Consequences of the Sylow Theorems
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Math 412. Simple Groups
Math 412. Simple Groups DEFINITION: A group G is simple if its only normal subgroups are feg and G. Simple groups are rare among all groups in the same way that prime numbers are rare among all integers. The smallest non-abelian group is A5, which has order 60. THEOREM 8.25: A abelian group is simple if and only if it is finite of prime order. THEOREM: The Alternating Groups An where n ≥ 5 are simple. The simple groups are the building blocks of all groups, in a sense similar to how all integers are built from the prime numbers. One of the greatest mathematical achievements of the Twentieth Century was a classification of all the finite simple groups. These are recorded in the Atlas of Simple Groups. The mathematician who discovered the last-to-be-discovered finite simple group is right here in our own department: Professor Bob Greiss. This simple group is called the monster group because its order is so big—approximately 8 × 1053. Because we have classified all the finite simple groups, and we know how to put them together to form arbitrary groups, we essentially understand the structure of every finite group. It is difficult, in general, to tell whether a given group G is simple or not. Just like determining whether a given (large) integer is prime, there is an algorithm to check but it may take an unreasonable amount of time to run. A. WARM UP. Find proper non-trivial normal subgroups of the following groups: Z, Z35, GL5(Q), S17, D100. -
Chapter 25 Finite Simple Groups
Chapter 25 Finite Simple Groups Chapter 25 Finite Simple Groups Historical Background Definition A group is simple if it has no nontrivial proper normal subgroup. The definition was proposed by Galois; he showed that An is simple for n ≥ 5 in 1831. It is an important step in showing that one cannot express the solutions of a quintic equation in radicals. If possible, one would factor a group G as G0 = G, find a normal subgroup G1 of maximum order to form G0/G1. Then find a maximal normal subgroup G2 of G1 and get G1/G2, and so on until we get the composition factors: G0/G1,G1/G2,...,Gn−1/Gn, with Gn = {e}. Jordan and Hölder proved that these factors are independent of the choices of the normal subgroups in the process. Jordan in 1870 found four infinite series including: Zp for a prime p, SL(n, Zp)/Z(SL(n, Zp)) except when (n, p) = (2, 2) or (2, 3). Between 1982-1905, Dickson found more infinite series; Miller and Cole showed that 5 (sporadic) groups constructed by Mathieu in 1861 are simple. Chapter 25 Finite Simple Groups In 1950s, more infinite families were found, and the classification project began. Brauer observed that the centralizer has an order 2 element is important; Feit-Thompson in 1960 confirmed the 1900 conjecture that non-Abelian simple group must have even order. From 1966-75, 19 new sporadic groups were found. Thompson developed many techniques in the N-group paper. Gorenstein presented an outline for the classification project in a lecture series at University of Chicago in 1972. -
More on the Sylow Theorems
MORE ON THE SYLOW THEOREMS 1. Introduction Several alternative proofs of the Sylow theorems are collected here. Section 2 has a proof of Sylow I by Sylow, Section 3 has a proof of Sylow I by Frobenius, and Section 4 has an extension of Sylow I and II to p-subgroups due to Sylow. Section 5 discusses some history related to the Sylow theorems and formulates (but does not prove) two extensions of Sylow III to p-subgroups, by Frobenius and Weisner. 2. Sylow I by Sylow In modern language, here is Sylow's proof that his subgroups exist. Pick a prime p dividing #G. Let P be a p-subgroup of G which is as large as possible. We call P a maximal p-subgroup. We do not yet know its size is the biggest p-power in #G. The goal is to show [G : P ] 6≡ 0 mod p, so #P is the largest p-power dividing #G. Let N = N(P ) be the normalizer of P in G. Then all the elements of p-power order in N lie in P . Indeed, any element of N with p-power order which is not in P would give a non-identity element of p-power order in N=P . Then we could take inverse images through the projection N ! N=P to find a p-subgroup inside N properly containing P , but this contradicts the maximality of P as a p-subgroup of G. Since there are no non-trivial elements of p-power order in N=P , the index [N : P ] is not divisible by p by Cauchy's theorem. -
The Sylow Theorems and Classification of Small Finite Order Groups
