Math Methods I

Lia Vas
Groups
Introduction of Groups via Symmetry Groups of Molecules
Determination of the structure of molecules is one of many examples of the use of the group theory.
Electronic structure of a molecule can be determined via its geometric structure. In this case, one
consider the symmetry of a molecule since it reveals information about its properties (i.e., structure,
spectra, polarity, chirality, etc).
The following diagram represents the above steps.
Geometry of a molecule Symmetry Group

Structural Properties Group Representation
Symmetry of a molecule is characterized by the fact that it is possible (theoretically) to carry out
operations which will interchange the position of some (or all atoms) and result in the arrangement
of atoms that is indistinguishable from the initial arrangements. Thus, the operations we shall
consider are exactly those that we can apply on a model of a molecule so that the resulting molecule
appears the same as the original one.
Operations are:
- rotations - physically possible, are called proper rotations.
- reections with the respect to a mirror plane or to the center of symmetry - physically
impossible, are called improper rotations.
These set of all those operations is called a group of symmetries. The features of such group
that we are interested in is that
1) a composite of two operation from the group is again an operation from the group.
Let us denote the composite of two operations a and b with a b or, shorter ab. With this notation,
the operations a, b and c of a symmetry group satisfy the associativity law:
2) a(bc) = (ab)c
There is a distinct element of every group of symmetry, called identity element and denoted by
1 which corresponds of operation of not moving molecule at all (equivalently, rotation for 0 degrees).
Thus, the identity element 1 satises
3) a1 = 1a = a for every operation a.
Finally, for every operation a denes the corresponding operation, denoted a
1
reversing the eect
of a. For example, if a is a rotation for degrees, then a
1
is the rotation for degrees in the
opposite direction (equivalently, rotation for degrees). Thus, the composition of a and a
1
is the
identity operation.
4) aa
1
= a
1
a = 1.
1
2
These four laws are independent of the chemical setting and, as it turned out, there are many
other situations in which the set of elements considered satises these four laws. So, it turned out
that the study of any structure satisfying the above four laws, a group, was of interest for many
disciplines. The study of group became known as the group theory.
History
Historically, group was not dened in the con-
text of chemistry and symmetries of molecules.
There are three historical roots of group theory:
1) the theory of algebraic equations, 2) number
theory and 3) geometry. Euler, Gauss, Lagrange,
Abel and Galois were early researchers in the eld
of group theory. Galois is honored as the rst
mathematician linking group theory and eld the-
ory, with the theory that is now called Galois the-
ory.
Galois remains an intriguing and unique person in the history of mathematics. The footnote
contains some more information from wikipedia.org.
1
1

Evariste Galois (October 25, 1811 May 31, 1832) was a French mathematician born in Bourg-la-Reine. He was a
mathematical child prodigy. While still in his teens, he was able to determine a necessary and sucient condition
for a polynomial to be solvable by radicals, thereby solving a long-standing problem. His work laid the fundamental
foundations for Galois theory, a major branch of abstract algebra, and the subeld of Galois connections. He was the
rst to use the word group as a technical term in mathematics to represent a group of permutations. He died in a
duel at the age of twenty.
In 1828 he attempted the entrance exam to

