Name : Ma Hla Hla Tun

Roll No :

Title of Dissertation : Some Results on Finite Abelian Groups

Supervisor : Dr Aye Pyone,

Professor,

Department of Mathematics,

University of Mandalay

Co supervisor : Dr Ni Ni Lwin,

Lecture,

Department of Mathematics,

University of Mandalay

Academic Year : 2023-2024

Cyclic Groups

Abstract

It is shown that a set is generated by an element is a group, namely cyclic

group. It is also shown that the integers modulo n, is a cyclic group under addition

modulo n. Finally, it is shown that if the order of a cyclic group is n then the

order k of any subgroup of is a divisor of n, the group has exactly one

subgroup of order k and the number of elements of order of divisor k in is .

 2

1. Definitions and Examples

1.1 Definitions

Let A be a nonempty set. A binary relation on a set A is a subset R of

and we write if .
A relation is called an equivalence relation if the following three axioms

hold for all

(i) (reflexive),

(ii) if then (symmetric),

(iii) if and then (transitive).

If the relation defines an equivalence relation on A, then the equivalence

class of is defined to be . Elements of the equivalence class of

are said to be equivalent to

1.2 Definition

A partition of A is any collection of nonempty subsets of A (I

some indexing set) such that

(i) and

(ii) for all with .

That is, A is the disjoint union of the sets in the partition.

1.3 Definition

Let be the set of all integers. If with we say divides if

there is an element such that . In this case we write . If does not

divide we write

1.4 Proposition
 3

Let be a fixed positive integer. Define a relation on by if

Then the relation is an equivalence relation.

Proof:

Since Suppose Then Then there exists an

element such that So we rewrite so that . Suppose

and Then there are element and d in such that

Thus, so that Hence the relation is an

equivalence relation. 

We write is congruent if For any

we denote the equivalence class of by . That is,

This is called the congruence class or residue class of

There are precisely 2 distinct equivalence classes mod 2, namely

We then conclude that there are precisely n distinct equivalence classes mod n,

namely determined by the possible remainders after division by n and

these equivalence classes partition the integers . The set of equivalence classes
 4

under this equivalence relation will be denoted by and is called the integers
modulo n or the integers mod n.

1.5 Definitions

(i) A binary operation on a set is a function

(ii) A binary operation on a set is associative if for all we have

(iii) A binary operation on a set is commutative if for all we

have
1.6 Examples

(i) The usual addition, + is a commutative binary operation on since for any

(ii) The usual subtraction, is a binary operation but not commute since

1.7 Definition

A group is an ordered pair where is a set and is a binary operation

on satisfying the following axioms:

(i) for all (Associative).

(ii) There exists an element in , called an identity of , such that for

all we have

(iii) For each there is an element , called an inverse of ,

such that

The group is called abelian or commutative if for all .

We say that G is a group under if is a group. We write to simplify

1.8 Example
 5

is a group under the usual addition ,+. We have seen that the operation + is

commutative binary operation. Clearly + is associative. For any there is an

element zero, 0 in such that Thus 0 is an identity in . For any

there is an element such that Thus is the

inverse of in . is abelian under + because

1.9 Example

For a positive integer n, is an abelian group under the addition of

congruence class mod n, . That is,

all In fact,
for

Clearly, the operation satisfies associative and commutative laws. is an identity

and the inverse of in is

1.10 Definition

A group is finite if contains only finitely many elements. In this case, the

number of elements is called the order of denoted by

1.11 Example

is a finite abelian group with order n.

Now we recall some definitions and result concerning integers.
1.12 Theorem (Division algorithm)

Let and be integers with Then there exist unique integers q and r with

the property that where

1.13 Example
 6

For the division algorithm gives

the division algorithm gives

1.14 Definitions

The greatest common divisor of two nonzero integers and is the largest

of all divisors of and This integer is denoted by . When

we say and are relatively prime.

