = 〈0〉
Since 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20 are divisors of 20(= |𝑍𝑍20 |), therefore from Fundamental Theorem of
Cyclic Groups (Corollary4.2.5), we have
ℋ𝑍𝑍𝑛𝑛 = �〈𝑘𝑘〉 ∶ 𝑘𝑘 ∈ {1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20}�
= {〈1〉, 〈2〉, 〈4〉, 〈5〉, 〈10〉, 〈0〉}. █

After having seen the method of finding all possible subgroups of a cyclic group of finite
order. One might be tempted to think : "Does there exist a method for counting
elements of each order in a cyclic group of finite order?" To answer this question we
introduce an important function 𝜙𝜙: ℕ → ℕ, which is used frequently in number theoretic
problems, called the 𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬 𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷 𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭 and is defined as
1 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑛𝑛 = 1
𝜙𝜙(𝑛𝑛) = �
|𝑈𝑈(𝑛𝑛)| 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑛𝑛 > 1.

Given any 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℤ+ ,
𝒑𝒑𝟏𝟏 − 𝟏𝟏 𝒑𝒑𝟐𝟐 − 𝟏𝟏 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 − 𝟏𝟏
𝛟𝛟(𝒏𝒏) = 𝒏𝒏 . … . �𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄. 𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 [𝟑𝟑]�
𝒑𝒑𝟏𝟏 𝒑𝒑𝟐𝟐 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏
where
𝛼𝛼 𝛼𝛼 𝛼𝛼
𝑛𝑛 = 𝑝𝑝1 1 𝑝𝑝2 2 … 𝑝𝑝𝑛𝑛 𝑛𝑛 ( 𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑖′ 𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝)
is the prime factorization of 𝑛𝑛.

Theorem 4.2.6(Number of Elements of Each Order in a Finite Cyclic Group)

Let 𝐺𝐺 be a cyclic group of order 𝑛𝑛 and 𝑑𝑑 be a positive divisor of 𝑛𝑛. Then the number of
elements in 𝐺𝐺of order 𝑑𝑑is 𝜙𝜙(𝑑𝑑). In other words, if 𝑑𝑑 ∈ ℱ(𝑛𝑛), then there are 𝜙𝜙(𝑑𝑑) elements
of order 𝑑𝑑in a cyclic group of order 𝑛𝑛.
Proof: Let 𝐺𝐺 be any cyclic group of order 𝑛𝑛. Since 𝑑𝑑 is a positive divisor of 𝑛𝑛, therefore
by Fundamental Theorem of Cyclic Groups there exists only one subgroup (say) 𝐻𝐻 of
order 𝑑𝑑. Clearly, 𝐻𝐻 is cyclic, so let 𝐻𝐻 = 〈𝑏𝑏〉. Since every element of order 𝑑𝑑 generates a
subgroup of order 𝑑𝑑 and there is only one subgroup of order 𝑑𝑑, namely, 𝐻𝐻. Thus every
element of order 𝑑𝑑 must be a generator of subgroup 𝐻𝐻.

Now by Theorem 4.1.12, {𝑏𝑏 𝑘𝑘 ∶ 𝑘𝑘 ∈ 𝑈𝑈(𝑑𝑑)} is the set of all generators of 𝐻𝐻 = 〈𝑏𝑏〉 and hence
{𝑏𝑏 𝑘𝑘 ∶ 𝑘𝑘 ∈ 𝑈𝑈(𝑑𝑑)} is the set of all elements of order 𝑑𝑑. Since 𝜙𝜙(𝑑𝑑) = |𝑈𝑈(𝑑𝑑)| = |{𝑏𝑏 𝑘𝑘 ∶ 𝑘𝑘 ∈ 𝑈𝑈(𝑑𝑑)}|,
therefore there are 𝜙𝜙(𝑑𝑑) elements in 𝐺𝐺 of order 𝑑𝑑. █

A finite cyclic group of order 𝒏𝒏 has 𝝓𝝓(𝒅𝒅) number of elements of

order 𝒅𝒅, where 𝒅𝒅 is a positive divisor of 𝒏𝒏.
 CYCLIC GROUPS 16

SUBGROUP LATTICE OF A GROUP

Let 𝐺𝐺 be a group and ℋ𝐺𝐺 be the set of all subgroups of 𝐺𝐺. Consider the binary relation ≤
on ℋ𝐺𝐺 defined as : for 𝐴𝐴, 𝐵𝐵 ∈ ℋ𝐺𝐺

𝐴𝐴 ≤ 𝐵𝐵 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐴𝐴 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝐵𝐵.

Then it can be easily seen that (ℋ𝐺𝐺 , ≤) forms a lattice (𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣 𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦). The lattice (ℋ𝐺𝐺 , ≤)
is called a subgroup lattice of group 𝐺𝐺.

With the help of a subgroup lattice of a group one can easily depict the relationship
between various subgroups of that group. The diagram of a subgroup lattice of a group
includes all the subgroups and connects a subgroup 𝐴𝐴 to a subgroup 𝐵𝐵 which is at a level
higher by a line or sequence of lines if and only if 𝐴𝐴 is a proper subgroup of 𝐵𝐵.

Figure 4.2.1 Subgroup Lattice of a cyclic group 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 of order 30.

