0701/160.

302 CP1
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MASSEY UNIVERSITY
ALBANY CAMPUS
EXAMINATION FOR
160.302 ALGEBRA
Semester Oe ! 200"
T#me A$$%&e'( T)REE *3+ ,%-rs
Answer ALL (16) questions
CP1 Non-programmable calculators only are permitted.
T)IS IS A CLOSE. BOO/ EXAMINATION
Turn over to page 2
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0UESTION 1( 13 m2r3s4
Give one example each of a group of order 8 that is:
non-Abelian;
Abelian but non-cyclic;
and cyclic respectively.
Answer:
Non-Abelian group of order 8: D
4
Abelian but non-cyclic group of order 8: Z
4
Z
2
Cyclic group of order 8: Z
8
0UESTION 2( 15 m2r3s4
Show that a permutation with odd order must be an even permutation.
Answer:
Let =
1

2

k
be a permutation with odd order where
1
,
2
, ,
k
are disjoint
cycles.
As o() = l.c.m (o(
1
), o(
2
), , o(
k
)) = l.c.m (l(
1
), l(
2
), , l(
k
)) is odd where
l(
i
) is the length of
i
, none of l(
1
), l(
2
), , l(
k
) is even.
A cycle with odd length is always an even permutation. Hence is a product of even
permutations and so itself is even.
0UESTION 3( 15 m2r3s4
Let G be a cyclic group of order p
2
q

! where p and q are distinct primes.

"etermine the subgroup lattice for G.
Answer:
#e first find all divisors of p
2
q

$the order of the group we consider% then form the

lattice of divisors of p
2
q

. #e have
p
2
q

p
2
q
2
p
1
q

p
2
q & p
2
q
1
p
1
q
2
p
0
q

p
2
& p
2
q
0
pq & p
1
q
1
p
0
q
2
p & p
1
q
0
q & p
0
q
1
1 & p
0
q
0
Suppose G is generated by a.
'hen! by 'heorem (((.)! we can now form the lattice of subgroups as follows.
* a +
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* a
q
+ * a
p
+
*
a
q
2
+ * a
pq
+ *
a
p
2
+
*
a
q

+ *
a
q
2
p + *
a
q p
2
+
*
a
q p

+ *
a
q
2
p
2
+
*
a
q

p
2
+ & * e +
0UESTION 5( 1" m2r3s4
, card-shuffling machine always rearranges cards in the same way relative to the order
in which they were given to it. 'hirteen cards in the suit of diamonds were placed in the
machine in the order ,! 2! ! ! .! /. 'hen the shuffled cards were put into the
machine again to be shuffled a second time. 0inally the process is repeated a third time.
(f the cards emerged in the order 10! 1! /! ! 2! .! 3! 4! ,! 5! 2! )! 6! in what
order were the cards after the first shuffle7
Answer:
Let the shuffle be denoted by . 'hen is a permutation on the set 81! 2! ! ! 10!
11! 12 ! 19 where 1! 11! 12! 1 represent ,! 5! .! and / respectively.
'hen we :now that

&

6 ) 2 11 1 4 3 12 2 1 1 10
1 12 11 10 4 ) 2 6 1 3 2 1

& $1! 10! 11! 2! 1! 2! 3! ! 1! 6! 12! )! 4%.
,s

is a cycle of length 1! o$

% & 4.
;ence
4
& ! the identity.
'his implies o$% & 1! ! 1! or 4.
<learly! o$% 1 as is not the identity.
,lso o$% as

.
o$% 4 either. 'o see this! suppose o$% & 4.
'hen! when we factori=e as a product of dis>oint cycles! such a factori=ation must
contain either ?a cycle of length 4@ or ?a cycle of length and a cycle of length 1@.
Aeither is possible as is a permutation on a 1-element set. ;ence o$% 4.
#e hence conclude that o$% & 1 and so
1
& .
'herefore & &
5
&
61
&
66
& $

