Assignment on Group Theory: Part I

Dr Avishek Adhikari
Professor, Department of Mathematics,
Presidency University, Kolkata

Prerequisite Problems for Group Theory

1. Let A and B be two nonempty sets with n and m elements respectively. Then find the
number of

(a) all functions from the set A to B.

(b) all injective functions from the set A to B (impose conditions on n and m such that
n < m or m < n).
(c) all surjective functions from the set A onto B. [It is a hard problem. You may take
help of internet.]
(d) all binary operations on A.
(e) all reflexive relations on A.
(f) all symmetric relations on A.

2. State with proper justification whether the following ststement is true or false:

(a) Let us define a rule f : Q → Z by f ( ab ) = a + b, where a and b are integers, b ̸= 0 and

Q stands for the set of all rational numbers and Z stands for the set of all integers.
The the rule is a function.
(b) Let A = {1, 2, 3}. then there exists a relation ρ on A such that ρ is both symmetric
and antisymmetric.

3. Find all subgroups of the group (Z, +).

4. Let G be a group and H be a finite nonempty subset of G. Then prove that H is a

subgroup of G iff ∀a, b ∈ H, ab ∈ H.

5. Let G be a group and S be a non-empty subset of G. Let S = {H : H is a subgroup of G

containing S}. Define < S >= ∩H∈S H. Then < S > is called the subgroup generated
by S. Prove that

< S >= {se11 se22 · · · senn : si ∈ S, ei = ±1, i = 1, 2, . . . , n, n ∈ N}.

Further prove that < a >= {an : n ∈ Z}.

1
 6. Let H and K be two subgroups of G. Then prove that

(a) HK is a subgroup of G iff HK = KH.

(b) HK is a subgroup of G iff HK =< H ∪ K >.

7. Let H ≤ G and a ∈ G. Show that aHa−1 is a subgroup of G. Suppose, moreover that H

is finite, then what is o(aHa−1 ).

8. Let G be a commutative group. Show that the set H of all elements of finite order is a
subgroup of G.

9. Let G be a group and a ∈ G. If a is the only element of order n, prove that a ∈ Z(G),
where Z(G) is the center of the group.

10. Show that (Q, +) has no proper subgroup of finite index.

11. Show that the group of non-zero complex numbers (C∗ , ·) has no proper subgroup of finite
index.

12. Prove that every subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic.

|H||K|
13. Let H and K be two subgroups of a group G. Then prove that |HK| = |H∩K|
.

14. Let G be a cyclic group of order n. Then prove that for every positive divisor m of n,
there exists a unique subgroup of G of order m.

15. Let H be a subgroup of a group G. The prove the following:

(a) If x2 ∈ H for all x ∈ G, prove that H is a normal subgroup of G and G/H is

commutative.
(b) If [G : H] = 2, prove that H is a normal subgroup of G.

16. Let G =< a > be a finite cyclic group of order n. Show that ak is a generator of G iff
gcd(k, n) = 1, where k is a positive integer.

17. Show that the group (Q, +) is not finitely generated.

18. Let G = Q8 be the quaternion group of order 8.

(a) Construct the Cayley table for G.

(b) Show that H ={1, −1} is a normal subgroup ofG.
(c) Construct the Cayley table for G/H.

19. Give two examples of groups with infinite orders such that every element in these groups
have finite order.

20. Give two examples of non-commutative groups with infinite orders such that every element
in these groups have finite order.

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21. Show that if a subgroup H of a group G has just one left coset different from itself, then
it is a normal subgroup of G. Also prove that G/H is commutative.

22. An element is called a square if it can be expressed in the form b2 for some b. Suppose
G is an abelian group and H is a subgroup of G. If every element of H is a square and
every element of G/H is a square, prove that every element of G is a square.

23. If M and N are normal subgroups of G such that M ∩ N = {e}, show that mn=nm
∀ m ∈ M, ∀ n ∈ N.

24. Find the number of elements of order two in the group S4 .

25. Suppose that G is a group of order 57 which is not cyclic. If G contains a unique subgroup
H of order 19, then for any g not belongs to H, find the order of the element g.

26. Let G = {n ∈ N : n ≤ 55, gcd(n, 55) = 1} be the group under multiplication modulo 55.
Let x ∈ G be such that x2 =26 and x > 30. Then find x.

27. Find the number of elements in the set {x ∈ S3 : x4 = e}, where e is the identity element
of the permutation group S3 .

