Department of Mathematics and Statistics Algebra 1 Exercise 3 25.9.

2006

To be discussed on Tuesday, October 3. Exercises with a star (*) give extra points. (1) Let S := R \ {1} be the set of all real numbers except 1. Dene on S by
a b := a + b + ab

(a) Show that is a binary operation on S . That is, show that if a, b = 1, then also a b = 1. (b) Show that (S, ) is an abelian group. (c) Find the solution to the equation 2 x 3 = 7. (2) The Klein 4-Group V . Recall the group (C2 , ) with two elements from the lecture notes page 12. Form the cartesian product
V := C2 C2 .

Then the set V = {(e, e), (e, a), (a, e), (a, a)} consists of 4 elements. Dene a binary operation on V by
(x1 , x2 ) (y1 , y2 ) := (x1 y1 , x2 y2 ).

for every x1 , y1 , x2 , y2 C2 . (a) Fill in the multiplication table for the binary operation :
(e, e) (e, e) (e, a) (a, e) (a, a) (e, a) (a, e) (a, a)

(b) Is the binary operation commutative? Verify the group axioms (G2) and (G3) using the table. Remark. It is also possibe to verify the remanining group axiom (G1), either by tedious calculation or with the help of more general results (see for example the next exercise). Therefore (V, ) is a group and this group is called the Klein 4-group.1 It is one of the two possible types of groups with four elements (see the fourth exercise). (3) We consider a more general case of exercise (1). Let (H1 , ) and (H2 , ) be two groups. Denote in both groups the identity element by e. Form the cartesian product
G := H1 H2

of the sets H1 and H2 . Dene a binary operation on G by

(x1 , x1 ) (y1 , y2 ) := (x1 y1 , x2 y2 )

for every x1 , y1 H1 and x2 , y2 H2 . (a) Show that the binary operation is associative. (b) Show that the element (e, e) G is the identity element of G. (c) Show that every element (x1 , x2 ) G has an inverse element. (d) Assume that both H1 and H2 are abelian groups. Show that then the group G is abelian, too.
1Named
after the German mathematician Felix Klein, 18491925. The letter V is an abbreviation for the German word Viergruppe.

(4*)

4. The task of this exercise is to nd the two possible types of groups with 4 elements. Therefore let S := {e, a, b, c}. As in the lecture note let the element e take the role of the identity element and start with an empty composition table. Fill in the rst row and rst column according to e being the identity element, that is your table should look like this:
Groups of Order

e a e e a a a b b c c

b b

c c

Now there are two possible ways to continue. Either one can dene aa := e or a a has to be an element dierent from a and e. (a) Consider the case that a a is dierent from e and a. Then you can dene without any loss of generality a a := b and the composition table looks then as follows.
e a e e a a a b b b c c b b c c

Then there is only one way to complete this composition table. Find this table and verify that the set S together with this binary operation is a group (you need not to check the associativity). (b) Consider the remaining case and dene a a := e. Then the composition table looks as follows.
e a e e a a a e b b c c b b c c

Then there are two ways to complete this table. Find these two tables and verify that both binary operations dene a group structure on the set S (again, you need not to check the associativity). (c) Now we have three tables. Two of these three tables dene the same type of group. Determine which two tables these are, and show how the elements in one table would have to be renamed for these two tables to be the same. (d) Are those two groups abelian?