Solutions to sample final exam

Problem # 1

Let G = C0 be the group of nonzero complex numbers under multiplication,

U the group of all complex numbers z with |z| = 1, under multiplication. Let
K be the subset of all positive real numbers in G.
(a) Check that K is a normal subgroup of G;
z
(b) Check that the mapping ϕ : G → U given by ϕ(z) = |z| is a homomor-
phism of groups;
(c) Check that G/K ∼
= U.

Solution.

(a) Since G is abelian, we only need to check that K is a subgroup, that is,
nonempty and xy −1 ∈ K for any x, y ∈ K. In other words, if x, y are
positive real numbers then xy −1 is positive real, which is true.
(b) For any z1 , z2 ∈ G need to check ϕ(z1 z2 ) = ϕ(z1 )ϕ(z2 ). The LHS of
this equation is |z1 z2 | while the RHS is |z1 ||z2 |. These are equal by the
properties of the absolute value of complex numbers.
(c) We have to apply the Homomorphism Theorem I for groups. Now ϕ :
G → U is a homomorphism by (b), it is onto since given any z ∈ U , we
have also z ∈ G and |z| = 1. In this case ϕ(z) = z, proving that ϕ is
onto. It remains to find the kernel Kerϕ. We have ϕ(z) = 1 if and only if
z = |z|. This is the same as to say z is positive real. Thus Kerϕ = K. By
HTI we have G/K ∼ = U.

Problem # 2

Points - 15
Points earned -

Let G = {f i hj | i = 0, 1; j = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4; f 2 = h5 = e; hf = f h−1 } be the

dihedral group of order 10. Let H = (h2 ) be the cyclic subgroup generated by
h2 .

(a) List the elements of H;

(b) Find the centralizer C(h2 ) of h2 in G;

 (c) Find the conjugacy class cl(h2 ) of h2 in G.

Solution.

(a) H = (h2 ) = {(h2 )n |n = 0, 1, . . . , o(h2 } = {e, h2 , h4 , h6 = h, h3 } = (h);

(b) The centralizer C(h2 ) contains (h2 ), so its order is divisible by the number
of elements in (h), that is, 5. Also its order is a divisor of 10, the number
of elements in G. If this is 10, then all elements of G commute with h2 ,
which is not true because h2 f = f h−2 = f h3 6= f h2 . Thus |C(h2 )| = 5
and C(h2 ) = (h2 ).
(c) We have G = C(h2 )∪f C(h2 ). So we have cl(h2 ) = {h2 , f h2 f −1 = f h2 f =
f 2 h3 = h3 } = {h2 , h3 }.

Problem # 3

Let R = Z14 be the ring of congruence classes mod 14, G = U14 the multi-
plicative group of those elements in R which are invertible under multiplication.

(a) List the elements of G;

(b) Determine if G is a cyclic group. Find all possible generators;
(c) List all left cosets of the cyclic subgroup H = ([13]) generated by [13] in
G.

Solution.

(a) G = {[m]|gcd(m, 14) = 1} = {1, 3, 5, 9, 11, 13};

(b) G is a cyclic group if there is an element of order 6 = |G| in G. If

a 6= 1 and a2 6= 1, a3 6= 1 then o(a) = 6. We have [3]2 = [9] 6= [1],
[3]3 = [27] = [13] 6= [1]. So o([3]) = 6 and G = ([3]), a cyclic group. Other
generators are [3]k where gcd(k, 6) = 1, 1 ≤ k ≤ 6. So only k = 1, 5 are
good. The second generator is [3]5 = [9][27] = [9][−1] = [−9] = [5].

(c) H = ([13]) = ([−1]) = {[1], [−1] = [13]}. The number of (left,right) cosets
is 26 = 3. Since [3] ∈
/ H, the second coset is [3]H = {[3], [−3] = [11]}. Since
[5] did not show up before, the third coset is [5]H = {[5], [−5] = [9]}.

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 Problem # 4

Let
 G = S3 be  the group of all permutations of the set {1, 2, 3},
1 2 3
a= an element of G, H = (a) the cyclic subgroup generated by
2 3 1
a. Do the following:
(a) List the elements of G and H using their cycle decomposition;
(b) Find the conjugacy classes of elements of G;

(c) Write the definition of a normal subgroup and determine, if H is normal.

Solution.

(a) G = {i, (12), (13), (23), (123), (132)}, H = {i, (123)}.

(b) cl(i) = {i}, cl((12)) = {(12), (13), (23)}, cl((123)) = {(123), (132)}.