28. Find the maximum order of a permutation σ in the symmetric group S10 .

29. Let H denote the group of all 2 × 2 invertible matrioces over Z5 under usal matrix
multiplication. Find the order of the matrix
 
2 3
A=
1 2

in H.

30. Suppose G is a cyclic group and σ, τ ∈ G are such that order(σ) =12 and order(τ ) =21.
Find the order of the smallest group containing σ and τ .

31. Let G be a group and Z(G) be its center. Prove that G/Z(G) is cyclic ⇒ G is Abelian.

32. Let G be a group and Z(G) be its center. Let H ≤ G such that H be a subgroup of
Z(G). Prove that G/H is cyclic ⇒ G = Z(G).

33. Let H be a nonempty subset of a group G. The set N (H) = {a ∈ G : aHa−1 = H} is

called the normalizer of H in G.

(a) Prove that N (H) is a subgroup of G.

Suppose H is a subgroup of G.
(b) Prove that H is normal in G iff N (H) = G.
(c) Prove that H is normal in N (H).
(d) Prove that N (H) is the largest subgroup of G in which H is normal.

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34. For each of the following either give with proper justification an example or else prove
that no such example is possible

(i) A non-abelian group.

(ii) A finite abelian group that is not cyclic
(iii) An infinite group with a subgroup of index 5.
(iv) Two finite groups that have same order but are not isomorphic.
(v) A group G with a subgroup H that is not normal.
(vi) Every subgroup of order 74 in a group of order 148 is normal.
(vii) A non-abelian group with no proper nontrivial normal subgroups.
(viii) A non abelian group such that every proper subgroup is cyclic.
(ix) A non-cyclic finite group such that every proper subgroups are cyclic.
(x) An infinite group that contains a finite non-trivial cyclic group.
(xi) Give an example of a non-commutative group G such that every subgroup of G is a
normal subgroup.
(xii) There exists a finite group G which can be expressed as an union of three distinct
proper subgroups of G.
(xiii) There exits a countable group having uncountably many subgroups.
(xiv) There exists an integer n > 3 such that the group of units of the ring Z/2n Z is
cyclic.
(xv) Let G be an abelian group, with identity element e. If {g ∈ G|g = e or g has infinite
order} is a subgroup of G, then either all elements of G − {e} have infinite order,
or all elements of G have finite order.
(xvi) There exists a natural number n, with 1 < n ≤ 10, such that xn and x are conjugate
for every element x of S7 , the group of permutations of {1, . . . , 7}.
(xvii) If every proper subgroup of an infinite group G is cyclic, then G is cyclic.
(xviii) Given any group G of order 12, and any n that divides 12, there exists a subgroup
H of G of order n.
(xix) Let H, N be subgroups of a finite group G, with N a normal subgroup of G. If the
orders of G/N and H are relatively prime, then H is necessarily contained in N .
(xx) A countable group can have only countably many distinct subgroups.
(xxi) Let G and H be finite groups. Then any subgroup of G × H is equal to A × B for
some subgroups A of G and B of H.
(xxii) The permutation group S10 has an element of order 30.
(xxiii) Let G be a finite group with a normal subgroup H such that G/H has order 7.
Then G ∼
= H × G/H.

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 (xxiv) The multiplicative group F7× is isomorphic to a subgroup of the multi-plicative group
×
F31 .
(xxv) Let G be a finite group and g ∈ G an element of even order. Then we can colour the
elements of G with two colours in such a way that x and gx have different colours
for each x ∈ G.
(xxvi) There exists a finite abelian group G containing exactly 60 elements of order 2.
(xxvii) In the symmetric group Sn any two elements of the same order are conjugate.
(xxviii) All non-trivial proper subgroups of (R, +) are cyclic.
(xxix) Every infinite abelian group has at least one element of infinite order.
(xxx) Any automorphism of the group Q under addition is of the form x → qx for some
q ∈ Q.
(xxxi) Any normal subgroup of order 2 is contained in the center of the group.
(xxxii) There is an element of order 51 in the multiplicative group Z∗103 .
(xxxiii) There is a non trivial group homomorphism from C to R.
(xxxiv) The automorphism group Aut(Z2 × Z2 ) is abelian.
(xxxv) If G is a finite group such that the group Aut(G) of automorphism of G is cyclic,
then G is abelian.
(xxxvi) There exists a group with a proper subgroup isomorphic to itself.

35. (a) Let σ be the m-cycle (a1 a2 · · · am ) in Sn , where n ≥ m. Show that |σ| = m.
(b) Show that the order of an element in Sn is the l.c.m. of the lenghts of the cycles in
its cycle decomposition.