In Figure 4.2.1, we depict the lattice of a group of a cyclic group of order 30 and hence in
particular, of the group ℤ30 . Note here that we have the following chain of subgroups :

〈𝑒𝑒〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎6 〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎2 〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎〉, 〈𝑒𝑒〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎6 〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎3 〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎〉

〈𝑒𝑒〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎10 〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎5 〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎〉, 〈𝑒𝑒〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎10 〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎2 〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎〉
〈𝑒𝑒〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎15 〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎5 〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎〉, 〈𝑒𝑒〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎15 〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎3 〉 ≤ 〈𝑎𝑎〉.
It is worthwhile here to note that the diagram can be drawn in many ways, but the
connection between the two subgroups must be the same.

Theorem 4.2.7 If the number of subgroups of a group is finite, then the group must be
a finite group. In other words, a group of infinite order has infinite number of subgroups.
Proof:Suppose 𝐺𝐺 is an infinite group with finite number of subgroups. Let 𝑎𝑎(≠ 𝑒𝑒) ∈ 𝐺𝐺 be
an arbitrary element. Then for each 𝑖𝑖 ∈ ℕ, 〈𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 〉 is a subgroup of 𝐺𝐺. Since 𝐺𝐺 has finite
number of subgroups, therefore there exist 𝑘𝑘, 𝑙𝑙 (𝑘𝑘 ≠ 𝑙𝑙) ∈ ℕ such that 〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑙𝑙 〉 which
further implies that 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 = (𝑎𝑎𝑙𝑙 )𝑝𝑝 and 𝑎𝑎𝑙𝑙 = (𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 )𝑟𝑟 for some 𝑝𝑝, 𝑟𝑟 ∈ ℤ. Thus 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 −𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 = 𝑒𝑒 = 𝑎𝑎𝑙𝑙−𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 . Now if
order of 𝑎𝑎 is infinite then 𝑘𝑘 = 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑙𝑙 = 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 which is only possible in the case when
𝑘𝑘 = 𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑝𝑝 = 𝑟𝑟 = 1, a contradiction to the fact that 𝑘𝑘 ≠ 𝑙𝑙. Thus order of 𝑎𝑎 is finite. Since
𝑎𝑎 ≠ 𝑒𝑒 was an arbitrary element of 𝐺𝐺. Hence every element in 𝐺𝐺 has finite order. Thus we
 CYCLIC GROUPS 17

can partition the set 𝐺𝐺as 𝐺𝐺 =∪𝑎𝑎∈Δ 𝐻𝐻𝑎𝑎 , where 𝐻𝐻𝑎𝑎 = �𝑎𝑎, 𝑎𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑎|𝑎𝑎|−1 � and Δ is the maximal
subset of 𝐺𝐺 such that

𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝛥𝛥 ⇒ 𝑎𝑎 ≠ 𝑏𝑏 𝑛𝑛 ∀ 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℕ 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 ∀ 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝛥𝛥 − {𝑎𝑎}.

Since for each 𝑎𝑎 ∈ Δ, 𝐻𝐻𝑎𝑎 is a finite set and as 𝐺𝐺 is infinite, therefore the set Δ is infinite.
Now clearly, by the choice of Δ, for any 𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏 ∈ Δ(𝑎𝑎 ≠ 𝑏𝑏), the subgroups 〈𝑎𝑎〉 and 〈𝑏𝑏〉 are
unequal. Thus the set {〈𝑎𝑎〉 ∶ 𝑎𝑎 ∈ Δ} is an infinite set consisting of subgroups of 𝐺𝐺, a
contradiction to the fact that𝐺𝐺 has finite number of subgroups. █

Theorem 4.2.8Cyclic groups of prime orders and the group {𝑒𝑒} are the only groups
withno non-trivial proper subgroups.

Proof:Let 𝐺𝐺 be any group with no non-trivial proper subgroup. Then 𝐺𝐺 has finite
subgroups and hence is of finite order say 𝑝𝑝. If 𝐺𝐺 = {𝑒𝑒}, then we are through. Let 𝐺𝐺 ≠ {𝑒𝑒}
and 𝑎𝑎 (≠ 𝑒𝑒) in 𝐺𝐺 be any element. Then 〈𝑎𝑎〉 is a non-trivial subgroup of 𝐺𝐺, therefore we
must have𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉. Thus ℋ𝐺𝐺 = �{𝑒𝑒}, 𝐺𝐺�, the set of all subgroups of 𝐺𝐺. Therefore by
Fundamental Theorem of Cyclic Groups ℱ(𝑛𝑛) = {1, 𝑝𝑝}. This further implies that 𝑝𝑝 is
prime. Hence the proof follows. █

Theorem 4.2.9If 𝐺𝐺 is a group with exactly one non-trivial proper subgroup, then 𝐺𝐺 is
cyclic and |𝐺𝐺| = 𝑝𝑝2 for some prime𝑝𝑝.
Proof:Since 𝐺𝐺 has 3 subgroups, therefore order of 𝐺𝐺 is finite say 𝑛𝑛. Let 𝐻𝐻 be the non-
trivial proper subgroup of 𝐺𝐺 and let |𝐻𝐻| = 𝑝𝑝. Let 𝑎𝑎 (≠ 𝑒𝑒) ∈ 𝐺𝐺 − 𝐻𝐻. Clearly, 〈𝑎𝑎〉 is a non-trivial
subgroup of 𝐺𝐺. Since 𝐺𝐺 has exactly one non-trivial subgroup and 𝐻𝐻 ≠ 〈𝑎𝑎〉, therefore
𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉. Thus 𝐺𝐺 is cyclic group and every element of 𝐺𝐺 which is not in 𝐻𝐻 is a generator of
𝐺𝐺. Further, 𝐺𝐺 is cyclic implies that 𝐻𝐻 is cyclic.