Ecole Polytechnique, without the usual preparation in mathematics,
and failed. He failed yet again on the second, nal attempt the next year. It is undisputed that Galois was more
than qualied; however, accounts dier on why he failed. The legend holds that he thought the exercise proposed to
him by the examiner to be of no interest, and, in exasperation, he threw the rag used to clean up chalk marks on the
blackboard at the examiners head. More plausible accounts state that Galois refused to justify his statements and
answer the examiners questions. Galoiss behavior was perhaps inuenced by the recent suicide of his father.
His memoir on equation theory would be submitted several times but was never published in his lifetime, due to
various events. Initially he sent it to Cauchy, who told him his work overlapped with recent work of Abel. Galois
revised his memoir and sent it to Fourier in early 1830, upon the advice of Cauchy, to be considered for the Grand
Prix of the Academy. Unfortunately, Fourier died soon after, and the memoir was lost. The prize would be awarded
that year to Abel posthumously and also to Jacobi.
Despite the lost memoir, Galois published three papers that year, which laid the foundations for Galois Theory.
Galois was a staunch Republican, famous for having toasted Louis-Philippe with a dagger above his cup, which
leads some to believe that his death in a duel was set up by the secret police. He was jailed for attending a Bastille
Day protest in 1831, and was released only 2 days before his death.
The night before the duel, supposedly fought in order to defend the honor of a woman, he was so convinced of
his impending death that he stayed up all night writing letters to his Republican friends and composing what would
become his mathematical testament. Hermann Weyl, one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, said of
this testament, This letter, if judged by the novelty and profundity of ideas it contains, is perhaps the most substantial
piece of writing in the whole literature of mankind. In his nal papers he outlined the rough edges of some work he
had been doing in analysis and annotated a copy of the manuscript submitted to the academy and other papers. On
3
Mathematical Denition of a Group
Let us give a precise mathematical denition of a group.
Denition. A group is a nonempty set G with operation such that
A1 The result of operation applied to two elements of G is again an element of G (i.e. if a and b
are in G, a b is also in G). In this case we say that the operation is closed).
A2 Associativity holds: (ab)c = a(bc) Operation with this property is said to be associative.
A3 There is identity element 1 so that a 1 = 1 a = a for every element a.
A4 Every element a has the inverse a
1
(i.e. a a
1
= a
1
a = 1).
As before, we will shorten the notation a b and write just ab. Also, if G with operation is a
group, we will say that G is a group under operation .
Note that A4 implies the cancellation law:
ab = ac or ba = ca imply b = c.
This can be veried by multiplying ab = ac from the left with a
1
to get that b = c. Similarly,
multiply ba = ca from the right with a
1
to get b = c.
Examples.
(1) Real numbers without 0 under multiplications. The identity element is 1 and 1/a is the
inverse of a. Note that rational or complex numbers without 0 under multiplication also
form groups. Integers without 0 under multiplication, however, are not a group as A4 is not
satised for every integer a. Give an example of this.
Note also that we have to throw out 0 as all real numbers under multiplication are not a
group. Indeed, the element 0 does not have an inverse as there is no solution of the equation
0x = 1 (i.e. we cannot divide with 0).
(2) Real numbers under addition. This is an important example because it tells us that the
notation for operation in specic group might be denoted dierently that the one used in the
general denition. Note that in this example the identity element is 0 and the inverse of a
is a. The essential fact is that the laws A1A4 remain to hold regardless of the change in
notation:
A1 a and b are real numbers, a + b is also a real number.
A2 (a + b) + c = a + (b + c).
A3 0 is the identity element and a + 0 = 0 + a = a for every element a.
A4 Every element a has the inverse a and a + (a) = (a) + a = 0.
Note that integer, rational or complex numbers are also a group under addition. Nonneg-
ative integers are not a group under addition since A4 does not hold.
(3) Vectors in plane under addition.
(4) Set of invertible real valued functions under composition of functions. Note that this is the
rst example of a group in which the commutativity law (ab = ba) does not hold. Recall many
examples of functions for which the composition is not commutative. For example f(x) = 2x
and g(x) = x 1. Then f(g(x)) = 2x 2 and g(f(x)) = 2x 1.
the 30th of May 1832, early in the morning, he was shot in the abdomen and died the following day at ten in the
Cochin hospital (probably of peritonitis) after refusing the oces of a priest. He was 20 years old. His last words to
his brother Alfred were: Dont cry, Alfred! I need all my courage to die at twenty.
Galois mathematical contributions were nally fully published in 1843 when Liouville reviewed his manuscript and
declared that he had indeed solved the problem rst proposed and also solved by Abel. The manuscript was nally
published in the October-November 1846.
4
(5) Linear Algebra examples. Real valued matrices form a group under addition. Invertible real
valued matrices form a group under matrix multiplication.
(6) Note that all of the above examples were examples of groups with innitely many elements.
Innite groups appear in chemistry as well. They are used in the description of translational
symmetry of some crystal lattices. Examples of nite groups will follow shortly.
(7) Non-examples. At this point, it might be useful to present some non-examples, i.e.
examples of sets that fail some of the rules A1A4.
We have already seen that the nonnegative integers do not satisfy A4 under addition.
Positive integers do not satisfy even A3 under addition.
The set of integers is not associative under subtraction since
a (b c) = a b + c ,= a b c = (a b) c
so A2 fails.
The set of positive integers is not closed under subtraction so A1 fails.
Why A1A4?
Let us expand on the rules A1A4. A1 is necessary to avoid situations as in the example with
positive integers and subtraction.
The rule A2 let us not use the parenthesis as we can denote (ab)c = a(bc) simply by abc. This rule
also enables us to write long formulas like a(b((cd)e)(fg)) simply as abcdefg.
The rules A3 and A4 enable us to divide i.e. these rules guarantees that the equations ax = b
and ya = b have solutions in G for all a and b from G. This is because we can take x to be a
1
b and
y to be ba
1
.
Conversely, a set G satisfying A1, A2 and the rule
D For all a and b from G, the equations ax = b and xa = b have unique solutions in G.
satises the rules A3 and A4 as well. This is because
(1) 1 is the solution of the equation ax = a for an element a. You still have to show that ax = a
and bx = b produce the same solution for dierent a and b.
(2) For every element a, the solution of the equation ax = 1 is a
1
. You still have to show that
a
1
is also solution of ya = 1.
The above gives an outline of the proof of the following proposition.
Proposition. A nonempty set G is a group (i.e. satises A1A4) if and only if it satises A1, A2
and D.
Cayley Tables
The previous proposition provides a very easy way to check if a given nite set of elements and
an operation on them form a group or not. A nite set of element and an operation on them is
frequently given by a table illustrating the result of operation for each pair of elements. Such table
is called a Cayley table, named after the mathematician Arthur Cayley. It is a generalization of a
multiplication table (as used to teach school-children multiplication). It is a grid where rows and
columns are headed by the elements to multiply, and the entry in each cell is the product of the
column and row headings.
5
For example, there is a Cayley table on a set of three elements.
a b c
a a b a
b c a b
c c c b
Let us look at the part of the table without column and row headings. Note that the rst row
represents dierent results of the multiplication from the left with a. But in the rst row, there is no
element c. That means that the equation ax = c has no solution. Hence, this table does not represent
a group. Similarly, note that in the rst (non-headed) column, there is not element b present. As a
consequence, the equation ya = b has no solution.
From this example, we can conclude that a necessary condition for a Cayley table to represent a