1.15 Theorem

For any nonzero integers and , there exist integers and such that

For example,
1.16 Definition

The least common multiple of two nonzero integers and is the smallest

positive integer that is a multiple of both and We write this integer by .

For example,
1.17 Theorem

Let be positive integers. Then If n divides k

and m divides k, then divides k.

1.18 Proposition
Let U(n) be the set of all positive integers less than
n and relatively prime to n. Then U(n) is a group under multiplication modulo

n, .
Proof:

Let . For any we have

Then there integers such that

by Theorem 1.15. So,

 7

So that For we have

is an identity in because for any

An integer has a multiplicative inverse mod if and only if and are

relatively prime. So, define for all the set to be the set of all positive

integers less than and relatively prime to n. Then, is a group. 

For example, we construct multiplicative table for and . We know

that and

Table 1. Multiplicative Tables for and

1.19 Definition

Let be a group and . The order of is the smallest positive integer

such that and is denoted by . If there is no positive integer such that

, then has infinite order.

In the case of an additive abelian group with + as the operation and 0 as the

identity, the order of is the smallest positive integer such that .

1.20 Example
 8

2. Subgroups
We have known that every set has subsets. Analogously, we see that every
group has a subset, namely, subgroups. In this section, we define a subgroup, collect
subgroup tests and give examples.

2.1 Definition

A subgroup H of a group G is a nonempty subset of G, which forms a group

under the operation of G, and we write

2.2 Example

are subgroups of but is not a subgroup of

2.3 Definition

(i) A subgroup H of a group G is called a proper of and is denoted by

(ii) A singleton set forms a subgroup of all groups and is called the trivial

subgroup. A subgroup that is not is called a nontrivial subgroup of G.

(iii) A subgroup H of a group G is called maximal in G if it is a proper

subgroup of G, whenever a subgroup M exists satisfying then either

or

2.4 Example

The set of all rational numbers, is a proper subgroup of a group of real

numbers under addition, +.

2.5 Theorem (One-step subgroup test)

Let G be a group and H a nonempty subset of G. If in H whenever and

are in H, then H is a subgroup of G. (In additive notation, if is in H whenever

and are in H, then H is a subgroup of G).

 9

Proof:

Since the operations on H and on G are same, this operation is associative. Next,

we show that e is in H. Since H is a nonempty, let Then let and in

the hypothesis. Then we have is in H. To verify that is in H

whenever x is in H we choose and . We have is in H. To

show H is closed let We have already shown that whenever y is H.

Let and We then have is in H. 

2.6 Theorem (Two-step subgroup test)

Let G be a group and let H be a nonempty subset of G. If is in H whenever

and are in H (H is closed under the operation), and is in H whenever is in H

(H is closed under taking inverses), then H is a subgroup of G.

Proof:

Since H is a nonempty subset of G, every element in H satisfied associative law

and closed property under the operation of G, and every element of H has an inverse

in H. To show e is H let Then and are in H. 

2.7 Theorem (Finite Subgroup test)

Let H be a nonempty finite subset of a group G. If H is closed under the

operation of G, then H is a subgroup of G.

Proof:

By Theorem 2.6, we need only prove that whenever . If ,

then and . If , we consider . By closure property, these

elements belong to H. Since H is finite, not all of these elements are distinct. Say

and Then and since Thus, and

therefore, But, 

2.8 Example
 10

We show that every subgroup of has the form for . That is,

. We can write so that For any ,

For any Thus is a subgroup of .

3. Cyclic Groups

Cyclic groups are groups in which every element is a power of some fixed
element. In this section, we discuss some results on cyclic groups, find the number
elements of a given order in cyclic groups and the number of subgroups in cyclic
groups.

3.1 Theorem

Let G be a group and let . Then is a subgroup of G and is

the smallest subgroup of G that contains , that is, every subgroup containing a
contains H.

Proof:

The identity is in H since For

Clearly, any subgroup K of G containing

must contain all the powers of by closure. Hence, H is a subset of K. Therefore, H is

a smallest subgroup of G containing

From this theorem we have the following definition.