%
22
& $

%
2
$

%
3
$

%
16
& $1! 11! 1! 3! 1!
12! 4! 10! 2! 2! ! 6! )%$1! 1! 1! 4! 2! ! )! 11! 3! 12! 10! 2! 6%$1! 2! 3! 6! 4!
11! 2! 1! )! 10! 1! ! 12% & $1! 6! 2! 10! 12! 3! 11! )! ! 2! 4! 1! 1%.
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Hence, after the first shuffle, the order of cards is 6, 9, 2, J, A, 7, 10, 3, K, Q, 8,
4, 5.
0UESTION 6( 1" 7 3 m2r3s4
$a% Show that every isomorphism of Q is uniquely determined by the image of 1.
$b% Prove or disprove that Q is isomorphic to R
B
. $)#tC Dse $a%.%
Answer:
$a% Suppose is an isomorphism from Q onto some group $G! E%.
#e first show that once the value of $1% is set then $
m
1
% is uniquely
determined for any m N.
$1% & $
m
1
B
m
1
B B
m
1
% ! m-times of
m
1
add up to 1
& $
m
1
% E $
m
1
% E E $
m
1
% ! as preserves operation
& $
m
1
%
m
.
;ence $
m
1
% must be an element of G satisfying $
m
1
%
m
& $1%.
Suppose a and b both are elements of G such that a
m
& b
m
& $1%.
,s is onto! there eFist some q
1
! q
2
Q such that $q
1
% & a and $q
2
% & b.
Aow! a
m
& b
m
implies $$q
1
%%
m
& $$q
2
%%
m
.
,s preserves operation we then have $mq
1
% & $mq
2
%.
,s is 1 G 1 we must have mq
1
& mq
2
and so q
1
& q
2
. $Aote that it is not
always true in a group. 'hat is! in general! we do AH' have F
m
& y
m
implies F &
y.%
,s is well-defined! we then must have $q
1
% & $q
2
% and so a & b.
'his shows that there is a unique element in G satisfying $
m
1
%
m
& $1% and so
$
m
1
% is uniquely determined. LetIs denote $
m
1
% by F
m
for each m N.
Aow ! for any n Z! we have that
$
m
n
% & $n$
m
1
%% ! n-times of
m
1
add up
to
m
n
& $$
m
1
%%
n
! by 'heorem J.2! $iii%
& F
m
n
! where F
m
m
& $1%.
;ence $
m
n
% is also uniquely determined.
Aow! for any q Q! there must eFist some n Z! m N such that q &
m
n
.
;ence is uniquely determined by $1%.
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Hnce again! similar argument applies to any q Q
E
. 'hat is! for any non-=ero
rational number q! once the value of $q% is set then $
m
n
% is uniquely
determined for any n Z! m N.
(b) We prove it by contradiction.
Suppose $Q! B% $R
B
! %.
'hen there must eFist some isomorphism from Q onto R
B
.
Suppose $1% & a $ R
B
%.
'hen! as proved in $a%! we have $F% & $1%
F
& a
F
for any F Q!
'hen! it is clear that can not be onto.
0or! e.g. a

R
B
but there is no F Q such that $F% $& a
F
% & a

.
$Aote that a
F
& a

implies & F Q! a contradiction%.

'his contradicts the assumption that is an isomorphism $which must be onto% and
so $Q! B% is not isomorphic to $R
B
! %.
0UESTION 6( 16 m2r3s4
'he set 81! 4! 16! 22! 24! 1! 23! 24! )19 is a group under multiplication modulo
41.
"etermine the isomorphism class of this group.
Answer:
Let G & 81! 4! 16! 22! 24! 1! 23! 24! )19.
'hen G is an ,belian group of order 4$&
2
%. There are 2 Abelian groups of order 9,
namely Z
9
and Z
3
Z
3
. ;ence either G Z
9
or G Z
3
Z
3
.
We then form the following table which shows the numbers of elements of all possible
orders in each group.
Orders
N% %8 e$emets
Groups 3 9
Z
9
2 6
Z
3
Z
3
8 0
#e then compute orders of $non-identity% elements of G to determine the
isomorphism class of G. #e have o$4% & o$16% & o$22% & .
,s Z
9
only has 2 elements of order ! we have G Z
3
Z
3
.
0UESTION "( 16 m2r3s4
0ind the smallest natural number n such that there are eFactly 11 ,belian group
structures of order n.
Answer:
Let n =
p
:
1
1
p
:
2
2