Union College Union | Digital Works Honors Theses Student Work 6-2015 The yS low Theorems and Classification of Small Finite Order Groups William Stearns Union College - Schenectady, NY Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses Part of the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons Recommended Citation Stearns, William, "The yS low Theorems and Classification of Small Finite Order Groups" (2015). Honors Theses. 395. https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/395 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at Union | Digital Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Union | Digital Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE SYLOW THEOREMS AND CLASSIFICATION OF SMALL FINITE ORDER GROUPS WILLIAM W. STEARNS Abstract. This thesis will provide an overview of various topics in group theory, all in order to accomplish the end goal of classifying all groups of order up to 15. An important precursor to classifying finite order groups, the Sylow Theorems illustrate what subgroups of a given group must exist, and constitute the first half of this thesis. Using these theorems in the latter sections we will classify all the possible groups of various orders up to isomorphism. In concluding this thesis, all possible distinct groups of orders up to 15 will be defined and the groundwork set for further study. 1. Introduction The results in this thesis require some background knowledge and motivation. To that end, material covered in an introductory course on abstract algebra should be sufficient. In particular, it is assumed that the reader is familiar with the concepts and definitions of: group, subgroup, coset, index, homomorphism, and kernel. -
1 Lagrange's Theorem
1 Lagrange's theorem Definition 1.1. The index of a subgroup H in a group G, denoted [G : H], is the number of left cosets of H in G ( [G : H] is a natural number or infinite). Theorem 1.2 (Lagrange's Theorem). If G is a finite group and H is a subgroup of G then jHj divides jGj and jGj [G : H] = : jHj Proof. Recall that (see lecture 16) any pair of left cosets of H are either equal or disjoint. Thus, since G is finite, there exist g1; :::; gn 2 G such that n • G = [i=1giH and • for all 1 ≤ i < j ≤ n, giH \ gjH = ;. Since n = [G : H], it is enough to now show that each coset of H has size jHj. Suppose g 2 G. The map 'g : H ! gH : h 7! gh is surjective by definition. The map 'g is injective; for whenever gh1 = 'g(h1) = 'g(h2) = gh2 −1 , multiplying on the left by g , we have that h1 = h2. Thus each coset of H in G has size jHj. Thus n n X X jGj = jgiHj = jHj = [G : H]jHj i=1 i=1 Note that in the above proof we could have just as easily worked with right cosets. Thus if G is a finite group and H is a subgroup of G then the number of left cosets is equal to the number of right cosets. More generally, the map gH 7! Hg−1 is a bijection between the set of left cosets of H in G and the set of right cosets of H in G. -
Syntactic and Rees Indices of Subsemigroups
JOURNAL OF ALGEBRA 205, 435]450Ž. 1998 ARTICLE NO. JA977392 Syntactic and Rees Indices of Subsemigroups N. RuskucÏ U Mathematical Institute, Uni¨ersity of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9SS, Scotland and View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE R. M. Thomas² provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Uni¨ersity of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, England Communicated by T. E. Hall Received August 28, 1996 We define two different notions of index for subsemigroups of semigroups: the Ž.right syntactic index and the Rees index. We investigate the relationships be- tween them and with the group index. In particular, we show that the syntactic index is a generalisation of both the group index and the Rees index. We use this fact to prove further similarities between the group index and the Rees index. It turns out, however, that very few of the nice properties of the group index are inherited by the syntactic index. Q 1998 Academic Press 1. INTRODUCTION The notion of the index of a subgroup in a group is one of the most basic concepts of group theory. It provides one with a sort of ``measure'' of how much smaller the subgroup is when compared to the group. This is particularly reflected in the fact that subgroups of finite index share many properties with the group. A notion of the indexŽ. which in this paper will be called the Rees index for subsemigroups of semigroups was introduced by Jurawx 11 , and is considered in more detail inwxwx 2, 4, 6, 5, 24 . -
Quasi P Or Not Quasi P? That Is the Question
Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal Volume 3 Issue 2 Article 2 Quasi p or not Quasi p? That is the Question Ben Harwood Northern Kentucky University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.rose-hulman.edu/rhumj Recommended Citation Harwood, Ben (2002) "Quasi p or not Quasi p? That is the Question," Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal: Vol. 3 : Iss. 2 , Article 2. Available at: https://scholar.rose-hulman.edu/rhumj/vol3/iss2/2 Quasi p- or not quasi p-? That is the Question.* By Ben Harwood Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY 41099 e-mail: [email protected] Section Zero: Introduction The question might not be as profound as Shakespeare’s, but nevertheless, it is interesting. Because few people seem to be aware of quasi p-groups, we will begin with a bit of history and a definition; and then we will determine for each group of order less than 24 (and a few others) whether the group is a quasi p-group for some prime p or not. This paper is a prequel to [Hwd]. In [Hwd] we prove that (Z3 £Z3)oZ2 and Z5 o Z4 are quasi 2-groups. Those proofs now form a portion of Proposition (12.1) It should also be noted that [Hwd] may also be found in this journal. Section One: Why should we be interested in quasi p-groups? In a 1957 paper titled Coverings of algebraic curves [Abh2], Abhyankar conjectured that the algebraic fundamental group of the affine line over an algebraically closed field k of prime characteristic p is the set of quasi p-groups, where by the algebraic fundamental group of the affine line he meant the family of all Galois groups Gal(L=k(X)) as L varies over all finite normal extensions of k(X) the function field of the affine line such that no point of the line is ramified in L, and where by a quasi p-group he meant a finite group that is generated by all of its p-Sylow subgroups. -
The Mathieu Groups (Simple Sporadic Symmetries)
The Mathieu Groups (Simple Sporadic Symmetries) Scott Harper (University of St Andrews) Tomorrow's Mathematicians Today 21st February 2015 Scott Harper The Mathieu Groups 21st February 2015 1 / 15 The Mathieu Groups (Simple Sporadic Symmetries) Scott Harper (University of St Andrews) Tomorrow's Mathematicians Today 21st February 2015 Scott Harper The Mathieu Groups 21st February 2015 2 / 15 1 2 A symmetry is a structure preserving permutation of the underlying set. A group acts faithfully on an object if it is isomorphic to a subgroup of the 4 3 symmetry group of the object. Symmetry group: D4 The stabiliser of a point in a group G is Group of rotations: the subgroup of G which fixes x. ∼ h(1 2 3 4)i = C4 Subgroup fixing 1: h(2 4)i Symmetry Scott Harper The Mathieu Groups 21st February 2015 3 / 15 A symmetry is a structure preserving permutation of the underlying set. A group acts faithfully on an object if it is isomorphic to a subgroup of the symmetry group of the object. The stabiliser of a point in a group G is Group of rotations: the subgroup of G which fixes x. ∼ h(1 2 3 4)i = C4 Subgroup fixing 1: h(2 4)i Symmetry 1 2 4 3 Symmetry group: D4 Scott Harper The Mathieu Groups 21st February 2015 3 / 15 A group acts faithfully on an object if it is isomorphic to a subgroup of the symmetry group of the object. The stabiliser of a point in a group G is Group of rotations: the subgroup of G which fixes x. -
Group Theory
Chapter 1 Group Theory Most lectures on group theory actually start with the definition of what is a group. It may be worth though spending a few lines to mention how mathe- maticians came up with such a concept. Around 1770, Lagrange initiated the study of permutations in connection with the study of the solution of equations. He was interested in understanding solutions of polynomials in several variables, and got this idea to study the be- haviour of polynomials when their roots are permuted. This led to what we now call Lagrange’s Theorem, though it was stated as [5] If a function f(x1,...,xn) of n variables is acted on by all n! possible permutations of the variables and these permuted functions take on only r values, then r is a divisior of n!. It is Galois (1811-1832) who is considered by many as the founder of group theory. He was the first to use the term “group” in a technical sense, though to him it meant a collection of permutations closed under multiplication. Galois theory will be discussed much later in these notes. Galois was also motivated by the solvability of polynomial equations of degree n. From 1815 to 1844, Cauchy started to look at permutations as an autonomous subject, and introduced the concept of permutations generated by certain elements, as well as several nota- tions still used today, such as the cyclic notation for permutations, the product of permutations, or the identity permutation. He proved what we call today Cauchy’s Theorem, namely that if p is prime divisor of the cardinality of the group, then there exists a subgroup of cardinality p. -