group is that in every row and column each element appear at least once. If some elements appears
twice, then the cancellation law does not hold so
1) Every element appears exactly once in every row and every column.
Also,
2) There has to be an element such that the row and column determined by that elements are
the same as the heading row and column. In this case, that element is the identity.
If a Cayley table of a set G satises rules 1 and 2, then G satises A1, A3, A4. Associativity
law A2 is hard to check using Cayley table. Checking associativity boils down to checking all the
possible triples of elements a, b, c satisfy the rule (ab)c = a(bc).
An example of a Cayley table of a set of three elements that is a group is
a b c
a a b c
b b c a
c c a b
In this example, a is the identity, and b and c are mutually inverse to each other.
A group is called abelian if it satises the commutative law
ab = ba.
We have seen many examples of abelian groups and some examples of groups that are not abelian. If
a group is nite, one can easily check if it is abelian or not using its Cayley table: you simply check
if the table is symmetric with respect to the main diagonal. Using this rule, we conclude that the
group with the above Cayley table is abelian.
Groups with 2 elements
Let us use Cayley table to try to describe all the groups with 2 elements a, b. As one of them has
to be identity, let us take a = 1 so ab = ba = b and aa = a. As the result of bb has to be dierent
than ba, bb has to be a. Hence,
a b
a a b
b b a
Note that this is the only possible way we could ll the table given the condition that a is the
identity. If we chose b to be identity and rearrange the heading column so that the identity is the
6
rst element of the heading column or row, we would end up with
b a
b b a
a a b
This table describes the same structure of the group, the only dierence is the names we assigned
to the elements. Having the correspondence a b and b a from rst table to the second, we
would end up with the same group. The above correspondence is an example of group isomorphism.
The two groups are isomorphic if you can relabel the elements of one group then producing the
other. As isomorphic groups are intrinsically the same, mathematicians are often considering them
as one. One of the most important questions in group theory is to determine if a given two groups
are isomorphic or not. Note that some chemists refer to isomorphic groups as isomorphous groups
(e.g. in Kettles Symmetry and Structure).
A group isomorphism preserves all the group properties. For example, if one group is abelian and
the other is not, then they cannot be isomorphic. This gives you useful criterion for determining
that two groups are not isomorphic.
To demonstrate that two groups are isomorphic, you can match their elements and show
that the matching preserves the Cayley table. We shall see later that two groups having the
same presentation also shows their isomorphism.
To demonstrate that two groups are not isomorphic, you can note that they do not share
the same properties. For example, having dierent number of elements, one being abelian
and the other not, elements having dierent order etc.
We present further examples of groups isomorphic to the groups above. Let us consider, the group
of two integers 1 and -1 under the multiplication. This is another group isomorphic to the above
group with elements a and b. Yet another example is the group of remainders when dividing with 2.
Note that when any integer is divided by 2, the remainder is either 0 or 1. As expected, we dene
1 +0 = 0 +1 = 1, 0 +0 = 0. As 1+1=2 and 2 has remainder 0 when divided by 2, we dene 1+1=0.
Hence,
+ 0 1
0 0 1
1 1 0
and this is another example of a group isomorphic with the above three groups with two elements
we considered. In mathematics, this group is denoted by Z
2
. In chemistry, the notation C
2
is used.
We concluded that all the groups with two elements have to be isomorphic to each other. We can
take C
2
to be the representative of all the groups with two elements.
Groups of 3 elements
Let us consider the groups of three elements. As one of the three elements has to be identity, let
us denote elements by 1, a and b and let us start lling the Cayley table.
1 a b
1 1 a b
a a
b b
7
If we put 1 in the rst empty place in the second row of the table (again the rows are counted without
the heading elements), then we will have to put b in the last free place in the second row if we do
not want to violate the rule for each element in each row appearing exactly once. But then b will
appear twice in the last column, so we cannot ll the table this way.
This mean that the second row has to be a, b, 1 and this uniquely determines the last row and
hence the entire table. So, the group is
1 a b
1 1 a b
a a b 1
b b 1 a
Note that this group is isomorphic to the group from example on page 6. Another group of three
elements can be obtained considering remainders when dividing with 3, similarly as in the example
with C
2
. Any integer has a remainder when divided by 3 either 0, 1 or 2. So, we take these three
elements to be the elements of the group. If a sum of two elements is smaller than 3, we add the
elements on the usual way. If it is larger than 3, we consider the remainder of the sum when divided
by 3. For example 2+2=4 which has remainder 1 when divided by 3, so 2+2=1 in this group. The
Cayley table is
+ 0 1 2
0 0 1 2
1 1 2 0
2 2 0 1
Be careful: identity element here is 0, not 1 since we are using the additive, not multiplicative
notation.
Analogously to the reminders when dividing by 2, this group is denoted by Z
3
(in mathematics)
or C
3
(in chemistry).
As we have seen, there is just one (isomorphism type of a) group with three elements. As the next
section will show, for groups with more elements, the situation can be dierent.
Groups of 4 elements
As we will see, the situation when describing the groups of 4 elements is more complex. So, before
considering the groups with 4 elements, consider some additional observations that will help us create
dierent Cayley tables.
The rule A4 has the consequence that
ab = 1 implies ba = 1.
If a
2
= 1 then ab ,= 1 ,= ba for all b ,= a. This means that each non-identity element is either its
own inverse or it pairs up with another element which is its unique inverse creating the two possible
situations:
... a ... b ...
...
a 1
...
b 1
...
... a ...
...
a 1
...
8
When trying to classify the nite groups using the Cayley table, it is possible to rearrange the
order of the labeled columns such that the rst columns to appear, reading from left to right, are
those representing self-inverse elements, starting rst with the identity element which is always a
self-inverse. After all the columns of self-inverses should follow the columns representing pairs of
inverses: each pair of inverses should be represented by a pair of adjacent columns. Following this
rule, in the case of groups with four elements 1, a, b, and c we have two possibilities.
1 a b c
1 1 a b c
a a 1
b b 1
c c 1
1 a b c
1 1 a b c
a a 1
b b 1
c c 1
These resulting arrangement of identity elements are called the identity skeletons of the Cayley
table. It is usually useful to write the identity skeleton when lling the Cayley table of a group.
Groups with dierent identity skeletons cannot be isomorphic. An identity skeleton boils down
simply to numbers of self-inverses versus number of inverse pairs.
Since the remainder of these two tables can be lled on unique way, we obtained that there are
exactly two classes of non-isomorphic groups with four elements and that they are
1 a b c
1 1 a b c
a a 1 c b
b b c 1 a
c c b a 1
1 a b c
1 1 a b c
a a 1 c b
b b c a 1
c c b 1 a
The rst one is the Cartesian product C
2
C
2
(set of ordered pairs of elements from C
2
). The
correspondence here is
1 (0, 0), a (1, 0), b (0, 1) and c (1, 1).
The second table is isomorphic to the group C
4
, the group of remainders when dividing with 4.
The correspondence here is
1 0, a 2, b 1 and c 3.
Classes of Groups
There are many dierent classes of groups. Classifying dierent groups is one of the largest
problems of group theory. We will mention some important classes of groups.
Cyclic groups C
n
. Cyclic groups are those that are generated with a single element. This means
that every non-identity element of a cyclic group can be obtained from that single element. For
example, the set of integers under addition is generated by 1. It turns out that all the innite cyclic
groups are isomorphic to this one.
Using analogous notation as for C
2
and C
3
, let
us dene C
n
to be the group of remainders when
dividing by n. For example, C
5
has the following
Cayley table:
+ 0 1 2 3 4
0 0 1 2 3 4
1 1 2 3 4 0
2 2 3 4 0 1
3 3 4 0 1 2
4 4 0 1 2 3
9
