Section 4 – Groups

Instructor: Yifan Yang

Fall 2006
Outline

Definitions
Definition and examples
Abelian groups

Elementary properties
Cancellation law
Uniqueness of identity element and inverse

Finite groups and group tables

Case |G| = 2
Case |G| = 3
General cases
Definition and examples

Definition (4.1)
A group hG, ∗i is a set G, closed under a binary operation ∗,
such that
1. ∗ is associative. That is, (a ∗ b) ∗ c = a ∗ (b ∗ c) for all
a, b, c ∈ G.
2. There is an identity element e ∈ G for ∗. That is, there
exists e ∈ G such that e ∗ x = x ∗ e = x for all x ∈ G.
3. Corresponding to each element a of G, there is an inverse
a0 of a in G such that a0 ∗ a = a ∗ a0 = e.
Examples
1. The binary structure hZ, +i is a group. The identity element
is 0, and the inverse a0 of a ∈ Z is −a.
2. The binary structure hZ, ·i is not a group because the
inverse a0 does not exist when a 6= ±1.
3. The set Zn under addition +n is a group.
4. The set Zn under multiplication ·n is not a group since the
inverse of 0̄ does not exist.
5. The set Z+ under addition is not a group because there is
no identity element.
6. The set Z+ ∪ {0} under addition is still not a group. There
is an identity element 0, but no inverse for elements a > 0.
7. The set of all real-valued functions with domain R under
function addition is a group.
8. The set Mm×n (R) of all m × n matrices under matrix
addition is a group.
Examples

Example
The set GL(n, R) of all invertible n × n matrices under matrix
multiplication is a group. (GL stands for general linear.)

1. Closedness: Recall that an n × n matrix A is invertible if

and only if det A 6= 0. Suppose that A and B are
invertible. Then det(A), det(B) 6= 0, and
det(AB) = det(A) det(B) 6= 0. Therefore,
A, B ∈ GL(n, R) ⇒ AB ∈ GL(n, R).
2. Associativity: Property of matrix multiplication.
3. Identity element: The matrix In satisfies AIn = In A = A
for all A ∈ GL(n, R).
4. Inverse: Suppose that A ∈ GL(n, R). Then A−1 is also in
GL(n, R) since det(A−1 ) = 1/ det(A) 6= 0.
Remark

In some textbooks, the definition of a group is given as follows.

Definition
A binary structure hG, ∗i is a group if
1. ∗ is associative.
2. There exists a left identity element e in G such that
e ∗ x = x for all x ∈ G.
3. For each a ∈ G, there exists a left inverse a0 in G such that
a0 ∗ a = e.
It can be shown that this definition is equivalent to the definition
given earlier.
In-class exercises

Determine whether the following binary structures are groups.

1. The set Q+ under the usual multiplication.
2. The set C∗ under the usual multiplication.
3. The set Q+ with ∗ given by a ∗ b = ab/2.
√
4. The set R+ with ∗ given by a ∗ b = ab.
Definition
A group G is abelian if its binary operation is commutative.

Remark
Commutative groups are called abelian in honor of the
Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829), who
studied the problem when a polynomial equation is solvable by
radical. The ideas introduced by him evolved into what we
called group theory today.
In 2002, the Norwegian government established the Abel prize,
to be awarded annually to mathematicians. The prize comes
with a monetary award of roughly $1,000,000 USD.
Examples

The following groups are all abelian.

1. hZ, +i, hQ, +i, hR, +i, and hC, +i.
2. hQ+ , ·i, hR∗ , ·i, and hC∗ , ·i.
3. hZn , +n i.
4. The set of Mm×n (R) under addition.
5. The set of all real-valued functions with domain R under
function addition.
The following groups are non-abelian.
1. GL(n, R) under matrix multiplication.
2. The set of all real-valued functions with domain R under
function composition.
Cancellation law

Theorem (4.15)
Let hG, ∗i be a group. Then the left and right cancellation laws
hold in G, that is, a ∗ b = a ∗ c implies b = c, and b ∗ a = c ∗ a
implies b = c for all a, b, c ∈ G.

Remark
Not all binary structures have cancellation laws. For instance,
1. In Mn (R), AB = AC does not imply B = C.
2. In (Zn , ·n ), the cancellation law does not hold either. (In
(Z6 , ·6 ) we have 3̄ · 2̄ = 0̄ = 3̄ · 4̄, but 2̄ 6= 4̄.)
Proof of Theorem 4.15

Suppose that a ∗ b = a ∗ c. Let a0 be an inverse of a.

Consider the equality

a0 ∗ (a ∗ b) = a0 ∗ (a ∗ c).

By the associativity of ∗, we then have

(a0 ∗ a) ∗ b = (a0 ∗ a) ∗ c.

Since a0 is an inverse of a, we have a0 ∗ a = e, and thus,

e ∗ b = e ∗ c.