p
:
m
m
where p
i
are distinct primes and k
i
1 for any 0 i
m.
We know that the number of Abelian group structures of order n is the product of the
numbers of partitions of the powers k
i
. That is, the number of Abelian group structures
of order n is r
1
r
2
r
m
where r
i
is the number of partitions of k
i
for every 0 i
m.
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Hence we want 15 = r
1
r
2
r
m
.
As 15 = 3 5 ( 1 1), without loss of generality, we may assume r
1
= 3,

r
2
= 5
and r
i
= 1 for every 3 i m.
r
1
= 3 nad

r
2
= 5 implies k
1
= 3 and

k
2
= 4.
Hence n = p
1
3
p
2
4
p
3
p
4
p
m
.
As we want to find the smallest of such n, we then only keep 2 prime factors (i.e. p
1

and p
2
) and choose p
1
= 3 and p
2
= 2.
Then n = 3
3
2
4
= 432 is the smallest we can get.
0UESTION 9( 15 m2r3s4
Let A be a normal subgroup of a group G and let a G. (f o$aA% & in GKA and
LAL & 1! what are the possibilities for the order of a7
Answer:
First note that o(aN) = 3 a
3
N and a, a
2
N.
|H| = 5 together with a
3
H implies that (a
3
)
5
= e, the identity of H.
Hence a
15
= e and so o(a) = 1, 3, 5, or 15.
Case 1: o(a) = 1.
If o(a) = 1 then a = e H, a contradiction.
Hence o(a) 1.
Case 2: o(a) = 5.
If o(a) = 5 then a
5
= e and so a = ae = aa
5
= a
6
= (a
3
)
2
H, a contradiction.
Hence o(a) 5.
So far, we can discard 1 and 5 and so we see that remaining possible orders of a are
3 and 15.
We then see if we can further rule out any of 3 and 15.
If we take G = Z
15
and N = < 3 > ={3, 6, 9, 12, 0} then we see that |N| = 5. Hence
G and N satisfy the assumption of the question.
If we take a = 1 then o(1 + N) = 3 and o(1) = 15 (and o(3 1) = 5);
if we take a = 5 then o(5 + N) = 3 and o(5) = 3 (and o(3 5) = 1);
Hence we have found an example in which both 3 and 15 are possible. We hence
conclude that possible orders of a are 3 and 15.
0UESTION :( 12 m2r3s4
The Cayley table of a mathematical system (G, *) is given as follows. Determine if
G is a monoid and if G is a group .
a c b d e e
b a e c d d
d b a e c c
c e d a b b
e d c b a a
e d c b a E
Answer:
We see that every element of S appears exactly once in each row and in each column,
a plays the role of identity, and each element is ones own inverse. However (S, *) is
NOT a group! It is because that * is NOT associative. * is NOT associative for, (bc)e
= de = b while b(ce) = bd = e.
Hence (S, *) is neither a monoid nor a group.
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0UESTION 10( 16 m2r3s4
<an the smallest subgroup of R containing two real numbers r and s be
generali=ed by a single real number7 'hat is! can we always find a single real number t
such that * t + & * r! s + for any given real numbers r and s7 5ustify your answer.
Answer:
First note that <r, s> = {mr + ns: m, n Z}.
We then see that it can not be generated by a single real number for some particular r
and s.
For example, take r = 1 and s =

.
Suppose <1,

> can be generated by some real number t, i.e. <1,

> = < t >.

'hen! as 1 <1,

> = < t >, there exists some integer m such that 1 = mt.
This implies t Q.
;owever! as