All these groups are cyclic since the element 1 generates the entire group. Even more is true: every
cyclic group with n elements is isomorphic to C
n
. We can illustrate this by the following example.
Consider the cyclic group of 5 elements. Since
the group is cyclic, there is an element a that
generates it. In this case, the group elements are
1, a, a
2
, a
3
, a
4
. The element a
5
has to be 1 since
the group would have more than 5 elements oth-
erwise. In this case, the following is the Cayley
table of this group.
1 a a
2
a
3
a
4
1 1 a a
2
a
3
a
4
a a a
2
a
3
a
4
1
a
2
a
2
a
3
a
4
1 a
a
3
a
3
a
4
1 a a
2
a
4
a
4
1 a a
2
a
3
So, we can see that the above two Cayley tables are isomorphic by
0 1, 1 a, 2 a
2
, 3 a
3
and 4 a
4
.
One can also see that every cyclic group is abelian.
Order of group. Order of group element. If a group G has n elements, we say it has order
n. If an element a is such that a
n
= 1 and a
m
=,= 1 for any m < n, we say that a has order n.
Presentation of Cyclic Groups. Consider the cyclic group of order n. If we denote the
generator by a, the group is uniquely determined by the relation a
n
= 1. For example, if n = 5, we
can determine the above Cayley table simply knowing (1) that there is just one generator a, (2) that
this generator satises the equation a
5
= 1. Analogously, any group can be determined by the list of
generators and the list of relations these generators satisfy. This is called the group presentation.
In a group presentation, the generators are listed followed by relations among them. For example,
the group presentation of the cyclic group of order n is
a[a
n
= 1.
As the innite cyclic group does not have any relations on its generator, the presentation is a. This
group is isomorphic to the group of integers under addition via the isomorphism n a
n
.
Dihedral Group D
n
and its presentation. Dihedral groups are groups of symmetries of regular
polygons. The group of symmetries of a regular polygon of n sides is denoted by D
n
.
For example, let us consider a square. The sym-
metries of a square are: rotations for 0, 90, 180
and 270 degrees, reections with respect to diag-
onals and x and y axes (if the square is centered
at the origin so that the sides are parallel to x or
y axis). Clearly, the rotation for 0 degrees is the
identity, let us denote it with 1. If we denote the
rotation for 90 degrees by a, then the rotations
by 180 and 270 degrees are a
2
and a
3
and then
a
4
= 1.
Let us denote the reection with respect to y-axis by b. Then b
2
= 1, ab is reection with respect
to the main diagonal, a
2
b is reection with respect to x-axis and a
3
b is reection with respect to the
10
non-main diagonal. So, all the symmetries of the square can be written via a and b. This means
that a and b are generators of D
4
.
Note that ba is the reection with respect to non-main diagonal, so it is dierent than ab, the
reection with respect to main diagonal. So, D
4
is not abelian. Also, note that this gives that
ba = a
3
b.
The three equations a
4
= 1, b
2
= 1, and ba = a
3
b on two generators a and b are sucient
to completely determine the Cayley table of D
4
. This means that the group D
4
is given by the
presentation
a, b[a
4
= 1, b
2
= 1, ba = a
3
b.
This presentation enables us to quickly ll the Cayley table without calculating the specic symme-
tries.
1 a a
2
a
3
b ab a
2
b a
3
b
1 1 a a
2
a
3
b ab a
2
b a
3
b
a a a
2
a
3
1 ab a
2
b a
3
b b
a
2
a
2
a
3
1 a a
2
b a
3
b b ab
a
3
a
3
1 a a
2
a
3
b b ab a
2
b
b b a
3
b a
2
b ab 1 a
3
a
2
a
ab ab b a
3
b a
2
b a 1 a
3
a
2
a
2
b a
2
b ab b a
3
b a
2
a 1 a
3
a
3
b a
3
b a
2
b ab b a
3
a
2
a 1
Every dihedral group has analogous presentation. The group D
n
has two generators a, the rotation
for 360/n degrees, and b, reection with respect to y axis, and it satises a
n
= 1, b
2
= 1, ba = a
n1
b.
Thus,
D
n
= a, b[a
n
= 1, b
2
= 1, ba = a
n1
b.
Direct Product of Groups and their presentations. As the plane of real numbers is obtained
by considering ordered pairs of real numbers, a new group can be obtained by considering ordered
pairs of elements from two other groups. More precisely, if G
1
and G
2
are two groups, we can dene
a new group G = G
1
G
2
by considering the elements of G to be the ordered pairs (g
1
, g
2
) where g
1
is from G
1
and g
2
is from G
2
. The operation in G is dened on the following way:
(g
1
, g
2
) (h
1
, h
2
) = (g
1
h
1
, g
2
h
2
).
If G
1
has n elements and G
2
has m elements, then G
1
G
2
has mn elements.
If we know the presentations of G
1
and G
2
, the presentation of G
1
G
2
is obtained on the following
way
- generators are all of G
1
and of G
2
- the relations are all of G
1
, G
2
plus relations that assert that the generators of G
1
commute
with the generators of G
2
Example 1. The following is a presentation of C
3
C
2
= a[a
3
= 1 b[b
2
= 1.
a, b[a
3
= b
2
= 1, ab = ba.
So, this group has 6 elements 1, a, a
3
, b, ab, a
2
b as any other word in two letters a and b can be
written as one of those 6 using the above relations.
Example 2. As another example, let us look at D
3
C
2
. As D
3
= a, b[a
n
= b
2
= 1ba = a
2
b and
C
2
= c[c
2
= 1, the presentation of D
3
C
2
is
11
a, b, c[a
n
= b
2
= c
2
= 1, ba = a
2
b, ac = ca, bc = cb.
So, this group has 12 elements
1, a, a
2
, b, ab, a
2
b
c, ac, a
2
c, bc, abc, a
2
bc
as any other word in three letters a, b and c can be written as one of those 12 using the above
relations.
If any of the groups G
1
or G
2
is innite, then G
1
G
2
is innite. We have seen examples of direct
product of groups. The rst example was the group of vectors in real plane under addition. This
group is denoted by R
2
and it is the direct product of real numbers R under addition with itself.
We can consider a direct product of R
2
and R (denoted by R
3
). This is the real three dimensional
space. It is a group under addition. On page 9, we have seen one example of a direct product of
nite groups when considering a group of four elements C
2
C
2
.
Direct product of Cyclic Groups. Let us consider the group C
3
C
2
with presentation
a, b[a
3
= b
2
= 1, ab = ba from Example 1 and compare it with the cyclic group of oder 6 C
6
=
c[c
6
= 1. We claim that these two groups are isomorphic.
To note that, note that the element ab has order 6. Indeed
(ab)
0
(ab)
1
(ab)
2
(ab)
3
(ab)
4
(ab)
5
(ab)
6
1 ab a
2
b a a
2
b 1
Then note that this can be matched with the powers of element c in C
6
= c[c
6
= 1.
(ab)
0
(ab)
1
(ab)
2
(ab)
3
(ab)
4
(ab)
5
(ab)
6
1 ab a
2
b a a
2
b 1
1 c c
2
c
3
c
4
c
5
c
6
Comparing the Cayleys tables shows that the pairing of the elements above really is the isomorphism
of the two groups.
C
3
C
2
1 ab a
2
b a a
2
b
1 1 ab a
2
b a a
2
b
ab ab a
2
b a a
2
b 1
a
2
a
2
b a a
2
b 1 ab
b b a a
2
b 1 ab a
2
a a a
2
b 1 ab a
2
b
a
2
b a
2
b 1 ab a
2
b a
C
6
1 c c
2
c
3
c
4
c
5
1 1 c c
2
c
3
c
4
c
5
c c c
2
c
3
c
4
c
5
1
c
2
c
2
c
3
c
4
c
5
1 c
c
3
c
3
c
4
c
5
1 c c
2
c
4
c
4
c
5
1 c c
2
c
3
c
5
c
5
1 c c
2
c
3
c
4
On the other hand, the groups C
2
C
2
and C
4
are not isomorphic. One way to see that is by
noting that the square of all elements in C
2
C
2
is the identity while the square of the generator of
C
4
is not identity.
Another way to see that C
2
C
2
and C
4
are not isomorphic is to compare the identity skeletons
of the Cayleys tables.
12
C
2
C
2
1 a b ab
1 1 a b ab
a a 1 ab b
b b ab 1 a
ab ab b a 1
C
4
1 c c
2
c
3
1 1 c c
2
c
3
c c c
2
c
3
1
c
2
c
2
c
3
1 c
c
3
c
3
1 c c
2
Our observations are just special cases of the following claim.
C
m
C
n
is isomorphic to C
mn
if and only if m and n are relatively prime
(i.e. the greatest common divisor of m and n is 1).
To prove this claim, you can argue as we did in two examples above:
If m and n are relatively prime, the element ab will have order mn so you can dene the
isomorphism by mapping ab c. Note that this determines the images of the rest of the
elements just like in the example with m = 3 and n = 2.
If m and n have the largest common divisor d > 1, then the group C
m
C
n
does not have
an element of order mn (that is, all its elements are of order smaller than mn). On the other
hand, the generator c of C
mn
has the order mn.
This claim makes possible to determine all the isomorphism classes of abelian groups of certain
(nite) order. We illustrate that by the following example.
Example 3. Produce all isomorphism classes of abelian groups of order 24.
Solution. Write 24 as product of powers of prime numbers: 24 = 8 3 = 2
3
3. Since 2 and
3 are relatively prime, the group C
3
can be combined with any group of C
2
C
2
C
2
, C
4
C
2
,
or C
8
, creating isomorphic pairs of groups. Any of these three groups, on the other hand, are not
isomorphic because the order of elements do not match. Thus, there are 3 non-isomorphic abelian
groups of order 24
1. C
3
C
2
C
2
C
2