Because e is the identity element, it follows that b = c.

The proof of the assertion that b ∗ a = c ∗ a implies b = c is
similar.
The equation a ∗ x = b

Theorem (4.16)
Let hG, ∗i be a group. Let a and b be elements in G. Then the
equations a ∗ x = b and y ∗ a = b have unique solutions x and
y in G.

Remark
Again, there are binary structures where a ∗ x = b may not be
solvable for all a and b.
1. In Mn (R) under matrix multiplication, the equation AX = B
is not solvable when det(A) = 0 and det(B) 6= 0.
2. In hZ8 , ·8 i, the equation 2̄ · x = 1̄ is not solvable since 2̄ · x
must be one of 0̄, 2̄, 4̄, and 6̄.
Proof of Theorem 4.16

Proof.
Let x = a0 ∗ b. Then

a ∗ (a0 ∗ b) = (a ∗ a0 ) ∗ b = e ∗ b = b.

This shows that the equation a ∗ x = b has at least one solution.

To show the uniqueness of the solution, we use the cancellation
laws. If x1 and x2 are both solutions of a ∗ x = b. Then
a ∗ x1 = a ∗ x2 . By Theorem 4.15, we therefore have x1 = x2 .
The assertion about y ∗ a = b can be proved similarly.
Uniqueness of identity element and inverse

Theorem (4.17)
Let hG, ∗i be a group. There is only one element e in G such
that e ∗ x = x ∗ e = x for all x ∈ G. Likewise, for each a ∈ G,
there is only one element a0 in G such that a0 ∗ a = a ∗ a0 = e.

Proof.
The uniqueness of identity element is proved in Theorem 3.13.
We now prove the uniqueness of inverses. Let a ∈ G.
Suppose that a1 and a2 satisfy a ∗ a1 = a1 ∗ a = e and
a ∗ a2 = a2 ∗ a = e. Then a ∗ a1 = a ∗ a2 . By Theorem
4.15, we have a1 = a2 .
Uniqueness of identity element and inverse

Corollary (4.18)
Let hG, ∗i be a group. For all a, b ∈ G we have (a ∗ b)0 = b0 ∗ a0 .

Proof.
We have

(a ∗ b) ∗ (b0 ∗ a0 ) = a ∗ (b ∗ b0 ) ∗ a0 = (a ∗ e) ∗ a0 = a ∗ a0 = e.

By Theorem 4.17, the element b0 ∗ a0 has to be the inverse of

a ∗ b.
Case |G| = 2

Let G be a group with two element. Since G contains an

identity element e, we assume that G = {e, a}. We now
determine the group table. We have

∗ e a
e e a
a a ?

It remains to determine a ∗ a. The group G contains the

inverse of a. From the table, it is clear that a0 6= e. Thus,
0
a = a and we have a ∗ a = e. We now check the
associativity of ∗.
In theory, we need to check whether

(x ∗ y ) ∗ z = x ∗ (y ∗ z)

for all 8 possible choices of x, y , z ∈ G. Here we notice that

the table is isomorphic to that of hZ2 , +2 i.

∗ e a +2 0̄ 1̄
e e a 0̄ 0̄ 1̄ .
a a e 1̄ 1̄ 0̄

Since hZ2 , +2 i is associative, so is the binary structure we

just constructed. Finally, the table is symmetric with respect
to the diagonal. In other words, G is abelian (∗ is commutative).
Case |G| = 3
Let G be a group with three element e, a, b. We have
∗ e a b
e e a b
a a ? ?
b b ? ?
∗ e a b
e e a b
a a ? e
b b e ?
∗ e a b
e e a b
a a b e
b b e a
Consider a ∗ b. What can it be? If a ∗ b = a, then
a ∗ b = a ∗ e and b = e, which is a contradiction. Likewise,
0
a ∗ b 6= b, and we conclude that a ∗ b = e, that is, a = b and
It remains to check associativity. Again, it is tedious to
check directly that

x ∗ (y ∗ z) = (x ∗ y ) ∗ z

holds for all x, y , z ∈ G. Instead, we observe that the table

is isomorphic to that of hZ3 , +3 i. Thus, ∗ is indeed associative.
Note also that ∗ is commutative.
General cases

In general, there are many non-isomorphic groups of a given

order (number of elements). For example, there are 2
non-isomorphic groups of order 4, 5 non-isomorphic groups
of order 8, 14 non-isomorphic groups of order 16, and
423, 164, 062 non-isomorphic groups of order 1024.
In any case, the group table satisfies every element of the
group appears in each row/each column exactly once. This is
because the equation a ∗ x = b has exactly one solution.
Exercises

In-class exercise
Give all possible group tables for the case |G| = 4.

Homework
Do Problems 6, 8, 14, 19, 24, 29, 30, 32, 36, 38 of Section 4.