Now since ℋ𝐻𝐻 = �{𝑒𝑒}, 𝐻𝐻�and ℋ𝐺𝐺 = �{𝑒𝑒}, 𝐻𝐻, 𝐺𝐺�, therefore by Fundamental Theorem of
Cyclic Groups ℱ(𝑝𝑝) = {1, 𝑝𝑝} and ℱ(𝑛𝑛) = {1, 𝑝𝑝 , 𝑛𝑛}. This further implies that 𝑝𝑝 is prime and
𝑛𝑛 = 𝑝𝑝2 . █

5. SOLVED PROBLEMS

Question 5.1. Show that the group ℚ+ under multiplication is not cyclic.

Solution:Let if possible, the group ℚ+ is cyclic i.e.,ℚ+ = 〈𝑝𝑝/𝑞𝑞〉for some 𝑝𝑝, 𝑞𝑞 ∈ ℤ+ such that
𝑝𝑝 and 𝑞𝑞 are relatively prime. Now since 1 ∈ ℚ+ , therefore for some integer 𝑛𝑛 we have

(𝑝𝑝/𝑞𝑞)𝑛𝑛 = 1 ⇒ 𝑝𝑝𝑛𝑛 = 𝑞𝑞 𝑛𝑛 ⇒ 𝑝𝑝 = 𝑞𝑞.

Thus ℚ+ = 〈1〉 = {1}, a contradiction. Hence our assumption is wrong and it follows that
group ℚ+ is not cyclic. █
 CYCLIC GROUPS 18

Question 5.2. Find generator for the subgroup〈𝑚𝑚〉 ∩ 〈𝑛𝑛〉 of the group ℤ.

Solution:We claim that 〈𝑚𝑚〉 ∩ 〈𝑛𝑛〉 = 〈𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚(𝑚𝑚, 𝑛𝑛)〉. Let 𝑘𝑘 = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚(𝑚𝑚, 𝑛𝑛). Since 𝑘𝑘 is a multiple
of both 𝑚𝑚and 𝑛𝑛, therefore 〈𝑘𝑘〉 ⊆ 〈𝑚𝑚〉 ∩ 〈𝑛𝑛〉. For the converse, let 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 〈𝑚𝑚〉 ∩ 〈𝑛𝑛〉. Then
𝑎𝑎 = 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 for some 𝑟𝑟, 𝑠𝑠 ∈ ℤ. But then it implies that 𝑎𝑎 is a multiple of both 𝑚𝑚and 𝑛𝑛, which
further implies that 𝑎𝑎 is a multiple of 𝑘𝑘. Therefore 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 〈𝑘𝑘〉. Thus 〈𝑚𝑚〉 ∩ 〈𝑛𝑛〉 ⊆ 〈𝑘𝑘〉. Hence we
have
〈𝑚𝑚〉 ∩ 〈𝑛𝑛〉 = 〈𝑘𝑘〉 = 〈𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚(𝑚𝑚, 𝑛𝑛)〉. █

Question 5.3.Let𝑎𝑎 and 𝑏𝑏be groupelements which commutes and are of order 𝑚𝑚and 𝑛𝑛,
respectively . If 〈𝑎𝑎 〉 ∩ 〈𝑏𝑏〉 = {𝑒𝑒}, prove that there exists an element whose order is
𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚(𝑚𝑚, 𝑛𝑛). Show that the result might fail to be true if 𝑎𝑎 and 𝑏𝑏 do not commute.

Solution:Let 𝑘𝑘 = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚(𝑚𝑚, 𝑛𝑛). We claim that |𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎| = 𝑘𝑘. Consider
(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) 𝑘𝑘 = 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 𝑏𝑏 𝑘𝑘 = 𝑒𝑒. 𝑒𝑒 = 𝑒𝑒 .
Therefore|𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎| 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑘𝑘. Now let 0 < 𝑟𝑟 ≤ 𝑘𝑘 be such that (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)𝑟𝑟 = 𝑒𝑒. Then

𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 𝑏𝑏 𝑟𝑟 = 𝑒𝑒 ⇒ 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = 𝑏𝑏 −𝑟𝑟 ∈ 〈𝑎𝑎 〉 ∩ 〈𝑏𝑏〉 = {𝑒𝑒}