= C
6
C
2
C
2
2. C
3
C
4
C
2

= C
12
C
2

= C
6
C
4
3. C
3
C
8

= C
24
As a large percentage of point groups encountered are cyclic, dihedral, product of two cyclic or
product of a cyclic and a dihedral, let us look more closely to those examples.
Group notation no. of el. presentation
Cyclic (order n) C
n
n a[a
n
= 1
Product of 2 cyclic C
n
C
m
mn a, b[a
n
= b
m
= 1, ba = ab
Dihedral D
n
2n a, b[a
n
= b
2
= 1, ba = a
n1
b
Product of D
n
and C
m
D
n
C
m
2nm see below
Using the above analysis for getting a presentation of a product, the presentation of D
n
C
m
, is
a, b, c[a
n
= b
2
= c
m
= 1, ba = a
n1
b, ca = ac, bc = cb
We will be specially interested in the case when m = 2 both when considering C
n
C
m
and
D
n
C
m
.
We should also note the distinction between C
n
C
2
and D
n
. Both of these two groups have 2n
elements. They are not isomorphic as C
n
C
2
is abelian, while D
n
is not. This can be seen the best
13
when comparing their presentations
a, b[a
n
= b
2
= 1, ba = ab and a, b[a
n
= b
2
= 1, ba = a
n1
b.
4. Symmetric Groups. Let us consider a set 1, 2, 3. Let us look at all the possible permu-
tations of this set (i.e. one-to-one mappings of this set onto itself). As when the symmetries
of polygons were considered, the product of two such mappings is their composition. There
are 6 such mappings mapping (1, 2, 3) to
(1, 2, 3), (1, 3, 2), (2, 1, 3), (2, 3, 1), (3, 1, 2), and (3, 2, 1).
This groups is called the symmetric group on 3 letters and is denoted by S
3
. Analogously, the
permutations on n elements form a group denoted by S
n
. S
n
has n! elements.
Symmetric groups are especially important in group theory because of the Cayleys theorem
stating that every group can be represented as a subgroup of some symmetric group.
There is another important class of groups called alternating groups A
n
. They are related
to S
n
. One of the presentations will focus on alternating groups A
n
.
5. Symmetries of Platonic Solids: tetrahedral T
d
, octahedral O
h
and icosahedral group I
h
.
Platonic or regular solids are convex
polyhedra with equivalent faces composed of
congruent convex regular polygons. Euclid
proved that there are exactly ve such solids:
the cube, dodecahedron, icosahedron, octahe-
dron, and tetrahedron.
Plato
2
related these geometrical shapes to classical elements.
The space limitations that reduce the number of regular three-dimensional solids to only
ve are the following:
(1) Each vertex of the solid must coincide with one vertex each of at least three faces.
(2) At each vertex of the solid, the total, among the adjacent faces, of the angles between
their respective adjacent sides must be less than 360.
2
History. (from wikipedia) The Platonic solids are named after Plato, who wrote about them in Timaeus. Plato
learned about these solids from his friend Theaetetus. Plato conceived the four classical elements as atoms with the
geometrical shapes of four of the ve platonic solids that had been discovered by the Pythagoreans (in the Timaeus).
These are, of course, not the true shapes of atoms; but it turns out that they are some of the true shapes of packed
atoms and molecules, namely crystals: The mineral salt sodium chloride occurs in cubic crystals, uorite (calcium
uoride) in octahedra, and pyrite in dodecahedra.
This concept linked re with the tetrahedron, earth with the cube, air with the octahedron and water with the
icosahedron. There was intuitive justication for these associations: the heat of re feels sharp and stabbing (like
little tetrahedra). Air is made of the octahedron; its minuscule components are so smooth that one can barely feel
it. Water, the icosahedron, ows out of ones hand when picked up, as if it is made of tiny little balls. By contrast,
a highly un-spherical solid, the hexahedron (cube) represents earth. These clumsy little solids cause dirt to crumble
and breaks when picked up, in stark dierence to the smooth ow of water.
The fth Platonic Solid, the dodecahedron, Plato obscurely remarks, ...the god used for arranging the constellations
on the whole heaven (Timaeus 55). He didnt really know what else to do with it. Aristotle added a fth element,
aither (aether in Latin, ether in English) and postulated that the heavens were made of this element, but he had
no interest in matching it with Platos fth solid.
Historically, Johannes Kepler followed the custom of the Renaissance in making mathematical correspondences,
and identied the ve platonic solids with the ve planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn which themselves
represented the ve classical elements.
14
(3) The angles at all vertices of all faces of a Platonic solid are identical, so each vertex of
each face must contribute less than 360/3=120.
(4) Regular polygons of six or more sides have only angles of 120 or more, so the common
face must be the triangle, square, or pentagon. And for:
- Triangular faces: each vertex of a regular triangle is 60, so a shape should be
possible with 3, 4, or 5 triangles meeting at a vertex; these are the tetrahedron,
octahedron, and icosahedron respectively.
- Square faces: each vertex of a square is 90, so there is only one arrangement possible
with three faces at a vertex, the cube.
- Pentagonal faces: each vertex is 108; again, only one arrangement, of three faces
at a vertex is possible, the dodecahedron.
The tetrahedral group T
d
is the group of symmetries of the tetrahedron. It has order 24 and is
isomorphic to the group S
4
.
The icosahedral group I
h
is the group of symmetries of the icosahedron and dodecahedron
having order 120, equivalent to the group direct product A
5
C
2
(where A
5
is the alternating group
and C
2
is the cyclic group).
The octahedral group O
h
is the group of symmetries of the octahedron and the cube. It is
isomorphic to S
4
C
2
and has order 48.
There are many other classes of groups but we concentrated here to those that appear in chemistry
when considering groups of symmetries of molecules.
Finding a good classication for groups (i.e. nding classes that can describe various types of
groups well) and nding a good way to represent various abstract groups are two very dicult tasks
of the group theory. Group representation is a subeld of group theory that deals with these
issues.
Subgroups
A nonempty subset H of a group G is a subgroup if the elements of H form a group under the
operation from G restricted to H.
Every group has a subgroup consisting of identity element alone. This is called the trivial subgroup.
The identity elements is an element of every subgroup of a group.
The entire group is a subgroup of itself. This is called the improper subgroup. The more interesting
examples are of nontrivial and proper subgroups.
Examples.
(1) Set of even integers is a subgroup of all integers under addition.
(2) Set of positive numbers is a subgroup of all real numbers dierent from 0 under multiplication.
(3) Vectors co-linear with x-axis are a subgroup of all vectors in a real plane under addition.
(4) Let us look at the two non-isomorphic groups of order 4.
G
1
1 a b c
1 1 a b c
a a 1 c b
b b c 1 a
c c b a 1
G
2
1 a b c
1 1 a b c
a a 1 c b
b b c a 1
c c b 1 a
15
If we restrict our attention to the left upper 3 3 part of the table for G
1
, we see that it
contains just the elements 1 and a.
1 a
1 1 a
a a 1
Note that this is a group for itself. So, this is a subgroup of G
1
. The same holds for
1 b
1 1 b
b b 1
and
1 c
1 1 c
c c 1
An non-example is
1 a b
1 1 a b
a a 1 c
b b c 1
as the product of a and b is c and c is not among the heading elements. So, the set 1, a, b
is not a subgroup of G
1
.
The list of all the subgroups of G
1
is: 1, 1, a, 1, b, 1, c, and G
1
.
Turning to G
2
we can conclude that there is just one nontrivial and proper subgroup and
this is 1, a. To prove this, suppose that there is a proper nontrivial subgroup H of G
2
containing b (similar proof works if you take c) instead of b. As bb = a, a must be in H as
well. But ab = c, so then c must be in H as well and so H = G
2
so it is not proper.
In general, determining the number of subgroups of a given can be very dicult.
3
Symmetry (Point) Groups of Molecules
A point group is a group of symmetry operations which all leave at least one point unmoved.
These groups have the following operations as their basics elements. Note that if two operations are
in the group, then their composition is also an element of that group.
Element Operation
Identity E not moving anything (i.e. rotation for 0 degrees)
Symmetry plane (
h
,
v
,
d
) Reection with respect to a plane (horizontal, vertical, dihedral)
Inversion center i Reection with respect to the origin
Proper axis C
n
Rotation by 360/n degrees
Improper axis S
n
C
n
followed by
h
3
Another unsolvable problem regarding groups is the so called word problem. The following two paragraphs
are taken from wikipedia.
The word problem for groups is the problem of deciding whether two given words of a presentation of a group
represent the same element. There exists no general algorithm for this problem, as was shown by Pyotr Sergeyevich
Novikov. The proof was announced in 1952 and published in 1955. A much simpler proof was obtained by Boone in
1959.
The word problem is only concerned with nitely presented groups, i.e. those groups which can be specied by
nitely many generators and nitely many relations among those generators. A word is a product of generators, and
two such words may denote the same element of the group even if they appear to be dierent, because by using the
group axioms and the given relations it may be possible to transform one word into the other. The problem then is
to nd an algorithm which for any two given words decides whether they denote the same group element.
16
The set of all possible symmetries of each molecule constitutes a group. This set of operations
dene the point group of the molecule.
There is a step-by-step algorithm that assigns a molecule to a point group (some of you may cover it
in a chemistry course). In this course, we will be interested both in understanding the mathematical
structure of point groups as well as the process of assigning one to a given molecule.
Type of point group notation
cyclic C
n
cyclic with horizontal planes C
nh
cyclic with vertical planes C
nv
non-axial C
i
, C
s
dihedral D
n
dihedral with horizontal planes D
nh
dihedral with planes between axes D
nd
improper rotation S
2n
cubic groups I, I
h
, O, O
h
, T, T
h
, T
d
linear C

, C
v
, C
h
, D

, D
h
Word of caution: In chemistry, the same letter is used to denote both a group and an element
of a group. For example, a cyclic group of order n is denoted by C
n
but the generating element is
also denoted by C
n
. One should keep this is mind always when working with the point groups.
Chem. Math. no. of el. presentation
C
n
C
n
n a[a
n
= 1
C
nh
C
n
C
2
2n a, b[a
n
= b
2
= 1, ba = ab
C
nv
D
n
2n a, b[a
n
= b
2
= 1, ba = a
n1
b
C
i
, C
s
C
2
2 b[b
2
= 1
D
n
D
n
2n a, b[a
n
= b
2
= 1, ba = a
n1
b
D
nh
C
nv
C
2
= D
n
C
2
4n see below
D
nd
D
2n
4n a, b[a
2n
= 1, b
2
= 1, ba = a
2n1
b
S
2n
C
2n
2n a[a
2n
= 1
I A
5
60 a, b[a
2
= b
3
= (ab)
5
= 1
I
h
A
5
C
2
120 a, b, c[a
2
= b
3
= (ab)
5
= 1, ac = ca, bc = cb
O S
4
24 a, b[a
2
= b
3
= (ab)
4
= 1
O
h
S
4
C
2
48 a, b, c[a
2
= b
3
= (ab)
4
= 1, ac = ca, bc = cb
T A
4
12 a, b[a
2
= b
3
= (ab)
3
= 1
T
h
A
4
C
2
24 a, b, c[a
2
= b
3
= (ab)
3
= 1, ac = ca, bc = cb
T
d
S
4
24 a, b[a
2
= b
3
= (ab)
4
= 1
C