36. Prove that every element of An , n ≥ 3, is a product of 3 cycles.

37. Let π = (i1 i2 · · · il ) ∈ Sn be a l cycle. Then for α ∈ Sn , prove that α ◦ π ◦ α−1 =

(α(i1 ) α(i2 ) · · · α(il )).
n!
38. Show that in Sn , the number of distinct r cycles is r(n−r)!
.

39. Does there exist an element of order 21 in the group S21 ?

40. Prove that for any finite group G, there exists a positive integer n such that G is isomor-
phic to a subgroup of An , where An is the alternating group.
     
a b 1 b
41. Let G = : a, b ∈ R, a > 0 and N = : b ∈ R . Then prove the
0 a−1 0 1
following.

(a) G/H is isomorphic to the group of positive real numbers with respect to usual
multiplication of real numbers.
(b) There is a proper normal subgroup N ′ of G which properly contains N .

42. Find the number of subgroups of order 2 in S4 .

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43. Find the number of subgroups of order 17 in S17 .

44. Show that if n ≥ 4, the number of permutations in Sn which are product of two disjoint
2-cycles is n(n − 1)(n − 2)(n − 3)/8.

45. Let ϕ : G → H be a group homomorphism, A be a subgroup of G and B be a subgroup

of H. Show that

(a) kerϕ and ϕ−1 (B) = {a ∈ G : ϕ(a) ∈ B} are subgroups of G.

(b) ϕ(A) is a subgroup of H.

46. How many homomorphisms are there from Z20 onto Z8 ? How many are there to Z8 ?

47. Suppose that there is a homomorphism ϕ from Z17 to some group G, and that ϕ is not
one-one. Determine ϕ.

48. Prove that

√ the mapping x 7→ x6 is a homomorphism from C∗ to C∗ . Show that kernel =
< 12 + 23 i >

49. If ϕ is a homomorphism from Z30 onto a group of order 5, determine the kernel of ϕ.

50. Find a homomorphism ϕ from U (30) to U (30) with the kernel {1, 11} and ϕ(7) = 7
′
51. Let ϕ : G → G be an ONTO group homomorphism. If N is a normal subgroup of G
then show that ϕ(N ) is normal subgroup of G.

52. For any two positive integers m and n such that gcd(m, n) = 1, prove that mZ/mnZ ≃ Zn .

53. Let G be a group and A and B be two normal subgroups of G such that A ≃ B. Show
by an example that G/A ̸≃ G/B.

54. Find two groups A and B such that A ̸≃ B but Aut(A) ≃ Aut(B).

55. Prove that GL(2, R)/SL(2, R) ≃ R∗ .

56. Prove that (R, +) ≃ (R+ , ·) but (Q, +) ̸≃ (Q+ , ·).

57. Prove that R/Z ≃ S 1 , where S 1 is the subgroup of C∗ with unit modulus.

58. Prove that R/Z ≃ R/2πZ.

59. Let G be a finite group and H be a proper subgroup of G such that for x, y ∈ G − H, xy ∈
H. Prove that H is a normal subgroup of G such that |G| is an even integer.

60. Prove that a finitely generated group cannot be expressed as the union of an ascending
sequence of its proper subgroups.

61. Prove that every finite subgroup of (C∗ , ·) is cyclic.

62. If a is the only element of order 2 in a group, prove that a ∈ Z(G).

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63. Find the center of the dihedral group Dn , n ≥ 1.

64. Find the center of the symmetric group Sn , n ≥ 1.

65. Find the center of the alternating group An , n ≥ 1.

X
66. Prove that for any positive integer n, n = ϕ(d). Use it to prove that the number of
d|n
homomorphisms from Zn to Zm is gcd(m, n).

67. If A is isomorphic to a group B, then prove that Aut(A) is also isomorphic to the group
Aut(B).

68. Find Aut((Z,+)), Aut((Q,+)), Aut*((R,+)), where Aut*((R,+)) is the group of all con-
tinuous automorphisms/ order preserving automorphisms on R. Will the Automorphim
group be same, if we consider rings instead of group.

69. Let G be the additive group of real numbers, let H be the multiplicative group of complex
numbers of absolute value 1 (the unit circle S 1 in the complex plane) and let ϕ : G → H
be the homomorphism ϕ : r → e2πir .

a Draw the points on a real line which lie in the kernel of ϕ.

b Describe similarly the elements in the fibers of ϕ above the points −1, i, e4πi/3 of H.