⇒ 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = 𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏 𝑟𝑟 = 𝑒𝑒
⇒ 𝑚𝑚|𝑟𝑟 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑛𝑛|𝑟𝑟
⇒ 𝑘𝑘|𝑟𝑟.
Thus 𝑘𝑘 is the least positive integer such that (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)𝑘𝑘 = 𝑒𝑒. Hence |𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎| = 𝑘𝑘 = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚(𝑚𝑚, 𝑛𝑛).
Now to prove that the result may not hold if we drop the condition of commutativity,
consider the general linear group𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺(2, ℤ2 )of 2 × 2 matrices overℤ2 , where

𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏
𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺(2, ℤ2 ) = �� � ∶ 𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏, 𝑐𝑐, 𝑑𝑑 ∈ ℤ2 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 − 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐)𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑛𝑛 = 1 �
𝑐𝑐 𝑑𝑑

1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0
= �� �,� �,� �,� �,� �,� �� .
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1

0 1 1 1
Now consider the matrices 𝐴𝐴 = � �and 𝐵𝐵 = � �. Then
1 0 1 0

0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = � �� �=� �≠� �=� �� � = 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 .
1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0

Thus 𝐴𝐴 and 𝐵𝐵 does not commute. Now

0 12 1 0
𝐴𝐴2 = � � =� � ⇒ |𝐴𝐴| = 2 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
1 0 0 1

1 13 1 0
𝐵𝐵3 = � � =� � ⇒ |𝐵𝐵| = 3 .
1 0 0 1

Observe that 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚(|𝐴𝐴|, |𝐵𝐵|) = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚 (2,3) = 6 and 𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺(2, ℤ2 ) has no element of order 6. In fact

1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1
�� �� = 1, �� �� = �� �� = �� �� = 2 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 �� �� = �� �� = 3 . ■
0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1
 CYCLIC GROUPS 19

Question 5.4.Find the number of generators of𝑈𝑈(49)by using the fact that 𝑈𝑈(49) is a
cyclic group of order42.

Solution: From Theorem 4.1.8 (Generators of Cyclic groups), it is easy to see that
𝑈𝑈(49) has Φ(42) = 12 generators. █

Question 5.5. Let 𝑎𝑎 and 𝑏𝑏 be group elements such that |𝑎𝑎| = 10and |𝑏𝑏| = 21. Prove that

〈𝑎𝑎 〉 ∩ 〈𝑏𝑏〉 = {𝑒𝑒}.

Solution:Let 𝑥𝑥 ∈ 〈𝑎𝑎 〉 ∩ 〈𝑏𝑏〉. Then 𝑥𝑥 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑚𝑚 = 𝑏𝑏 𝑛𝑛 for some 𝑚𝑚, 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℤ. Now

𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 = 𝑏𝑏 𝑛𝑛
⇒ 𝑎𝑎10𝑚𝑚 = 𝑏𝑏10𝑛𝑛
⇒ 𝑏𝑏10𝑛𝑛 = 𝑒𝑒
⇒ 21 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 10𝑛𝑛
⇒ 21 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑛𝑛 [∵ 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(10,21) = 1]
⇒ 𝑥𝑥 = 𝑏𝑏 𝑛𝑛 = 𝑒𝑒.
Thus we have 〈𝑎𝑎 〉 ∩ 〈𝑏𝑏〉 = {𝑒𝑒}. █

Question 5.6.For 𝑛𝑛 > 2, show that there are even number of generators of ℤ𝑛𝑛 .

Solution:We know that if 𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℤ𝑛𝑛 is a generator of ℤ𝑛𝑛 , then 𝑘𝑘 −1 = 𝑛𝑛 − 𝑘𝑘 is also a generator

of ℤ𝑛𝑛 . Further, 𝑘𝑘 = 𝑛𝑛 − 𝑘𝑘 implies that = 2𝑘𝑘 . Since 𝑛𝑛 > 2, therefore
𝑛𝑛 = 2𝑘𝑘 ⇒ 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑 (𝑛𝑛, 𝑘𝑘) = 𝑘𝑘 > 1. [𝑨𝑨]
But from Corollary 4.1.9, since 𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℤ𝑛𝑛 is a generator of ℤ𝑛𝑛 therefore 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑 (𝑛𝑛, 𝑘𝑘) = 1, a
contradiction to [𝑨𝑨]. Clearly, the set
𝑛𝑛
𝐾𝐾 =∪𝑘𝑘∈Δ {𝑘𝑘, 𝑛𝑛 − 𝑘𝑘} 𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 Δ = �𝑘𝑘 ∶ 𝑘𝑘 ≤ � ��
2
is the set of all generators of ℤ𝑛𝑛 and consists of even number of elements. Hence ℤ𝑛𝑛 has
an even number of generators.