<1,

> = < t >, there exists some integer n such that

= nt.
which implies t Q.
We hence reach a contradiction.
0UESTION 11( 15 7 3 7 2 m2r3s4
Suppose that G is a group of order 16 and that! by direct computation! you :now
that G has at least 4 elements F such that F
)
& e (where e is the identity).
<an you conclude that G is not cyclic7 5ustify your answer.
#hat if G has at least 1 elements F such that F
3
& e7 5ustify your answer.
Generali=e this result $you do AH' need to prove your claim%.
As&er(
We can conclude that G is non-cyclic. We can prove it by contradiction.
Suppose G is cyclic and is generated by a.
Then every element of G is of the form a
k
for some 1 k 16.
Now a
k
is a solution to the equation F
)
& e
$a
k
%
)
& e
a
8k
& e
16 L ):
2 L :
: & 2! 3! 6! )! 10! 12! 13! 16.
;ence there are eFactly ) solutions to the equation F
)
& e! which contradicts to the
fact that G has at least 4 elements F such that F
)
& e.
Similarly! if G has at least 1 elements F such that F
3
& e then G is non-cyclic.
We can prove it by contradiction.
Suppose G is cyclic and is generated by a.
Then every element of G is of the form a
k
for some 1 k 16.
Now a
k
is a solution to the equation F
3
& e
$a
k
%
3
& e
a
4k
& e
16 L 3:
3 L :
: & 3! )! 12! 16.
;ence there are eFactly 3 solutions to the equation F
3
& e! which contradicts to the
fact that G has at least 1 elements F such that F
3
& e.
(n general! we haveC
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if G is a cyclic group of order n then there are eFactly d solutions to the equation
F
m
& e in G where d & g.c.d.$m! n%.
, proof is as follows.
Suppose G is generated by a.
Then every element of G is of the form a
k
for some 1 k n.
Now a
k
is a solution to the equation F
m
& e
$a
k
%
m
& e
a
km
& e
n L :m
n
1
L :m
1
where n
1
&
d
n
and m
1
&
d
m
$i.e. we cancel the g.c.d. of m and n%
n
1
L : , as d = g.c.d.$m! n%! g.c.d.$m
1
! n
1
% & 1.
: & n
1
! 2n
1
! n
1
! ! dn
1
$& n%.
;ence there are eFactly d solutions to the equation F
m
& e.
0UESTION 12( 123 m2r3s4
Sort the following groups into classes of isomorphic groups.
0or groups which are not isomorphic! give one algebraic property that they donIt shareM
for isomorphic groups! give an isomorphism $you do AH' need to prove your claim%.
$G & 86! 12! 1)! 23! 0! 69!
32
%! Z
6
! Z
3
! S

! ,

! * 2 +! J! Z! C
E
! Z
2
Z
6
! S

Z
2
! Z
12
! Z

Z
3
! ,
3
! the factor group * ) +K* 3) +! R
E
! $; & 8i! -i! 1! -19! %
and Z
6
Z
2
. Aote that i & 1 .
Answer:
We first sort these groups by orders.
i. Order 3: A
3
;
ii. Order 4: Z
4
, V, H;
iii. Order 6: G, Z
6
, S
3
, * ) +K* 3) +;
iv. Order 12: Z
2
Z
6
! S

Z
2
! Z
12
! Z

Z
3
! ,
3
! Z
6
Z
2
;
v. Order : < 2 >, Z, C
E
! R
E
Now we can conclude that for groups with different orders they are NOT isomorphic.
We hence now can focus on each subcollection.
a. Z
4
is isomorphic to H and k i
k
is an isomorphism from Z
4
onto H.
J is not isomorphic to Z
4
(and H) as Z
4
is cyclic while V is not.
b. As G, Z
6
and * ) +K* 3) + all are cyclic groups of order 6! they are
isomorphic. k 12
k
and k 8k + <48> are isomorphisms from Z
6

is onto G and onto * ) +K* 3) + respectively.
S
3
is NOT isomorphic to Z
6
(and hence to G and * ) +K* 3) +) as S
3
is
not Abelian while Z
6
is.
c. Z
12
and Z
3
Z
4
are isomorphic as they all are cyclic groups of order 12.
:

( : , : ) is an isomorphism from Z
12
onto Z
3
Z
4
.
Z
2
Z
6
and Z
6
Z
2
are isomorphic. ( a , b )

( b , a ) is an
isomorphism from Z
2
Z
6
onto Z
6
Z
2
.
Z
12
( Z
3
Z
4
) is NOT isomorphic to Z
2
Z
6
( Z
6
Z
2
) as Z
12
is cyclic
while Z
2
Z
6
is not.
S