70. Repeat the preceding exercise with the map ϕ replaced by the map ϕ : r → e4πir .

71. Prove that Q/Z is isomorphic to the multiplicative group of roots of unity in C∗ .

72. Let G be a group and let T = G × G

(a) Show that D = {(g, g) ∈ G × G : g ∈ G} is a group

(b) Show that D ∼
=G
(c) Show that D∆T ⇔ G is abelian.

73. Cauchy’s theorem on finite groups states that - “If G is a finite group such that p | o(G)
where p is a prime, then G has an element of order p”. Use this to show that any abelian
group of order 77 is cyclic. More generally, show that any group of order 77 is cyclic.

74. Let G be a finite group with more than one element. Show that G has an element of
prime order.

75. Suppose that G is a NON-ABELIAN group of odd order p3 (where p is a prime) and
Z(G) ̸= {e}. Prove that |Z(G)| = p.

76. Suppose G is a group of order 2p, where p is an odd prime. Assume that G has a normal
subgroup of order 2. Prove that G is cyclic.

77. Suppose that G is a group that has exactly one non-trivial proper subgroup. Prove that
G is cyclic and |G| = p2 where p is prime.

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78. If |G| = pq, prove that |Z(G)| = 1 or pq, where p and q are primes.

79. Let G = GL2 (R) with matrix multiplication as binary operation on it.
(i) Show that G is a group
(ii) Find Z(G)
(iii) Find a non-trivial homomorphism from G onto an abelian group.

80. Let G be a group, |G| < ∞.

A conjugate class is a set of the form
Cl (a) = {bab−1 : b ∈ G} for some a ∈ G.
(i) Prove that the number of elements in a conjugacy class divides the order of G.
(ii) Do all conjugacy classes have the same number of elements?
(iii) If G has only two conjugacy classes, prove that |G| = 2.

81. Suppose Φ ̸= A ⊂ G.
Define, CG (A) = {g ∈ G : gag −1 = a ∀a ∈ A}. This subset of G is called the centralizer
of A in G. Prove that CG (A) ⊆ G. In the special case when A = {a} we write simply
CG (a).

(a) Prove that an ∈ CG (a) ∀n ∈ Z

(b) If G is abelian then CG (A) = G ∀A ⊆ G
(c) CQ8 (i) = {1, −1, i, −i}.
(d) Prove that CG (Z(G)) = G
(e) If Φ ̸= A ⊆ B ⊂ G then show that CG (B) is a subgroup of CG (A)
(f) If H ⊆ G, show that H ⊆ CG (H) ⇔ H is abelian.

82. For Φ ̸= A ⊂ G, define gAg −1 = {gag −1 : a ∈ A} and now define,

NG (A) = {g ∈ G : gAg −1 = A} → called Normalizer of A in G.

(a) Prove that CG (A) is a subgroup of NG (A)

(b) If G is abelian then NG (A) = G ∀A ⊆ G
(c) NG (Z(G)) = G
(d) If H is a subgroup of G then show that H is a subgroup of NG (H)
(e) Prove that Z(G) is a subgroup of NG (A) for any subgroup A of G.

83. Write down the class equations for S3 , D4 , D8 , Q8 , S4 .

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 Problem Set: Introductory No. Theory
***************************
n
1. Show that the last digit in the decimal expression of Fn = 22 + 1 is 7 if n ≥ 2.

2. Show that if a and n are positive integers with gcd(a, n) = gcd(a − 1, n) = 1, then
1 + a + a2 + · · · + aϕ(n)−1 ≡ 0 (mod n).

3. Show that aϕ(b) + bϕ(a) ≡ 1 (mod ab), if a and b are relatively prime positive integers.

4. Use Euler’s theorem, find the last digit in the decimal representation of 71000 .
17 19
5. Find the last digit in the decimal representation of 1717 and 1919 .

6. Prove the following:

(a) If n is an integer greater than 2 then ϕ(n) is even.

(b) ϕ(3n) = 3ϕ(n) if and only if 3 divides n.
(c) ϕ(3n) = 2ϕ(n) if and only if 3 does not divide n.
(d) If n is odd then ϕ(2n) = ϕ(n).
(e) If n is even then ϕ(2n) = 2ϕ(n).
(f) If m divides n then ϕ(m) divides ϕ(n).
(g) If n is a composite positive integer and ϕ(n) divides n − 1, then n is a square free
integer and is the product of at least three distinct primes.
X
(h) ϕ(d) = n.
d|n

7. Let n be a positive integer. Prove that the sum of all positive integers satisfying 1 ≤ a ≤ n
and gcd(a, n)=1 is nϕ(n)
2
.

