Elementary group theory

In mathematics and abstract algebra, a group is the algebraic structure \{G,\perp\}, where G is a non-empty set and \perp denotes a binary operation \perp:G\times{}G\rightarrow{}G, called the group operation. The notation \perp(x,y) is normally shortened to the infix notation x\perp{}y, or even to xy.

A group must obey the following rules (or axioms). Let a, b, c be arbitrary elements of G. Then:

An abelian group also obeys the additional rule:

Contents

Notation

The group \{G,\perp\} is often referred to as "the group G" or more simply as "G." Nevertheless, the operation "\perp" is fundamental to the description of the group. \{G,\perp\} is usually read as "the group G under \perp". When we wish to assert that G is a group (for example, when stating a theorem), we say that "G is a group under \perp".

The group operation \perp can be interpreted in a great many ways. The generic notation for the group operation, identity element, and inverse of a are \perp,e,a', respectively. Because the group operation associates, parentheses have only one necessary use in group theory: to set the scope of the inverse operation.

Group theory may also be notated:

Other notations are of course possible.

Examples

Arithmetic

Function composition

Alternative Axioms

The pair of axioms A3 and A4 may be replaced either by the pair:

or by the pair:

These evidently weaker axiom pairs are trivial consequences of A3 and A4. We will now show that the nontrivial converse is also true. Given a left neutral element e, and for any given a\in{}G, then A4’ says there exists an x such that x\perp{}a=e.

Theorem 1.2:  a \perp x = e.

Proof. Let y\in{}G be an inverse of  a\perp{}x. Then:


\begin{align}
e & = y \perp (a \perp x)             &\quad (1)   \\
  & = y \perp (a \perp (e \perp x))       &\quad (A3') \\
  & = y \perp (a \perp ((x \perp a) \perp x)) &\quad (A4') \\
  & = y \perp (a \perp (x \perp (a \perp x))) &\quad (A2)  \\
  & = y \perp ((a \perp x) \perp (a \perp x)) &\quad (A2)  \\
  & = (y \perp (a \perp x)) \perp (a \perp x) &\quad (A2)  \\
  & = e \perp (a \perp x)             &\quad (1)   \\
  & = a \perp x                   &\quad (A3') \\
\end{align}

This establishes A4 (and hence A4”).

Theorem 1.2a:  a \perp e = a.

Proof.

 
\begin{align}
a \perp e & = a \perp (x \perp a) &\quad (A4')  \\
      & = (a \perp x) \perp a &\quad (A2)   \\
      & = e \perp a       &\quad (A4) \\
      & = a           &\quad (A3')  \\
\end{align}

This establishes A3 (and hence A3”).

Theorem: Given A1 and A2, A3’ and A4’ imply A3 and A4.

Proof. Theorems 1.2 and 1.2a.

Theorem: Given A1 and A2, A3” and A4” imply A3 and A4.

Proof. Similar to the above.

Basic theorems

Identity is unique

Theorem 1.4: The identity element of a group \{G,\perp\} is unique.

Proof: Suppose that e and f are two identity elements of G. Then


 \begin{align}
 e & = & e \perp f &\quad (A3'') \\
 & = & f     &\quad (A3')  \\
 \end{align}

As a result, we can speak of the identity element of \{G,\perp\} rather than an identity element. Where different groups are being discussed and compared, e_G denotes the identity of the specific group \{G,\perp\}.

Inverses are unique

Theorem 1.5: The inverse of each element in \{G,\perp\} is unique.

Proof: Suppose that h and k are two inverses of an element g of G. Then


 \begin{align}
 h & = & h \perp e       &\quad (A3) \\
 & = & h \perp (g \perp k) &\quad (A4) \\
 & = & (h \perp g) \perp k &\quad (A2) \\
 & = & e \perp k     &\quad (A4) \\
 & = & k           &\quad (A3) \\
 \end{align}

As a result, we can speak of the inverse of an element a, rather than an inverse. Without ambiguity, for all a in G, we denote by a' the unique inverse of a.

Inverting twice takes you back to where you started

Theorem 1.6: For all elements a in a group \{G,\perp\},  (a')' = a.

Proof.  a'\perp{}a = e and  (a')'\perp{}a' = e are both true by A4. Therefore both a and (a')' are inverses of a'. By Theorem 1.5,  a = (a')'.

Equivalently, inverting is an involution.

Inverse of ab

Theorem 1.7: For all elements a and b in group \{G,\perp\}, (a\perp{}b)' = b' \perp a'.

Proof. (a \perp b) \perp (b' \perp a') = a \perp (b \perp b') \perp a' = a \perp e \perp a' = a \perp a' = e. The conclusion follows from Theorem 1.4.

Cancellation

Theorem 1.8: For all elements a,x,y in a group \{G,\perp\}, then x = y \Leftrightarrow a \perp x = a \perp y \Leftrightarrow x \perp a = y \perp a.

Proof.
(1) If x = y, then multiplying by the same value on either side preserves equality.
(2) If a \perp x = a \perp y then by (1)

\begin{align}
 &  & a' \perp (a \perp x) &=& a' \perp (a \perp y) \\
 & \Rightarrow & (a' \perp a) \perp x &=& (a' \perp a) \perp y \\
 & \Rightarrow & e \perp x &=& e \perp y \\
 & \Rightarrow & x &=& y \\
\end{align}

(3) If x \perp a = y \perp a we use the same method as in (2).