= SO(2, R) no nite presentation

C
v
D

no nite presentation
C
h
C

C
2
no nite presentation
D

no nite presentation
D
h
D

C
2
no nite presentation
Note that some of these groups are isomorphic, so they do not have any dierences signicant for
mathematician, but are signicantly dierent from a chemical point of view.
17
Let us concentrate rst at the rst eight groups in the above table. All of them are either dihedral,
cyclic, products of two cyclic or products of dihedral and cyclic groups. In the above representations,
the element a denotes the rotation and the element b a symmetry or, in the case of C
i
, inversion i.
If there is just one generator, the group is cyclic. This is the case for C
n
, S
2n
, C
s
and C
i
.
If there are two generators, a rotation a of order n or 2n and a symmetry b, the group will
be determined by the fact if the generators commute or not.
If they do, then we have a direct product of cyclic group generated with a and C
2
, generated
with b. This will happen in the cases when b is the symmetry with respect to horizontal plane
because then it commutes with the rotation. Note that C
nh
= C
n
C
2
.
If a and b do not commute, we have D
n
or D
2n
. This will happen if b is the symmetry with
respect to vertical plane because then ba = a
1
b. This is the case for C
nv
, D
n
and D
nd
.
If there are three generators: rotation a, symmetry with respect to a vertical plane b, and
a symmetry with respect to a horizontal plane c, then we will have D
nh
and the following
relations between the generators:
a
n
= b
2
= c
2
= 1, ba = a
n1
b, bc = cb, ac = ca
These relations dene the group D
n
C
2
.
In practice, not all values of n are possible. In crystallography, the feasible values of n are
only n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, due to the crystallographic restriction theorem. In its basic form, this
theorem is the observation that the rotational symmetries of a crystal are limited to 2-fold,
3-fold, 4-fold, and 6-fold. This is strictly true for the mathematical formalism, but in the
physical world quasicrystals occur with other symmetries, such as 5-fold. (nd out more at
wikipedia.org). So, there are just 32 crystallographic point groups.
Let us turn our attention to point groups of linear molecules. Although none of these
groups have nite presentation, we can still describe them nicely enough. For example, group
C

contains all the rotations around a xed axis. So, we can identify it with the set of all
possible angles of rotations. As the rotation for 360 degrees is the same as rotation for 0
degrees, this group is isomorphic to a group of all the angles represented on a unit circle.
The angles are added on an usual way. In mathematics, this group is known as SO(2, R). We
will call it C

.
If x is a rotation in C

and b the symmetry in C

2
(so b
2
= 1) then either bx = xb (in case b
is a symmetry with respect to a horizontal plane) or bx = x
1
b (if b is a symmetry with respect
to a vertical plane). If bx = xb, then we have a direct product C

C
2
= C
h
. If bx = x
1
b,
then we have an innite version of D
n
that is denoted by D

. Note that C
v
= D

.
If we have symmetry both with respect to vertical plane b and horizontal plane c, and x is
any rotation in C

, then we have the following relations

c
2
= b
2
= 1, bx = x
1
b, cx = xc.
These relations dene the group D
h
= D

C
2
. This group is the innite version of the
group D
nd
.
Now, let us look at few examples.
Examples.
(1) Water H
2
O. This molecule has the following symmetries: identity E, rotation for 180 degrees
C
2
, reections with the respect to the vertical plane
v
and their product C
2

v
, (which is also
a reection but with respect to a vertical plane perpendicular to the one used in
v
).
18
Using the second table, we can conclude
that this group is C
2v
. Writing down the Cay-
ley table, we can see that this group is isomor-
phic to C
2
C
2
= a, b[a
2
= b
2
= 1, ba = ab.
In the above presentation a corresponds to ro-
tation and b to one (any) of the symmetries.
(2) Ethylene C
2
H
4
. If we place the molecule in
the coordinate system (lying in the xy-plane),
then the 3 reections, with respect to xy, yz
and xz-planes, are elements of the point group
of this molecule. The remaining elements of
the point group are: rotations for 180 degrees
with respect to all 3 axis (we can denote them
by C
2
(x), C
2
(y) and C
2
(z)), inversion i and
identity E. So, this group has 8 elements.
If we denote the reections with a, b, and c, then the three rotations are ab, bc and abc.
Inversion is the remaining element ac. Together with identity, this corresponds to the 8
elements previously described. So, we have 3 generators, all of order 2, giving us a group
C
2
C
2
C
2
= C
2v
C
2
= D
2
C
2
= D
2h
.
(3) Boron triuoride BF
3
. There are two nontriv-
ial rotations: a rotation for 120 and a
2
rota-
tion for 240 degrees. There are symmetries
with respect to vertical plane b and horizontal plane c. As a and c commute and ba = a
2
b,
we have D
3
C
2
. Similarly as in previous example, this is D
nh
-type and in this case n = 3.
The presentation of this group is
a, b, c[a
3
= 1, b
2
= 1, c
2
= 1, ca = ac, cb = bc, ba = a
2
b.
(4) Bromine Pentauoride BrF
5
. Four uor
atoms line in the same plane forming the ver-
tices of a square. Bromine atom is in the
center of that square and the remaining uor
atom is directly above the bromine.
Because of that fth uor, there are no symmetries with respect to horizontal plane.
Recall that D
n
is the group of symmetries of a regular n-tagon. So, the group of symmetries
of a square is D
4
. We have two generators - rotation for 90 degrees a and the symmetry b
with respect to (any of the four) vertical planes: two with respect to vertical planes (xz and
yz axes) and two with respect to diagonals of the square. Thus, D
4
has 8 elements: identity,
3 rotations a, a
2
and a
3
and 4 symmetries b, ab, a
2
b and a
3
b.
So, the bromine pentauoride molecules has the same symmetries as a square D
4
= C
4v
.
(5)
19
CHFClBr. All 5 atoms are dierent so just
the trivial symmetry is present. Thus, the
point group is the trivial (one element) group.
(6) HClBrC-CHClBr. There is just one nontrivial
operation - the inversion with respect to the
center. So, the group is C
i
= C
2
= b[b
2
= 1.
(7) Hydrogen chloride HCl. All the rotations for any angle between 0 and 2 with 0 and 2
identied are the elements of the point group of this molecule. These rotations constitute the
group denoted C

= SO(2, R).
There is symmetry with respect to the ver-
tical plane b =
v
(with respect to yz-plane if
the molecule stands upright). Since b does
not commute with the rotations, we obtain
C
v
= D

.
(8) Hydrogen H
2
. The hydrogen is a linear molecule with two identical atoms.
In addition to transformations from the
previous example, the symmetry with respect
to horizontal plane c =
h
is also present.
Since c commutes with a and b, the group is
D
h
= C
v
C
2
.
There are many resources on the web detailing step-by-step process for nding the point group for
any molecule and multimedia programs that helps you identify the point group of a given molecule.
Many websites also have more examples of point groups. Feel free to explore those resources.
Practice Problems.
(1) (a) Prove that the set of real numbers dierent from
1
3
is a group under the following
operation
a b = a + b + 3ab.
(b) Determine if it a group if
1
3
is included in the set.
(2) Consider 2 2 matrices of the form