Lecture 1.3: the Sylow Theorems
Lecture 1.3: The Sylow theorems Matthew Macauley Department of Mathematical Sciences Clemson University http://www.math.clemson.edu/~macaule/ Math 8510, Abstract Algebra I M. Macauley (Clemson) Lecture 1.3: The Sylow theorems Math 8510, Abstract Algebra I 1 / 33 Some context Once the study of group theory began in the 19th century, a natural research question was to classify all groups. Of course, this is too difficult in general, but for certain cases, much is known. Later, we'll establish the following fact, which allows us to completely classify all finite abelian groups. Proposition ∼ Znm = Zn × Zm if and only if gcd(n; m) = 1. (0;0) (3;2) (1;1) (0;0) (1;0) (2;0) (3;0) (2;1) (2;2) (1;0) ∼ (3;0) (0;1) (1;1) (2;1) (3;1) Z4 × Z3 = Z12 · · · (0;2) (0;1) (0;2) (1;2) (2;2) (3;2) (3;1) (1;2) (2;0) Finite non-abelian groups are much harder. The Sylow Theorems, developed by Norwegian mathematician Peter Sylow (1832{1918), provide insight into their structure. M. Macauley (Clemson) Lecture 1.3: The Sylow theorems Math 8510, Abstract Algebra I 2 / 33 The Fundamental Theorem of Finite Abelian Groups Classification theorem (by \prime powers") Every finite abelian group A is isomorphic to a direct product of cyclic groups, i.e., for some integers n1; n2;:::; nm, ∼ A = Zn1 × Zn2 × · · · × Znm ; di where each ni is a prime power, i.e., ni = pi , where pi is prime and di 2 N. Example Up to isomorphism, there are 6 abelian groups of order 200 =2 3 · 52: Z8 × Z25 Z8 × Z5 × Z5 Z2 × Z4 × Z25 Z2 × Z4 × Z5 × Z5 Z2 × Z2 × Z2 × Z25 Z2 × Z2 × Z2 × Z5 × Z5 Instead of proving this statement for groups, we'll prove a much more general statement for R-modules over a PID, later in the class. -
Graduate Algebra, Fall 2014 Lecture 5
Graduate Algebra, Fall 2014 Lecture 5 Andrei Jorza 2014-09-05 1 Group Theory 1.9 Normal subgroups Example 1. Specific examples. 1. The alternating group An = ker " is a normal subgroup of Sn as " is a homomorphism. 2. For R = Q; R or C, SL(n; R) C GL(n; R). 3. Recall that for any group G, Z(G) C G and G=Z(G) is a group, which we'll identify later as the group × of inner automorphisms. If R = Z=pZ; Q; R or C then R In = Z(GL(n; R)) and denote the quotient PGL(n; R) = GL(n; R)=R× The case of SL(n; R) is more subtle as the center is the set of n-th roots of unity in R, which depends on 2 what R is. For example Z(SL(2; R)) = ±I2 but Z(SL(3; R)) = I3 while Z(GL(3; C)) = fI3; ζ3I3; ζ3 I3g. a b 0 1 a b c 0 4. But f g is not normal in GL(2;R). Indeed, if w = then w w = . 0 c 1 0 0 c b a 1 b a b 5. But f g is a normal subgroup of f g. 0 1 0 c Remark 1. If H; K ⊂ G are subgroups such that K is normal in G then HK is a subgroup of G. Indeed, KH = HK. Interlude on the big picture in the theory of finite groups We have seen that if G is a finite group and N is a normal subgroup then G=N is also a group. -
A FRIENDLY INTRODUCTION to GROUP THEORY 1. Who Cares?
A FRIENDLY INTRODUCTION TO GROUP THEORY JAKE WELLENS 1. who cares? You do, prefrosh. If you're a math major, then you probably want to pass Math 5. If you're a chemistry major, then you probably want to take that one chem class I heard involves representation theory. If you're a physics major, then at some point you might want to know what the Standard Model is. And I'll bet at least a few of you CS majors care at least a little bit about cryptography. Anyway, Wikipedia thinks it's useful to know some basic group theory, and I think I agree. It's also fun and I promise it isn't very difficult. 2. what is a group? I'm about to tell you what a group is, so brace yourself for disappointment. It's bound to be a somewhat anticlimactic experience for both of us: I type out a bunch of unimpressive-looking properties, and a bunch of you sit there looking unimpressed. I hope I can convince you, however, that it is the simplicity and ordinariness of this definition that makes group theory so deep and fundamentally interesting. Definition 1: A group (G; ∗) is a set G together with a binary operation ∗ : G×G ! G satisfying the following three conditions: 1. Associativity - that is, for any x; y; z 2 G, we have (x ∗ y) ∗ z = x ∗ (y ∗ z). 2. There is an identity element e 2 G such that 8g 2 G, we have e ∗ g = g ∗ e = g. 3. Each element has an inverse - that is, for each g 2 G, there is some h 2 G such that g ∗ h = h ∗ g = e.