Alternate Proof

Since ℤ𝑛𝑛 = 〈1〉 is a cyclic group and order of ℤ𝑛𝑛 is 𝑛𝑛, therefore from Theorem 4.1.8
(Generators of Cyclic groups), ℤ𝑛𝑛 has |Φ(𝑛𝑛)| of generators. Now we need to show
that Φ(𝑛𝑛) is even whenever 𝑛𝑛 > 2. By Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic, we have
𝛼𝛼 𝛼𝛼 𝛼𝛼
𝑛𝑛 = 𝑝𝑝1 1 𝑝𝑝2 2 … 𝑝𝑝𝑛𝑛 𝑛𝑛 𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑖′ 𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 .
Then we have
𝑝𝑝1 − 1 𝑝𝑝2 − 1 𝑝𝑝𝑛𝑛 − 1
Φ(𝑛𝑛) = 𝑛𝑛 . … . �𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄. 𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 [𝟑𝟑]�
𝑝𝑝1 𝑝𝑝2 𝑝𝑝𝑛𝑛
Now since for each 𝑖𝑖, 𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑖 is odd and therefore 𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑖 − 1 is even. Thus Φ(𝑛𝑛) is even. █

Question 5.7.Let𝐺𝐺 be a finite group in whichorder of every non-identity element is

prime. If 𝑍𝑍(𝐺𝐺) is not trivial, show that order of every non-identity element is same.
 CYCLIC GROUPS 20

Solution:Let 𝑎𝑎(≠ 𝑒𝑒) ∈ 𝑍𝑍(𝐺𝐺). Then by the hypothesis, we have |𝑎𝑎| = 𝑝𝑝, for some prime 𝑝𝑝.
Now let 𝑏𝑏(≠ 𝑒𝑒) ∈ 𝐺𝐺 be any non-identity element of 𝐺𝐺 and let |𝑏𝑏| = 𝑞𝑞 for some prime 𝑞𝑞. We
claim that 𝑝𝑝 = 𝑞𝑞. On the contrary, suppose that 𝑝𝑝 ≠ 𝑞𝑞. Then 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 is not identity, for
otherwise if 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝑒𝑒 = 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏, then |𝑎𝑎| = |𝑏𝑏|, a contradiction to the assumption that𝑝𝑝 ≠ 𝑞𝑞. Also,
since 𝑝𝑝 ≠ 𝑞𝑞 and 𝑝𝑝 and 𝑞𝑞 are primes, therefore 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(𝑝𝑝, 𝑞𝑞) = 1. We will first show that
|𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎| = 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝. Consider
(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 = 𝑎𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑏𝑏 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 [𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝑍𝑍(𝐺𝐺), 𝑎𝑎 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ 𝑏𝑏 ]
= 𝑒𝑒. 𝑒𝑒 = 𝑒𝑒
therefore |𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎| 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝. Now let 𝑟𝑟 ≤ 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 be any positive integer such that (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)𝑟𝑟 = 𝑒𝑒. Then
we have
𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 𝑏𝑏 𝑟𝑟 = 𝑒𝑒
⇒ 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 = 𝑏𝑏 −𝑟𝑟
⇒ (𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 )𝑞𝑞 = (𝑏𝑏 −𝑟𝑟 )𝑞𝑞 = (𝑏𝑏 𝑞𝑞 )−𝑟𝑟 = 𝑒𝑒
⇒ 𝑝𝑝|𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟
⇒ 𝑝𝑝|𝑟𝑟 [𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(𝑝𝑝, 𝑞𝑞) = 1 ]
Similarly, we have 𝑞𝑞|𝑟𝑟. Since 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(𝑝𝑝, 𝑞𝑞) = 1, therefore it follows that 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝|𝑟𝑟 . Thus 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 is the
least positive integer such that (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 = 𝑒𝑒. Hence we have |𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎| = 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝. Since 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 is not
identity, by the hypothesis it follows that 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 is prime, contradiction. Thus our assumption
is wrong and hence 𝑝𝑝 = 𝑞𝑞. Since 𝑏𝑏 is an arbitrary non-identity element of G, it follows
that every non-identity element of 𝐺𝐺 has the same order. ∎

Question 5.8.Let𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉be a cyclic group of order 24. Find all generators of the subgroup
of order 8.
Solution: Since 𝐺𝐺 is a cyclic group, from Fundamental Theorem of Cyclic Groups
(Theorem 4.2.4), it follows that 𝐺𝐺 has exactly one cyclic subgroup of order 8, namely
〈𝑎𝑎3 〉 = {𝑎𝑎3 , 𝑎𝑎6 , 𝑎𝑎9 , 𝑎𝑎12 , 𝑎𝑎15 , 𝑎𝑎18 , 𝑎𝑎21 , 𝑎𝑎24 (= 1)}.
Now since |𝑎𝑎3 | = 8 and 1,3,5,7 are relatively prime to 8, so by Theorem 4.1.12
(Generators of finite Cyclic groups), the generators for the subgroup 〈𝑎𝑎3 〉 of order 8
are
𝑎𝑎3 , (𝑎𝑎3 )3 , (𝑎𝑎3 )5 , (𝑎𝑎3 )7
𝑖𝑖. 𝑒𝑒. , 𝑎𝑎3 , 𝑎𝑎9 , 𝑎𝑎15 , 𝑎𝑎21 ∎

Question 5.9.If |𝑎𝑎| = 𝑛𝑛, show that

〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎 𝑔𝑔.𝑐𝑐.𝑑𝑑(𝑛𝑛,𝑘𝑘) 〉
and that
𝑛𝑛
|𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 | = .
𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐(𝑛𝑛, 𝑘𝑘)

𝑛𝑛 𝑘𝑘
Solution: Let |𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 | = 𝑚𝑚 and 𝑑𝑑 = 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(𝑛𝑛, 𝑘𝑘) i.e., 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑 � , � = 1. We claim that that
𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑
 CYCLIC GROUPS 21