a b
0 c

where a ,= 0 and c ,= 0. These matrices are

called upper triangular invertible matrices. Show that the set of such matrices with
matrix multiplication is a group.
20
(3) Since 5 is a prime number, there is just one abelian group of order 5. Prove that this is the only
(non-isomorphic) group of order 5. Hint: Create identity skeleton rst. Show that the case
when all the elements are inverse to themselves is not possible prove that the associativity
fails.
(4) Write down the Cayley tables for the following groups.
(a) C
2
C
3
, (b) C
2
C
2
C
2
, (c) D
5
.
(5) Groups of order 8. The groups C
8
, C
4
C
2
and C
2
C
2
C
2
, D
4
have order 8. There is
another group of order 8, called the quaternion group, usually denoted by Q, that can be
presented by
a, b[a
4
= 1, a
2
= b
2
, ba = a
3
b.
(a) Write down the Cayley table for this group and compare. Compare the Cayley tables
for three groups of order 8 generated by two elements.
C
4
C
2
= a, b[a
4
= 1, b
2
= 1, ba = ab
D
4
= a, b[a
4
= 1, b
2
= 1, ba = a
3
b
Q = a, b[a
4
= 1, b
2
= a
2
, ba = a
3
b
(b) Demonstrate that ve groups of order 8, C
8
, C
4
C
2
and C
2
C
2
C
2
, D
4
and Q, are
not isomorphic to each other.
(6) Produce all isomorphism classes of abelian groups of order 36.
(7) Determine if the following pairs of groups are isomorphic. If they are, produce the isomor-
phism. If they are not, explain why.
(a) C
3
and D
3
.
(b) C
6
and D
3
.
(c) S
3
and D
3
.
(d) S
n
and D
n
for n > 3.
(8) Describe all the subgroups of
(a) D
3
, (b) C
6
= C
3
C
2
.
(9) Describe the point groups of the following molecules. Write down the presentations of the
point groups. Identify each group element as a symmetry operation.
(a) Ammonia NH
3
, (b) Chloramine NH
2
Cl (c) Hydrogen cyanide HCN.
Solutions.
(1) Let us check axioms A1A4.
21
A1. If a and b are real numbers dierent from
1
3
, it is clear that the product a b =
a + b + 3ab is a real number but you need to check it is dierent from
1
3
. Let us examine
conditions on a and b that would make this product equal to
1
3
.
a b = a + b + 3ab =
1
3
a + b + 3ab +
1
3
= 0 a +
1
3
+ b(1 + 3a) = 0
a +
1
3
+ 3b(
1
3
+ a) = 0 (a +
1
3
)(1 + 3b) = 0 a +
1
3
= 0 or 1 + 3b = 0 a =
1
3
or b =
1
3
.
So, if a and b are real numbers dierent from
1
3
,then the product a b is dierent from
1
3
as well. Thus, the operation is closed.
A2. Check the associativity.
(a b) c = (a + b + 3ab) c
= (a + b + 3ab) + c + 3(a + b + 3ab)c
= a + b + 3ab + c + 3ac + 3bc + 9abc
= a + b + c + 3ab + 3ac + 3bc + 9abc
a (b c) = a (b + c + 3bc)
= a + (b + c + 3bc) + 3a(b + c + 3bc)
= a + b + c + 3bc + 3ab + 3ac + 9abc
= a + b + c + 3ab + 3ac + 3bc + 9abc
Thus, the axiom A2 holds.
A3. You are looking for a number x ,=
1
3
with the property that a x = a and x a = a
for every a ,=
1
3
.
a x = a a + x + 3ax = a x + 3ax = 0 x(1 + 3a) = 0
Since a ,=
1
3
, 1 + 3a ,= 0 and we can cancel the equation x(1 + 3a) = 0 to get that x = 0.
Thus, a 0 = a.
Check that 0 a = 0 + a + 3(0)a = a as well. Thus, the group identity element is 0.
A4. For any a ,=
1
3
, you are looking for a number x ,=
1
3
with the property that a x = 0
and x a = 0.
a x = 0 a + x + 3ax = 0 x + 3ax = a x(1 + 3a) = a x =
a
1 + 3a
Note that we can divide by 1 + 3a since a ,=
1
3
. Check that x a = 0 as well. Indeed
a
1+3a
a =
a
1+3a
+ a + 3a
a
1+3a
=
a+(1+3a)a3a
2
1+3a
=
a+a+3a
2
3a
2
1+3a
=
0
1+3a
= 0.
If we considered all real numbers instead of all numbers dierent from
1
3
, we would not
get a group since the axiom A4 would fail. Indeed, the equation
1
3
x = 0 has no solutions:
1
3
x = 0
1
3
+ x + 3(
1
3
)x = 0
1
3
+ x x = 0
1
3
= 0.
Thus, the element
1
3
does not have an inverse.
(2) Check the four axioms.
A1. We need to show that the product of two upper triangular invertible matrices is again
an upper triangular invertible matrix. Consider the matrices

a b
0 c

and

p q
0 r

with
a, c, p, r non-zero.
22

a b
0 c

p q
0 r

ap aq + br
0 cr

Thus, the product is again an upper triangular matrix. It is invertible since ap ,= 0 because
both a and p are non-zero, and cr ,= 0 because both c and r are non-zero.
A2.

a b
0 c

p q
0 r

u v
0 w

ap aq + br
0 cr

u v
0 w

apu apv + (aq + br)w

0 crw

a b
0 c

p q
0 r

u v
0 w

a b
0 c

pu pv + qw
0 rw

apu a(pv + qw) + brw

0 crw

The associativity holds since

apv + (aq + br)w = apv + aqw + brw and a(pv + qw) + brw = apv + aqw + brw.
A3. You are looking for an invertible matrix X =

x y
0 z

such that AX = A for any

invertible matrix A =

a b
0 c

.
AX = A

a b
0 c

x y
0 z

a b
0 c

ax ay + bz
0 cz

a b
0 c

This yields the equations ax = a, ay + bz = b and cz = c. Since a ,= 0 and c ,= 0, the rst

and third equation give us x = 1 and z = 1. The second equation becomes ay +b = b ay =
0 y = 0 since a ,= 0. Thus we have that X =

1 0
0 1

, the identity matrix. The equation

XA = A holds in this case as well.
If you suspected that the identity matrix is the identity element, you could just check that
A

1 0
0 1

= A and

1 0
0 1

A = A.
A4. Let I denote the identity matrix

1 0
0 1

. For any given invertible matrix A =

a b
0 c

, you are looking for an invertible matrix X =

x y
0 z

such that AX = I and

XA = I.
AX = I

a b
0 c

x y
0 z

1 0
0 1

ax ay + bz
0 cz

1 0
0 1

This yields the equations ax = 1, ay + bz = 0 and cz = 1. Since a ,= 0 and c ,= 0, the

rst and third equation give us x =
1
a
and z =
1
c
. The second equation becomes ay + b
1
c
=
0 ay =
b
c
y =
b
ac
since a ,= 0. Thus we have that X =

1
a
b
ac
0
1
c

. You can check that

XA = I as well.
23
(3) Following the hint, assume that the square of all four non-identity elements a, b, c, d is 1. In
this case, the product ab is either c or d. Assume it is c rst. This implies the following
Cayleys table that yields further relations described in the second table.
1 a b c d
1 1 a b c d
a a 1 c
b b 1
c c 1
d d 1

1 a b c d
1 1 a b c d
a a 1 c d b
b b 1
c c d 1
d d a 1
However, the associativity fails in this case since a(bb) = a 1 = a and (ab)b = cb = d so
a(bb) ,= (ab)b. You arrive to the similar contradiction assuming that ab = d.
Thus, you have to have two pairs of mutually inverse elements. Assume that a is inverse
to d and b to c. The product aa can be b or c in this case. Assume it is b rst. This creates
the following table and the isomorphism with C
5
.
1 a b c d
1 1 a b c d
a a b 1
b b 1
c c 1
d d 1