8. For all positive integer n and for all positive integer a ≥ 2, prove that n divides ϕ(an − 1).

9. Prove that σ(n) is an odd integer if and only if n is a perfect square or a double of a
perfect square.

10. Write down the last two digits of 91500 .

11. Prove that n7 − n is divisible by 42, for any integer n.

n5 n3 7n
12. Prove that 5
+ 3
+ 15
is an integer for any integer n.

13. For any prime p, if ap ≡ bp mod p, prove that ap ≡ bp mod p2 .

14. Show that an integer m > 1 is prime iff m divides (m − 1)! + 1.


2m 2n 1, if a is even
15. For any positive integer a, m, n with m ̸= n, prove that gcd(a +1, a +1) =
2, if a is odd.

9
 16. Prove that for any prime p, (a + b)p ≡ ap + bp ( mod p).

17. If n is composite, prove that (n − 1)! + 1 is not a power of n.

18. Let ϕ, τ , σ denote respectively the Euler ϕ function, number of positive divisors function
and sum of positive divisors function. If gcd(m, n) = 1, prove that

(a) ϕ(mn) = ϕ(m)ϕ(n).

(b) τ (mn) = τ (m)τ (n).
(c) σ(mn) = σ(m)σ(n).
p+1
19. Prove that if p is an odd prime integer, then 12 · 32 · · · (p − 2)2 ≡ (−1) 2 ( mod p).

20. Prove that if p is an odd prime of the form p ≡ 3( (mod 4)), then ( p−1
2
!) ≡ ±1( mod p).

21. Show that for any integer n > 1, 1 + 12 + 31 + · · · + 1

n
is not an integer.

22. What is the remainder when 1! + 2! + · · · + 100! divided by 15.

23. If k is an odd positive integer, prove that 1 + 2 + · · · + n divides 1k + 2k + · · · + nk .

24. Let p be a prime number and e be the largest exponent of p such that pe divides n!. Prove
∞  
X n
that e = i
.
i=1
p

25. If p is prime, prove that 2(p − 3)! + 1 is a multiple of p.

n
X
26. Prove that ϕ(pi ) = pn .
i=0

27. Find the remainder when [(1 + 10!) × (1 + 10!)2 × (1 + 10!)3 × · · · × (1 + 10!)100 ]100 is
divided by 10!.

28. Show that no number in the sequence 11, 111, 1111, . . . is a perfect square.

29. Show that there are no integers x and y such that 15x2 − 7y 2 = 9.
1 1 1
30. If pi is the ith prime prove that p1
+ p2
+ ··· + pn
is not an integer.

31. Find the remainder when 98! is divided by 101.

***************************
Identify the correct alternative(s) (may be more than one) from the following list:

1. Suppose the sum of the seven positive numbers is 21. What is the minimum possible
value of the average of the squares of these numbers ?
(a) 9 (b) 21 (c) 63 (d) 7

10
2. The number of elements in the set {n : 1 ≤ n ≤ 1000, n and 1000 are relatively prime }
is
(a) 300 (b) 250 (c) 100 (d) 400

3. The number of 4 digit numbers with no two digits common is

(a) 5040 (b) 3024 (c) 4536 (d) 4823

4. The unit digit of 2100 is

(a) 2 (b) 8 (c) 6 (d) 4

5. The number of multiples of 1044 that divide 1055 is

(a) 121 (b) 12 (c) 11 (d) 144

6. The number of positive divisors of 50, 000 is

(a) 40 (b) 30 (c) 20 (d) 50

7. The last digit of (38)2011 is

(a) 4 (b) 6 (b) 2 (d) 8

8. The last two digits of 781 are

(a) 37 (b) 17 (c) 07 (d) 47

9. Given a positive integer n, let ϕ(n) denote the number of integers k such that 1 ≤ k ≤ n
and gcd(k, n) = 1. Then identify the correct statement(s):
(a) ϕ(m) divides m for every positive integer m;
(b) a divides ϕ(am − 1) for all positive integers a and m such that gcd(a, m) = 1;
(c) m divides ϕ(am − 1) for all positive integers a ≥ 2 and m such that gcd(a, m) = 1;
(d) m divides ϕ(am − 1) for all positive integers a ≥ 2 and m.

11