𝑛𝑛
𝑑𝑑 = .
𝑚𝑚
Now consider
𝑛𝑛 𝑘𝑘
(𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 )𝑑𝑑 = (𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 )𝑑𝑑 = 𝑒𝑒
𝑛𝑛
⇒ 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 .
𝑑𝑑
Again since (𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 )𝑚𝑚 = 𝑒𝑒, therefore
𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛
𝑛𝑛 𝑘𝑘
⇒ 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑚𝑚.
𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑
𝑛𝑛 𝑘𝑘
Since 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑 � , � = 1 it follows that
𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑
𝑛𝑛
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑.
𝑑𝑑
Hence we have
𝑛𝑛 𝑛𝑛
𝑚𝑚 = 𝑖𝑖. 𝑒𝑒. , 𝑑𝑑 = . − − − − − − − − − − − − − −(𝑨𝑨)
𝑑𝑑 𝑚𝑚
Now since |< 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 >| = 𝑚𝑚 and from Fundamental Theorem of Cyclic Groups (Theorem
4.2.4), there is exactly one subgroup of order 𝑚𝑚, namely < 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 /𝑚𝑚 > =< 𝑎𝑎𝑑𝑑 > =< 𝑎𝑎 𝑔𝑔.𝑐𝑐.𝑑𝑑(𝑛𝑛,𝑘𝑘) >.
Thus it follows that
〈𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎 𝑔𝑔.𝑐𝑐.𝑑𝑑(𝑛𝑛,𝑘𝑘) 〉.
Also, from (A) we have
𝑛𝑛
|𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 | = . ∎
𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐(𝑛𝑛, 𝑘𝑘)

Question 5.10.Let|𝑎𝑎| = 24. Find 𝑎𝑎 generator for the subgroup〈𝑎𝑎21 〉 ∩ 〈𝑎𝑎10 〉. In general,
find the generator for 〈𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 〉 ∩ 〈𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 〉?
Solution: Observe that
24 24
|〈𝑎𝑎21 〉| = |𝑎𝑎21 | = = = 8.
𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(21,24) 3
Now by Fundamental Theorem of Cyclic Groups (Theorem 4.2.4), there is exactly
one subgroup of order 8, namely < 𝑎𝑎24/8 > =< 𝑎𝑎3 >. It follows that < 𝑎𝑎21 > =< 𝑎𝑎3 >.
Similarly, since
24 24
|〈𝑎𝑎10 〉| = |𝑎𝑎10 | = = = 12,
𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(10,24) 2
therefore, 〈𝑎𝑎10 〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎2 〉.
Then
〈𝑎𝑎21 〉 ∩ 〈𝑎𝑎10 〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎3 〉 ∩ 〈𝑎𝑎2 〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎6 〉.
Let 𝑝𝑝 = 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(𝑚𝑚, 24)and 𝑞𝑞 = 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑(𝑛𝑛, 24). Then from Question 5.9, it follows that
〈𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑝𝑝 〉𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎〈𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞 〉.
We claim that
〈𝒂𝒂𝒎𝒎 〉 ∩ 〈𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒏 〉 = 〈𝒂𝒂𝒑𝒑 〉 ∩ 〈𝒂𝒂𝒒𝒒 〉 = 〈𝒂𝒂𝒕𝒕 〉
where𝑡𝑡 = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚(𝑝𝑝, 𝑞𝑞)
 CYCLIC GROUPS 22

Obviously, we have
〈𝑎𝑎𝑡𝑡 〉 ⊆ 〈𝑎𝑎𝑝𝑝 〉 ∩ 〈𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞 〉.
Now let 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 〈𝒂𝒂𝒑𝒑 〉 ∩ 〈𝒂𝒂𝒒𝒒 〉. Then 𝑏𝑏 = 𝑎𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 and 𝑏𝑏 = 𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 for some 𝑟𝑟, 𝑠𝑠(1 ≤ 𝑟𝑟, 𝑠𝑠 ≤ 24) such that 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 ≤
24and 𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 ≤ 24. But then it implies that 𝑎𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 = 𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 , which further implies that
𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 = 𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 [ 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠, 𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞 ≤ 24]
Therefore 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 is a multiple of both 𝑝𝑝 and𝑞𝑞 and hence 𝑡𝑡 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 i.e., 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 = 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡for some 𝑘𝑘 ∈
ℤ. Thus we have 𝑏𝑏 = 𝑎𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 = 𝑎𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 ∈ 〈𝑎𝑎𝑡𝑡 〉. Hence it follows that
〈𝒂𝒂𝒎𝒎 〉 ∩ 〈𝒂𝒂𝒎𝒎 〉 = 〈𝒂𝒂𝒕𝒕 〉. █

Question 5.11. Is every subgroup of the group of integersℤcyclic? Why? Discuss all the
subgroups ofℤ.

Solution: Since ℤ = 〈1〉 is a cyclic group and from Fundamental Theorem of Cyclic
Groups (Theorem 4.2.4), every subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic, therefore every
subgroup ofℤ cyclic. The set of all subgroups of ℤ is given by
�〈𝑛𝑛〉 ∶ 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℕ ∪ {0}�. █

Question 5.12.For distinct primes 𝑝𝑝and 𝑞𝑞, determine the subgroup lattice for ℤ𝑝𝑝 2 𝑞𝑞 .