3.2 Definition

A group G is called cyclic group if there is an element g in G such that

Element g is called a generator of G, and the cyclic group

generated by g by writing In additive abelian group,

3.3 Example
 11

The set of integers under the operation, + is cyclic. Both and are

generators because for any positive integer and for any

negative integer

3.4 Example

In are generators because

and

In are generators because

and

3.5 Example

The group is a cyclic group under the operation + of equivalence classes.

Both and are generators.

3.6 Proposition

Let be a finite cyclic group where has order . Then the powers

are distinct.

Proof:

Since has order , are all different from . Now we will show

that the powers are distinct. Suppose where . Then

 12

and , which contradicts to the observation. Therefore, the powers,

are distinct. 

3.7 Proposition

Let be infinite cyclic. If and are integers and then

Proof:

Suppose without loss of generality that . We want to show that

Suppose this is false, so . Then , so has finite order. This

contradicts the fact that a generator of an infinite cyclic group has infinite order.

Therefore, 

3.8 Proposition

Every cyclic group is abelian.

Proof:

Let be a cyclic group with generator . For any . Let and

where Then

so that is abelian. 

3.9 Theorem

Let be a group, and let . If has infinite order, then if and only

if . If has finite order , say, then if and only

if divides

Proof:

If has infinite order, there is no nonzero such that . Since

implies , we must have .

 13

Now assume that . We will prove that .

Clearly, .

Now, suppose that is an arbitrary member of . By the division

algorithm, there exist integers such that

Then

so that This proves that .

Next, we assume that and prove that divides We know that

implies . Again, by the division algorithm, there are integers

such that

Then . Since is the

least positive integer such that is the identity, we must have , so that

divides

Conversely, if then , so that . 

3.10 Corollary

If the cyclic subgroup of is finite, then

Proof:

By Theorem 3.9, the proof is complete. 

3.11 Corollary
 14

Let be a group and let be an element of order in . If , then

Proof:

Since by Theorem 3.19, 

3.12 Example

We consider the finite group with Then the

nontrivial subgroups of this group are and We observe that if

and only if divides 8.

3.13 Theorem

Let be an element of order in a group and let be a positive integer. Then

and

Proof:

Let and let . Since , we have by closure that

. Since , there are integers such that So,

This proves .

We prove the second part of the theorem by showing that so

that . On the other hand, if is a positive integer less than , then

by definition of . We now apply this fact with to obtain

3.14 Corollary
 15

In a finite cyclic group, the order of an element divides the order of the group.

Proof:

Let . Then let be a positive integer. We have

by Theorem 3.13. Thus divides . 

3.15 Corollary

Let . Then if and only if and if

and only if .

Proof:

Theorem 3.13 shows that and .

if and only if .

Certainly, implies that and so

. On the other hand, implies that and

. Then we have and therefore .

3.16 Corollary

Let . Then if and only if and if and only

if .

Proof:

By Corollary 3.15, if and only if . Thus,

if and only if . Again, if and only if . 

3.17 Corollary
 16

An equivalence class in is a generator of if and only if .

Proof:

We have known that in Then if and only if

by Corollary 3.16. Hence the proof is complete. 

3.19 Example

Let a be an element in a group such that Then by Theorem 3.13,

and

3.20 Example

We find all generators of The numbers 1,3,5,7,9,13,15,17,9 and 21 are

relatively prime to 22. Thus and are generators of

3.21 Theorem (Fundamental theorem of cyclic groups)

Every subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic. Moreover, if then the

order of any subgroup of is a divisor of and, for each positive divisor ,

the group has exactly one subgroup of order namely,

Proof:

Let and suppose that is a subgroup of . We must show that is

cyclic. If , then is cyclic. So we may assume that . We now claim

that contains an element of the form where is positive . Since , every

element of has the form and when belongs to with then belong

to also and is positive. Thus, our claim is verified. Now let be the least

positive integer such that By closure, . We next claim that

 17

. To prove this claim, we have for some . Now, by

division algorithm,

Then so that . Since is

in also, But the least positive integer such that and so

must be 0. Therefore, . This proves the assertion of the

theorem that every subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic.