Z
2
and ,
3
are isomorphic to neither Z
12
nor Z
2
Z
6
as S

Z
2
and
,
3
are non Abelian while Z
12
and Z
2
Z
6
are.
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S

Z
2
is not isomorphic to ,
3
either as the highest order $of elements% in
S

Z
2
is 12 while the highest order in ,
3
is .
d. Z is isomorphic to < 2 > as they both are infinite cyclic groups. n 2n
is an isomorphism from Z to < 2 >.
Z ( < 2 >) is isomorphic to neither C
E
nor R
E
as Z is cyclic while C
E

and R
E
are not.
C
E
is not isomorphic to R
E
as C
E
has infinitely many elements of finite
order (namely cos
n
2
+ isin
n
2
) while R
E
only has 2 (namely 1 and
-1).
Hence Collections of isomorphic groups are as follows.
{A
3
}, {Z
4
, H}, {V}, { G, Z
6
, * ) +K* 3) +}, { S

}, {Z
12
, Z

Z
3
9! 8,
3
},
{Z
2
Z
6
, Z
6
Z
2
}, { "
6
! S

Z
2
}, {Z! * 2 +}, {C
E
}, {R
E
}.
0UESTION 13( 11 7 1 7 2 m2r3s4
#hat is the smallest non-cyclic group7
#hat is the smallest non-,belian group7
#hy are these questions important7
Answer:
V, the Klein 4-group is the smallest non-cyclic group and S

is the smallest non-

Abelian group.
,s usually the smaller the group the simpler the structure! we are always interested in
the smallest of the structure we consider. #e can start our investigation from the
smallest $and so often the simplest% rather than randomly chosen ones.
0UESTION 15( 13 m2r3s4
"etermine the isomorphism class of the factor group S
n
K,
n
.
Answer:
,s L S
n
K,
n
L &
; ;
; ;
,
S
n
n
&
2 n
n
< =
=
& 2 and there is only one group structure of order 2!
which is cyclic! we see that S
n
K,
n
is isomorphic to Z
2
.
0UESTION 16( 1" m2r3s4
Suppose that G is an ,belian group of order 12.
#hat is the maFimum number of elements $eFcluding the identity% for which one needs
to compute the order to determine the isomorphism class of G7 5ustify your answer.
Answer:
As |G| = 12 = 3 2
2
, there are 2 Abelian groups of order 12, namely Z
3
Z
4
, and
Z
3
Z
2
Z
2
.
We then form the following table which shows the numbers of elements of all possible
orders in each group.
Orders
N% %8 e$emets
Groups 2 3 4 6 12
Z
3
Z
4
1 2 2 2 4
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Z
3
Z
2
Z
2
3 2 0 6 0
Then we see that at most we need to compute orders of 6 non-identity elements to
determine the isomorphism class of G.
This is because that, at any stage, if we find an element of order 4 or 12 we can rule
out Z
3
Z
2
Z
2
. Hence the worst situation is we find
1 element of order 2,
2 elements of order 3
and 2 elements of order 6
in the first five rounds. Then the order of the 6
th
element is decisive. Its order can be
one of 2, 4, 6 and 12.
If it is 2 then G Z
3
Z
2
Z
2
, as Z
3
Z
4
only contains 1 element of order 2;
if it is 4 or 12 then G Z
3
Z
4
as Z
3
Z
2
Z
2
has no elements of order 4;
if it is 6 then G Z
3
Z
2
Z
2
as Z
3
Z
4
only contains 2 elements of order 6.
0UESTION 16( 16 m2r3s4
(f a finite ,belian group has eFactly 23 elements of order 4! how many cyclic
subgroups of order 4 does it have7
Answer:
Let G be the group we consider and a be an element of G of order 9.
Then < a > is a cyclic subgroup of G of order 9.
However, we also know that the same subgroup can be generated by a
r
as long as
g.c.d.(9, r) = 1 (1 r 9).
We then see that r = 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8.
Hence there are 6 elements of G, which generate the same subgroup.
As there are 24 elements of order 9 in G, we see that there are 24/6 = 4 cyclic
subgroups of order 9 in G.
7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
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