Latin square property

Theorem 1.3: For all elements a,b in a group \{G,\perp\}, there exists a unique x \in G such that a \perp x = b, namely x = a' \perp b.

Proof.
Existence: If we let x�:= a' \perp b, then  a \perp (a' \perp b) = (a \perp a') \perp b = e \perp b = b.
Unicity: Suppose x satisfies a \perp x = b, then by Theorem 1.8, a' \perp (a \perp x) = a' \perp b \Leftrightarrow x = a' \perp b.

Powers

For n \in \mathbb{Z} and a in group \{G,\perp\} we define:


 a ^ n�:=
 \begin{cases}
 \underbrace{a\perp{}a\perp\cdots\perp{}a}_{n\ \text{times}}, & \mbox{if }n > 0 \\
 e, & \mbox{if }n = 0 \\
 \underbrace{a'\perp{}a'\perp\cdots\perp{}a'}_{-n\ \text{times}}, & \mbox{if }n < 0
 \end{cases}

Theorem 1.9: For all a in group \{G,\perp\} and n, m \in \mathbb{Z}:


 \begin{matrix}
 a^m\perp{}a^n &=& a^{m%2Bn}\\
 (a^m)^n &=& a^{m*n}
 \end{matrix}

Order

Of a group element

The order of an element a in a group G is the least positive integer n such that an = e. Sometimes this is written "o(a)=n". n can be infinite.

Theorem 1.10: A group whose nontrivial elements all have order 2 is abelian. In other words, if all elements g in a group G g*g=e is the case, then for all elements a,b in G, a*b=b*a.

Proof. Let a, b be any 2 elements in the group G. By A1, a*b is also a member of G. Using the given condition, we know that (a*b)*(a*b)=e. Hence:

Since the group operation * commutes, the group is abelian

Of a group

The order of the group G, usually denoted by |G| or occasionally by o(G), is the number of elements in the set G, in which case <G,*> is a finite group. If G is an infinite set, then the group <G,*> has order equal to the cardinality of G, and is an infinite group.

Subgroups

A subset H of G is called a subgroup of a group <G,*> if H satisfies the axioms of a group, using the same operator "*", and restricted to the subset H. Thus if H is a subgroup of <G,*>, then <H,*> is also a group, and obeys the above theorems, restricted to H. The order of subgroup H is the number of elements in H.

A proper subgroup of a group G is a subgroup which is not identical to G. A non-trivial subgroup of G is (usually) any proper subgroup of G which contains an element other than e.

Theorem 2.1: If H is a subgroup of <G,*>, then the identity eH in H is identical to the identity e in (G,*).

Proof. If h is in H, then h*eH = h; since h must also be in G, h*e = h; so by theorem 1.8, eH = e.

Theorem 2.2: If H is a subgroup of G, and h is an element of H, then the inverse of h in H is identical to the inverse of h in G.

Proof. Let h and k be elements of H, such that h*k = e; since h must also be in G, h*h -1 = e; so by theorem 1.5, k = h -1.

Given a subset S of G, we often want to determine whether or not S is also a subgroup of G. A handy theorem valid for both infinite and finite groups is:

Theorem 2.3: If S is a non-empty subset of G, then S is a subgroup of G if and only if for all a,b in S, a*b -1 is in S.

Proof. If for all a, b in S, a*b -1 is in S, then

Thus, the axioms of closure, identity, and inverses are satisfied, and associativity is inherited; so S is subgroup.

Conversely, if S is a subgroup of G, then it obeys the axioms of a group.

The intersection of two or more subgroups is again a subgroup.

Theorem 2.4: The intersection of any non-empty set of subgroups of a group G is a subgroup.

Proof. Let {Hi} be a set of subgroups of G, and let K = ∩{Hi}. e is a member of every Hi by theorem 2.1; so K is not empty. If h and k are elements of K, then for all i,

Therefore for all h, k in K, h*k -1 is in K. Then by the previous theorem, K=∩{Hi} is a subgroup of G; and in fact K is a subgroup of each Hi.

Given a group <G,*>, define x*x as x², x*x*x*...*x (n times) as xn, and define x0 = e. Similarly, let x -n for (x -1)n. Then we have:

Theorem 2.5: Let a be an element of a group (G,*). Then the set {an: n is an integer} is a subgroup of G.

A subgroup of this type is called a cyclic subgroup; the subgroup of the powers of a is often written as <a>, and we say that a generates <a>.

Cosets

If S and T are subsets of G, and a is an element of G, we write "a*S" to refer to the subset of G made up of all elements of the form a*s, where s is an element of S; similarly, we write "S*a" to indicate the set of elements of the form s*a. We write S*T for the subset of G made up of elements of the form s*t, where s is an element of S and t is an element of T.

If H is a subgroup of G, then a left coset of H is a set of the form a*H, for some a in G. A right coset is a subset of the form H*a.

If H is a subgroup of G, the following useful theorems, stated without proof, hold for all cosets:

Define the index of a subgroup H of a group G (written "[G:H]") to be the number of distinct left cosets of H in G.

From these theorems, we can deduce the important Lagrange's theorem, relating the order of a subgroup to the order of a group:

For finite groups, this can be restated as:

See also

References