To prove the second part of theorem, suppose that and is any

subgroup of . We have just shown that , where the least positive

integer such that . We have . By applying division algorithm to

and to obtain integers and such that Then

that . But the least positive integer such that

, and , so must be 0. Therefore, .

To prove the last part of Theorem, let be any positive divisor of . We will

show that is the one and only subgroup of of order . By Theorem 3.13,

we see that has order Now, let be any subgroup

of of order . We have already shown above that , where is a

divisor of . Then and . Thus,

and 

3.22 Example
 18

We find all subgroups of of order 30. The divisors of 30 are 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10,

15 and 30. Then the subgroups of are

.
That is,

order 30,

order 15,

order 10,

order 6,

order 5,

order 3,

order 2,

order 1.
3.23 Corollary

For each positive divisor , the set is the unique subgroup of of

order . Moreover, these are the only subgroups of .

Proof:

We have known that in Then the order of any subgroup of is a

divisor of by Theorem 3.21. Again, by Theorem 3.21, for each positive divisor

the group has exactly one subgroup of order . Since ,the proof
is complete. 

3.24 Example
 19

We find all subgroups of . The divisors of 30 are 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 15 and 30.

Then the subgroups of are .

That is,

order 30,

order 15,

order 10,

order 6,

order 5,

order 3,

order 2,

order 1.
By combining Theorem 3.13 and 3.21, we can easily count the number of
elements of each order in a finite cyclic group.

For convenience, we introduce an important number theoretic function.

3.25 Definition

Let be the set of all positive integers. The Euler -function is defined as

follows: for . Let be the number of positive integers with a

relatively prime to .

3.26 Example

3.27 Theorem

If is a positive divisor of , the number of elements of order in a cyclic

group of order is .
 20

Proof:

By Theorem 3.21, the group has exactly one subgroup of order , say . Then

every element of order also generates the subgroup . By Corollary 3.16 an

element generates if and only if . The number of such elements is

precisely . 

3.28 Example

We find the number of elements of order 8 in cyclic groups .

In the number of elements of order 8 in is .

In the number of elements of order 8 in is .

In the number of elements of order 8 in is .

Thus for a finite cyclic group of order , the number of elements of order for

any divisor of depends only on .

3.29 Corollary

In a finite group, the number of elements of order d is divisible by

Proof:

If a finite group has no elements of order d, it is true since divides 0. Now

suppose that and . By Theorem 3.28, has elements of order d. If

all elements of order d in G are in , we are done. So, suppose that there are an

element b in G of order d that is not in . Then, also has elements of order

d. This means that 2 elements of order d in G provided that and have no

elements of order d in common. If there is an element c of order d that belongs to both

and , then we have so that , which is a contradiction.

 21

Continuing in this way, we see that the number of elements of order d in a finite group

is a multiple of . 

3.30 Proposition

Let a be an element in a group, and let i, j be positive integers. Then

is a cyclic subgroup of and

Proof:

Since is a cyclic group and H is a subgroup of , H is by Theorem 3.21.

By Theorem 1.17, Since is an integer, we have

Thus, Also, since is an integer, we have

Thus, Thus, Now let Then

for some Thus i divides k and j divides k. Hence,

divides k by Theorem 1.17. Thus, where .

Thus, Hence 

3.31 Example

(i) Let a be an element in a group. Then the subgroup of is

by Proposition 3.30.

(ii) The subgroup of In fact, and .

 22

3.32 Proposition

Let G be a group and Then

Proof:

Since , Thus, Also,

and Hence so that

3.33 Proposition

Let a be an element in a group such that a has infinite order. Then the order of

is infinite for each

Proof:

Suppose for each Hence . Thus, n divides .