Solution:Since order ofℤ𝑝𝑝 2 𝑞𝑞 is𝑝𝑝2 𝑞𝑞and ℱ(𝑝𝑝2 𝑞𝑞) = {1, 𝑝𝑝, 𝑝𝑝2 , 𝑞𝑞, 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝, 𝑝𝑝2 𝑞𝑞}. Therefore by

Fundamental Theorem of Cyclic Groups (Theorem 4.2.4),

ℋℤ = {〈1〉, 〈𝑝𝑝〉, 〈𝑝𝑝2 〉, 〈𝑞𝑞〉, 〈𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝〉, 〈𝑝𝑝2 𝑞𝑞〉}.
𝑝𝑝 2 𝑞𝑞

are the only subgroups of ℤ𝑝𝑝 2 𝑞𝑞 .

Observe that
〈𝑝𝑝2 𝑞𝑞〉 ⊆ 〈𝑝𝑝2 〉 ⊆ 〈𝑝𝑝〉 ⊆ 〈1〉
〈𝑝𝑝2 𝑞𝑞〉 ⊆ 〈𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝〉 ⊆ 〈𝑝𝑝〉 ⊆ 〈1〉
〈𝑝𝑝2 𝑞𝑞〉 ⊆ 〈𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝〉 ⊆ 〈𝑞𝑞〉 ⊆ 〈1〉.

Figure 5.1gives the required lattice.

Figure 5.1Subgroup lattice of ℤ𝑝𝑝 2 𝑞𝑞 .

 CYCLIC GROUPS 23

Question 5.13. Prove that

1 𝑛𝑛
𝐻𝐻 = �� � ∶ 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℕ� ⊆ 𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺(2, ℝ)
0 1
is a cyclic subgroup.

Solution: We claim that

1 1 𝑛𝑛 1 𝑛𝑛
� � =� � ∀ 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℕ
0 1 0 1

We will prove the claim by induction on 𝑛𝑛. If 𝑛𝑛 = 1, then it is trivially true. Suppose the
claim holds 𝑛𝑛 = 𝑘𝑘 i.e.,

1 1 𝑘𝑘 1 𝑘𝑘
� � =� �.
0 1 0 1

We will show that it is true for 𝑛𝑛 = 𝑘𝑘 + 1. Consider

1 1 𝑘𝑘+1 1 1 𝑘𝑘 1 1
� � =� � � �
0 1 0 1 0 1

1 𝑘𝑘 1 1
=� �� �
0 1 0 1

1 𝑘𝑘 + 1
=� �.
0 1

Thus results holds for 𝑛𝑛 = 𝑘𝑘 + 1, therefore by induction it follows that

1 1 𝑛𝑛 1 𝑛𝑛
� � =� � ∀ 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℕ.
0 1 0 1

Thus
1 𝑛𝑛 1 1
𝐻𝐻 = �� � ∶ 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℕ� = �� �� . ∎
0 1 0 1

Question 5.14. Let 𝐺𝐺 be an abelian group.Show that 𝐻𝐻 = {𝑔𝑔 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 ∶ |𝑔𝑔| 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 12} is a
subgroup of 𝐺𝐺. What is the importance of12 here? Will the proof be valid if we replace 12
by some other positive integer ? State the general result.

Solution: Since |𝑒𝑒| = 1 which divides 12, therefore 𝑒𝑒 ∈ 𝐻𝐻 and hence 𝐻𝐻 ≠ 𝜙𝜙. Let 𝑔𝑔, ℎ ∈ 𝐻𝐻 be
any two elements. Then 𝑔𝑔12 = 𝑒𝑒 = ℎ12 . Now consider

(𝑔𝑔ℎ−1 )12 = 𝑔𝑔12 (ℎ−1 )12 = 𝑒𝑒. [∵ |ℎ| = |ℎ−1 | ⇒ (ℎ−1 )12 = 𝑒𝑒]

Thus |𝑔𝑔ℎ−1 | divides 12 and hence 𝐻𝐻 is a subgroup of 𝐺𝐺. It is important to note that we
did not use anything special about 12 here and hence we can easily generalize the result
as follows : "If 𝐺𝐺 be an abelian group, then for each 𝑛𝑛 ∈ ℕ, 𝐻𝐻𝑛𝑛 = {𝑔𝑔 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 ∶ |𝑔𝑔| 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑛𝑛} is a
subgroup of 𝐺𝐺". █
 CYCLIC GROUPS 24