1 a b c d
1 1 a b c d
a a b c d 1
b b c d 1 a
c c d 1 a b
d d 1 a b c

=
1 a a
2
a
3
a
4
1 1 a a
2
a
3
a
4
a a a
2
a
3
a
4
1
a
2
a
2
a
3
a
4
1 a
a
3
a
3
a
4
1 a a
2
a
4
a
4
1 a a
2
a
3
Assuming that aa = c also creates an isomorphism with C
5
.
(4) (a) The table for C
2
C
3
can be found in the section on direct product of cyclic groups.
(b) C
2
C
2
C
2
= a, b, c[a
2
= b
2
= c
2
= 1, ab = ba, ac = ca, bc = cb. The Cayley table is
also displayed.
(c) D
5
= a, b[a
5
= 1, b
2
= 1, a
4
b = ba. Thus, this group consists of 10 elements: 1, a, a
2
, a
3
,
a
4
, b, ab, a
2
b, a
3
b, a
4
b.
1 a b c ab ac bc abc
1 1 a b c ab ac bc abc
a a 1 ab ac b c abc bc
b b ab 1 bc a abc c ac
c c ac bc 1 abc a b ab
ab ab b a abc 1 bc ac c
ac ac c abc a bc 1 ab b
bc bc abc c b ac ab 1 a
abc abc bc ac ab c b a 1
D
5
1 a a
2
a
3
a
4
b ab a
2
b a
3
b a
4
b
1 1 a a
2
a
3
a
4
b ab a
2
b a
3
b a
4
b
a a a
2
a
3
a
4
1 ab a
2
b a
3
b a
4
b b
a
2
a
2
a
3
a
4
1 a a
2
b a
3
b a
4
b b ab
a
3
a
3
a
4
1 a a
2
a
3
b a
4
b b ab a
2
b
a
4
a
4
1 a a
2
a
3
a
4
b b ab a
2
b a
3
b
b b a
4
b a
3
b a
2
b ab 1 a
4
a
3
a
2
a
ab ab b a
4
b a
3
b a
2
b a 1 a
4
a
3
a
2
a
2
b a
2
b ab b a
4
b a
3
b a
2
a 1 a
4
a
3
a
3
b a
3
b a
2
b ab b a
4
b a
3
a
2
a 1 a
4
a
4
b a
4
b a
3
b a
2
b ab b a
4
a
3
a
2
a 1
(5) (a) The three Cayley tables for C
4
C
2
, dihedral D
4
and the quaternion group Q are below.
The rst group diers from the latter two in the bottom half of the table. The dierences
between D
4
and Q are in the bottom right part of the table and they are highlighted in the
24
table for Q.
C
4
C
2
1 a a
2
a
3
b ab a
2
b a
3
b
1 1 a a
2
a
3
b ab a
2
b a
3
b
a a a
2
a
3
1 ab a
2
b a
3
b b
a
2
a
2
a
3
1 a a
2
b a
3
b b ab
a
3
a
3
1 a a
2
a
3
b b ab a
2
b
b b ab a
2
b a
3
b 1 a a
2
a
3
ab ab a
2
b a
3
b b a a
2
a
3
1
a
2
b a
2
b a
3
b b ab a
2
a
3
1 a
a
3
b a
3
b b ab a
2
b a
3
1 a a
2
D
4
1 a a
2
a
3
b ab a
2
b a
3
b
1 1 a a
2
a
3
b ab a
2
b a
3
b
a a a
2
a
3
1 ab a
2
b a
3
b b
a
2
a
2
a
3
1 a a
2
b a
3
b b ab
a
3
a
3
1 a a
2
a
3
b b ab a
2
b
b b a
3
b a
2
b ab 1 a
3
a
2
a
ab ab b a
3
b a
2
b a 1 a
3
a
2
a
2
b a
2
b ab b a
3
b a
2
a 1 a
3
a
3
b a
3
b a
2
b ab b a
3
a
2
a 1
Q 1 a a
2
a
3
b ab a
2
b a
3
b
1 1 a a
2
a
3
b ab a
2
b a
3
b
a a a
2
a
3
1 ab a
2
b a
3
b b
a
2
a
2
a
3
1 a a
2
b a
3
b b ab
a
3
a
3
1 a a
2
a
3
b b ab a
2
b
b b a
3
b a
2
b ab a
2
a 1 a
3
ab ab b a
3
b a
2
b a
3
a
2
a 1
a
2
b a
2
b ab b a
3
b 1 a
3
a
2
a
a
3
b a
3
b a
2
b ab b a 1 a
3
a
2
(b) Out of ve groups of order 8, C
8
, C
4
C
2
and C
2
C
2
C
2
, D
4
and Q, the rst three
are abelian and the last two are not so none of the three abelian groups is isomorphic with
two non-abelian groups. Furthermore, no abelian group is isomorphic to any other abelian
group because the order of elements do not match: C
8
has an element (four of them in fact)
of order 8, the other two do not. C
4
C
2
has an element (four of them in fact) of order 4
and C
2
C
2
C
2
does not.
D
4
and Q are not isomorphic because D
4
has 5 elements of order 2 and just 2 of order 4
and Q has 2 elements of order 2 and 5 elements of order 4.
(6) Write 36 as product of powers of prime numbers: 36 = 4 9 = 2
2
3
2
. Since 2 and 3 are
relatively prime, the groups C
3
C
3
and C
9
can be combined with any of the groups C
2
C
2
,
or C
4
creating isomorphic pairs of groups. C
3
C
3
is not isomorphic to C
9
and C
2
C
2
is
not isomorphic to C
4
. Thus, there are 4 non-isomorphic abelian groups of order 36
1. C
3
C
3
C
2
C
2

= C
6
C
3
C
2

= C
6
C
6
2. C
3
C
3
C
4

= C
3
C
12
3. C
9
C
2
C
2

= C
18
C
2
4. C
9
C
4

= C
36
(7) (a) C
3
and D
3
are not isomorphic because one has 3 elements and the other has 6 elements.
(b) C
6
and D
3
are not isomorphic because one is abelian and the other is not.
(c) S
3
and D
3
are isomorphic.
Recall that S
3
has 6 elements represented
by mappings that map (1, 2, 3) to (1, 2, 3),
(2, 3, 1), (3, 1, 2), (1, 3, 2), (3, 2, 1), and
(2, 1, 3). Let us denote these 6 mappings
by f
1
to f
6
. Compare that with symmetry
operations of an equilateral triangle.
25
The map f
1
is the identity, f
2
is rotation for 120 degrees, f
3
is rotation for 240 degrees
and so f
2
2
= f
3
. Thus, the order of f
2
is 3. The elements f
4
, f
5
and f
6
are symmetries
with respect to three axes on the gure above. Thus, these elements are of order 2.
The product f
2
f
4
represents the composition of maps f
2
and f
4
that turns out to be the
mapping f
2
f
4
= (3, 2, 1) = f
5
. Finally, the product f
2
2
f
4
= f
2
f
5
= f
6
.
This demonstrates that there is one-to-one mapping of elements of S
3
onto the elements
of D
3
that preserves all the relations among the elements. More precisely, note that f
2
and f
4
generate the group. Let us denote f
1
= 1, f
2
= a and f
4
= b. Then f
3
= f
2
2
= a
2
,
ab = f
2
f
4
= f
5
and a
2
b = f
2
2
f
4
= f
6
. The relation for commuting the generators is
ba = f
4
f
2
= f
6
= a
2
b. Thus, S3 can be presented by
a, b[a
3
= 1, b
2
= 1, ba = a
2
b
which is the presentation of D
3
as well. So, the groups are isomorphic.
Writing Cayley tables for these two groups produces the same tables that are a match
further demonstrates the validity of this reasoning.
(d)
(e) S
n
and D
n
are not isomorphic for n > 3 because one has 2n and the other n! elements.
n! is larger than 2n for n > 3.
(8) (a) Besides the identity, D
3
has three elements of order 2 (b, ab, and a
2
b) and two elements
of order 3 (a and a
2
). This determines the following.
number of subgroups order of subgroup subgroups
1 1 1
3 2 1, b, 1, ab, 1, a
2
b
1 3 1, a, a
2

1 6 D
3
total number = 6
This represents the complete list because adding any element to any one of the four nontrivial
subgroups, you will end up with the entire group D
4
. For example, if you add a to 1, b,
then the product a
2
, ab and a
2
b have to be in this subgroup in order for it to remain closed. If
you add ab to 1, b, then the products abb = a and bab = a
2
have to be in. But in this case
a
2
b has to be in as well. So, you again arrive to all six elements present. Convince yourself
that all the other scenarios will result in the same conclusion: the list of the subgroups is
complete.
(b) Besides the identity, C
6
has two elements of order 6 (a, and a
5
), two elements order 3
(a
2
and a
4
) and one element of order 2 (a
3
). This determines the following.
number of subgroups order of subgroup subgroups
1 1 1
1 2 1, a
3

1 3 1, a
2
, a
4

1 6 C
6
total number = 4
This represents the complete list because adding any element to any of the two nontrivial
subgroups, you will end up with the entire group C
6
. For example, if you add a
2
to 1, a
3
,
then the product a
2
a
3
= a
5
. Moreover, the inverse a
4
of a
2
has to be in too and so the product
a
4
a
3
= a has to be in too. Thus, you end up with all six elements. Similarly, adding a
3
, for
26
example, to 1, a
2
, a
4
forces the product a
2
a
3
= a
5
and a
3
a
4
= a to be in the subgroup. So
it becomes entire C
6
. Thus, the above four subgroups represent the complete list.
(9) (a) Ammonia molecule has the same symmetries as the equilateral triangle. It has no sym-
metries with respect to the horizontal plane since this molecule is not planar. Thus, the
point group of NH
3
, is the dihedral group D
3
= C
3v
. It has presentation a, b[a
3
= 1, b
2
=
1, ba = a
2
b. The elements a and a
2
correspond to rotations by
2
3
and
4
3
. The elements
b, ab and a
2
b correspond to symmetries with respect to 3 vertical axis of symmetries.
(b) Chloramine NH
2
Cl. The molecule is not planar so the only non-identity group element
is a single symmetry of order 2. So, the point group has two elements and so it is
C
2
= a[a
2
= 1.
(c) Hydrogen cyanide HCN is a linear molecule. Thus all the rotations for any angle between
0 and 2 are in the point group. There is also symmetry b with respect to the vertical
plane (vertical if the molecule stands upright). Since b does not commute with the
rotations, we obtain C
v
= D