Hence the order of a is finite, a contradiction. Therefore, the order of is infinite. 

3.34 Proposition

Let and H be the smallest subgroup of G that contains and Then

H=

Proof:

Since G is cyclic, H is cyclic. Hence, for some positive integer k. Since

and are in H, k divides both n and m. Hence, k divides Thus,

Hence, Also, since divides both m and

n, and Hence, since H is the smallest subgroup of G

containing and Hence 

 23

3.35 Example

The smallest subgroup of G containing and is

3.36 Proposition

Let G be an infinite cyclic group. Then e is the only element in G of finite order.

Proof:

Since G is an infinite cyclic group, for some such that the order of

a is infinite. Now, assume that there is an element such that and

Since , for some Hence, Hence the order

of a divides km, a contradiction since the order of a is infinite. Hence, e is the only
element in G of finite order. 

3.37 Proposition

Let be a cyclic group. If G has a finite subgroup such that , then

G is a finite group.

Proof:

Clearly, H is cyclic. Hence, , for some positive integer. Since H is finite

and , is finite. Thus, Hence, order of a divides

Thus, is a finite group. 

3.38 Proposition

Let be a cyclic group. Then a and are the only generators of G.

Proof:

Suppose for some such that neither nor . Since

for some such that neither nor Thus,

 24

Hence for some Since a is of infinite

order and contradicts that neither nor . Thus, .

Now we show that Since , we need only to show that

Since 

3.39 Proposition

Let a be an element in a group G such that order of a is infinite. Then

are all distinct subgroups of G, and hence G has infinitely many

proper subgroups.

Proof:

Suppose for some positive integers i, k such that Thus,

for some Hence Thus, Since and

therefore, Thus order of a divides Hence order of a is finite, a

contradiction. 

3.40 Proposition

Let G be an infinite group. Then G has infinitely many proper subgroups.

Proof:

Suppose G has finitely many proper subgroups. By Proposition 3.39, each

element of G is of finite order. Let be all proper subgroups of finite

order of G, and let Since G is infinite, there is an element

Since order of b is finite and is a proper subgroup of finite order of G

and for each a contradiction. 

3.40 Theorem
 25

A group with no nontrivial subgroup is a finite cyclic group of prime

order.

Proof:

Let which does not contain any nontrivial subgroup. If , then

is a subgroup of with . by assumption. If is infinite then

is a proper subgroup of (because does not contain for any odd

integer ), and this contradicts the assumption that has no nontrivial subgroups.

Hence, is infinite. Let . Suppose that is not prime, and let

. Then, for , we have and

. Thus, has order . This implies that which

contrary to the assumption. Hence, is prime. 

The converse of this theorem will see in Corollary 4.9. To see this we need
some definitions and theorems.

4. Cosets and Lagrange's Theorem

In this section the connection between order of a subgroup of a given finite

group and order of a given group, namely Lagrange's theorem. Also its consequences
are discussed.

4.1 Definitions

Let G a group and let H be a subset of G. For any a is in G, define

Analogously, and When H is a subgroup of

G, the set aH is called the left coset of H in G containing a, whereas Ha is called the
right coset of H in G containing a. In this case, the element a is called the coset
representative of aH or Ha.

4.2 Example
 26

Let is a subgroup of We find all left cosets of H in G. Since

and

all distinct left coset of H in are and

4.2 Lemma

Let H be a subgroup of G, and let a and b belong to G. Then

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

Proof:

(i)

(ii) Suppose Conversely, suppose that

Then where and therefore

(iii)If then and . By (ii), and . Thus,

. 

4.3 Theorem (Lagrange’s Theorem)

If G is a finite group and H is a subgroup of G then divides . Moreover,

the number of distinct left (right) cosets of H in G is

Proof:
 27

Let denote the distinct left cosets of H in G. Then, for each

we have . Also, by Lemma 4.2(i), . Thus each

member of G belongs to one of the cosets . In symbols, .