6. SUMMARY

In this chapter, we defined cyclic group and generator of a cyclic group. We also noted
that a generator of a cyclic groupneed not be unique. In fact we showed that if 𝑎𝑎 is a
generator of a cyclic group, then so would be 𝑎𝑎 −1 . Also, we showed that order of every
element of a finite cyclic group divides the order of that group. Further, we noticed that
a group of prime order is always cyclic and that every element except identity is a
generator of that group. If 𝐺𝐺 is a cyclic group with 𝑎𝑎 as one of its generator, then
{𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 ∶ 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑 (𝑘𝑘, |𝐺𝐺|) = 1} is the set of all generators of 𝐺𝐺 if 𝐺𝐺 is finite and {𝑎𝑎, 𝑎𝑎 −1 } is the set of
all generators if 𝐺𝐺 is infinite. In addition to these, we saw that every non-identity
element of an infinite cyclic group is of infinite order. In another section, we discussed
subgroups of a cyclic group, what they inherit being the subgroup of a cyclic group ?Is
subgroup of a cyclic group cyclic ? If yes, what about generators of a subgroup of a
cyclic group ?We saw that a subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic and order of a subgroup
is a divisor of the group. Further, in case of finite cyclic group we could describe all the
possible subgroups. In fact, we showed that if 𝐺𝐺 is a finite cyclic group of order 𝑛𝑛, then
the number of distinct subgroups of 𝐺𝐺 is the number distinct divisors of 𝑛𝑛 and there is at
most one subgroup of any given order. Also, we have seen that an infinite cyclic group
has infinite number of subgroups.

7. EXERCISES

Question 1.Show that a group of order 3 must be cyclic. (Direct Proof)

Question 2. Let 𝑝𝑝 be a prime. Show that a group with more than 𝑝𝑝 − 1 elements of order
𝑝𝑝is notcyclic ?

Question 3. List all the elements of order 10of ℤ40 .

Question 4.Let |𝑎𝑎| = 𝑛𝑛. Prove that 〈𝑎𝑎𝑝𝑝 〉 = 〈𝑎𝑎𝑞𝑞 〉 if and only if 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑 (𝑛𝑛, 𝑝𝑝) = 𝑔𝑔. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑑𝑑 (𝑛𝑛, 𝑞𝑞).

Question 5. Show that for any finite group 𝐺𝐺there exists a positive integer (fixed)𝑛𝑛 such
that 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 = 𝑒𝑒 for all 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐺𝐺.

Question 6. Find all the generators of ℤ.

Question 7.Let𝑎𝑎 and 𝑏𝑏be group elements such that order of𝑎𝑎 is odd and 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 −1 = 𝑏𝑏 −1 .
Provethat 𝑏𝑏 2 = 𝑒𝑒.

Question 8. Let 𝑎𝑎 be an element of a group and suppose that 𝑎𝑎 has infinite order. How
many generator does 〈𝑎𝑎〉have ?
 CYCLIC GROUPS 25

Question 9. Let 𝐺𝐺 cyclic group of order 𝑛𝑛 and let 𝑘𝑘 be any integer relatively prime to 𝑛𝑛.
Prove that the map Ψ ∶ 𝐺𝐺 → 𝐺𝐺 defined as Ψ(𝑥𝑥) = 𝑥𝑥 𝑘𝑘 .

Question 10. Let 𝐺𝐺 = 〈𝑎𝑎〉 be a cyclic group of infinite order. Then there exists a map
Φ ∶ ℤ → 𝐺𝐺 such that :
(a) Φis bijective.
(b)Φ(𝑚𝑚 + 𝑛𝑛) = Φ(𝑚𝑚)Φ(𝑛𝑛).

Question 11How many elements of finite order does a cyclic group of infinite order
have?

Question 12Let 𝑝𝑝 be a prime and let 𝑛𝑛 be a positive integer. Show that if 𝑥𝑥 is an

𝑛𝑛
element of the group 𝐺𝐺 such that 𝑥𝑥 𝑝𝑝 = 1then |𝑥𝑥| = 𝑝𝑝𝑚𝑚 for some 𝑚𝑚 ≤ 𝑛𝑛.

Question 13. Suppose that 𝑎𝑎 has infinite order. Find all generators of the subgroup 〈𝑎𝑎3 〉.

Question 14.Let 𝐺𝐺 be a cyclic group having exactly three subgroups: 𝐺𝐺, {𝑒𝑒}, and a
subgroup𝐻𝐻 of order 7. Find the order of 𝐺𝐺?

Question 15.Find the subgroup lattice for ℤ12 .

Question 16.For a given prime 𝑝𝑝 and a positive integer 𝑛𝑛, find the subgroup lattice for
ℤ𝑝𝑝 𝑛𝑛 .

Question 17. List the cyclic subgroups of 𝑈𝑈(30).

Question 18. Show that 𝑈𝑈(20) is not cyclic.

Question 19.Let𝐺𝐺 be a group with exactly two non-trivial proper subgroups. Show that
𝐺𝐺 is cyclic group. Also, prove that wither |𝐺𝐺| = 𝑝𝑝3 for some prime𝑝𝑝or|𝐺𝐺| = 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝for distinct
primes𝑝𝑝, 𝑞𝑞.

8. REFERENCES

[1] Joseph A. Gallian, Contemporary Abstract Algebra (Fourth Edition), Narosa

Publishing House, India 1999.
[2] TrygveNagell, Introduction to Number Theory, John Wiley & Sons, New York,
1951.
[3] Vijay K Khanna, Lattices and Bolean Algebras (Second Edition), 2004.
[4] I.N Herstein, Topics in Algebra (Second Edition), Wiley Eastern Limited.
[5] David S. Dummit and Richard M. Foote, Abstract Algebra, Third Edition, John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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