(c) H / G if gH = Hg, for all g ∈ G, or gHg −1 = H, or H consists of the

whole conjugacy classes of elements of G. Since H = cl(i) ∪ cl((123)), we
have that H / G.

Problem # 5

Let σ = (5234)(163)−1 (5234) be a permutation, an element of the symmetric

group S6 .
(a) Find the cycle decomposition of σ;
(b) What is the order of σ and what elements are conjugate to σ?
(c) Write σ as the product of transpositions and determine the parity of σ.

Solution.

(a) σ = (1426)(35);
(b) o(σ) = lcm(4, 2) = 4. Conjugates are the elements with the same cycle
structure, that is,

cl(σ) = {(1426)(35), (1462)(35), (1246)(35), (1264)(35), (1624)(35), (1642)(35), . . .}.

In other words, the set of all (i1 i2 i3 i4 )(i5 i6 ) where {i1 , i2 , i3 , i4 , i5 , i6 } =

{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}.

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 (c) σ = (16)(12)(14)(35). Since the number of factors is 4, this permutation
is even.

Problem # 6

Solution.
Let
 R and  Z be the rings of real and integral numbers, respectively. Set
a 0 
S = a ∈ Z, b ∈ R ⊂ M2 (R), the ring of of 2-by-2 matrices with
b 0 
  
0 0 
real entries, I = b ∈ R .
b 0 

(a) Check that S is a subring of M2 (R);

(b) Check that I is an ideal of S;
 
a 0
(c) Use the mapping ϕ : S → Z given by ϕ = a to check that
b 0
S/I ∼
= Z.

(a)
a0 a ± a0
     
a 0 0 0
± = ∈ S;
b 0 b0 0 b ± b0 0
a0 aa0
    
a 0 0 0
= ∈ S.
b 0 b0 0 ba0 0

(b)     
a 0 0 0 0 0
= ∈ S;
b 0 b0 0 0 0
a0
    
0 0 0 0 0
= ∈ S;
b 0 b0 0 ba0 0

(c) First we need to check ϕ(x ± y) = ϕ(x) ± ϕ(y) and ϕ(xy) = ϕ(x)ϕ(y)
∈ S. Then ϕ is onto because for any a ∈ Z we have that
forall x, y 
a 0
ϕ = a. Also, Kerϕ = {x|ϕ(x) = 0}. So x ∈ Kerϕ must be
0 0
any matrix in S with upper left entry 0, that is, Kerϕ = I. Applying HTI
for rings, we obtain the desired S/I ∼
= Z.

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 Problem # 7
Let H = {a + bi + cj + dk | a, b, c, d ∈ R} be the ring of real quaternions.
(a) Find the quaternion x from the equation (1 − 2i + j)x(2 + j − k) + i = 0 ;
√ √
(b) Find the order of q = 2
2
− 2
2 k in the multiplicative group (H0 , ·) of
nonzero quaternions.

Solution.
(a)
1 1
x = (1 − 2i + j)−1 (−i)(2 + j − k)−1 = (1 + 2i − j)(−i) (2 − j + k)
6 6
1
= (5 − 3i − j + k);
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(b) q = cos 3π 3π k 3πk 3πk
4 + j sin 4 , so q = cos 4 + j sin 4 . Thus o(q) = 8.

Problem # 8
Let R = Z3 [x] be the ring of polynomials with coefficients in the field Z3 .
(a) Explain why x2 + [1] is irreducible and x2 + [2] is not;
(b) Let (f (x)) denote the principal ideal of R generated by f (x). Why F =
R/(x2 + [1]) is a field? Find zero divisors in S = R/(x2 + [2]);
(c) Write the elements of F using a = x+I and 1 = [1]+I, where I = (x2 +[1]);
(d) Solve in F the following equation: x(2a + 1) = a + 1.

Solution.
We identify [m] = m in what follows.
(a) x2 + 2 has degree 2 and has roots 1 and 2, so not irreducible; x2 + 1 is of
degree 2 and has no roots, hence irreducible.
(b) Since x2 +1 is irreducible, the ideal I = (x2 +1) is maximal, hence F = R/I
is a field. Since x2 + 2 = (x + 1)(x + 2), the cosets [x + 1] and [x + 2] are
zero divisors in S = R/(x2 + 2);
(c) F = {0, 1, 2, a, a + 1, a + 2, 2a, 2a + 1, 2a + 2}. We also have a2 + 1 = 0
hence a2 = 2.
(d) x = (2a + 1)−1 (a + 1). Using Division algorithm,
2(x2 + 1) + (2x + 1)(2x + 2) = 1,
hence (2a + 1)−1 = 2a + 2. In this case, we find x = (2a + 2)(a + 1) = a.