By Lemma 4.2(iii), this union is disjoint, so that .

Finally, since for each i, we have . 

4.4 Example

Let be a subgroup of We find all left cosets of H in G.

Since and the number of left cosets of H in G is 4 by Theorem

4.3. Hence, left cosets of H in G are: H, and

4.5 Definition

The index of a subgroup H in G is the number of distinct left cosets of H in G

and is denoted by .

4.6 Corollary

If G is a finite group and H is a subgroup of G, then

Proof:

By Theorem 4.3 and Definition 4.5, the proof is complete. 

4.7 Corollary

In a finite group, the order of each element of the group divides the order of
the group.

Proof:

Let G is a finite group with order n. Let . Then by Corollary

3.10. By Theorem 4.3, divides . Hence the proof is complete. 

 28

4.8 Corollary

A group of prime order is cyclic.

Proof:

Suppose that G has prime order. Let and . Then divides and

Thus The proof is complete. 

4.9 Corollary

A cyclic group of prime order contains no nontrivial subgroups.

Proof:

Since the divisors of a cyclic group of prime order are 1 and its order, its

subgroups are and itself by Theorem 4.3. Thus the proof is complete. 

Note that this is the converse of Theorem 3.40.

4.10 Corollary

Let G be a group such that where p and q are prime. Then every proper
subgroup of G is cyclic.

Proof:

Let H be a proper subgroup of G. Then, by Theorem 4.3 divides Since

H is proper, the possible orders for H are 1, p and q. Suppose then is

cyclic. Suppose Let such that Then, by Corollary 3.14, divides

Since and divides p, By Corollary 4.8, H is cyclic. Similarly, we

show that H is cyclic when 

4.11 Example

Let G be a group such that Then every proper subgroup of G is cyclic

since is a product of two primes.

 29

5. Subgroup lattice

In this section, we introduce the basic concepts of lattice theory and develop
the elementary properties of subgroup lattices.

5.1 Definition

A partially ordered set or poset is a set P together with a binary relation

such that the following conditions are satisfied for all :

(i) (reflexivity).

(ii) If (antisymmetry).

(iii) If (transitivity).

5.2 Definitions

Let H be a subset of P and . The element x is an upper bound of H if

for all . An upper bound x of H is the least upper bound (supremum) of

H if, for any upper bound y of H, we have . This is denoted by

The element x is an lower bound of H if for all . A lower bound x

of H is the greatest lower bound (infimum) of H if, for any upper bound y of H, we

have . This is denoted by .

In the following context, the notation and

will be adapted and will be referred to as the meet and as the join.

5.3 Definitions

Let P be a poset. In this case, two elements are comparable if or

. A subset H of P is a chain if any two elements in H are comparable H is an

antichain if no two different elements of H are comparable.

5.4 Definitions
 30

Let P be a poset. Then y covers if and no element in P lies strictly

between x and y, that is .

Small finite posets are after described with a diagram called a Hasse diagram,
which is a graph whose nodes are labeled with the elements of the poset and whose
edges indicate the covering relation.

5.5 Example

Let be a relation defined on the set where

for all

(i) Then is a partial ordering relation on A . Since for every , we have

so that . Suppose . Then and . Thus .

Suppose . Then and so and where

Then so that . Hence

(ii) We draw Hasse diagram for A.

Figure 1. Hassae diagram for A

5.6 Definitions

Let L be a partially ordered set.

(i) If and exist for all , then L is called a lattice.

 31

(ii) If exist for all , then Lis called a complete lattice.

5.7 Example

If is any group, the set of all subgroups of G is partially ordered with

respect to set inclusion. Moreover, any subset of has a greatest lower bound in

the intersection of all its elements, and a least upper bound in the union

of all its elements. Thus is a complete lattice, and is called the subgroup lattice
of G.

5.8 Examples

We now draw subgroup lattices diagram of where

n  2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8,12
 32

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 33

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