Examples of Groups, or, Groups to Play With

Ching-Li Chai First in the list are some commutative groups. 1. The group Z of all integers; the group law is the given by the addition of integers. 2. The group Z/nZ, where n N>0 . It has n elements. The group law is the addition. If em 1 n = pe 1 pm , where p1 , . . . , pm are distinct primes and e1 , . . . , em are positive integers, em 1 then Z/nZ = (Z/pe 1 Z) (Z/pm Z). 3. The group Q (resp. R, resp. C) of all rational (resp. real, resp. complex) numbers under addition. 4. The group Q (resp. R , resp. C ) of all non-zero rational (resp. real, resp. complex) numbers under multiplication. We have homomorphisms exp : R R and exp : C C given by the exponential function. 5. The quotient group Q/Z is an innite abelian (or commutative) group in which each element has nite order. The next batch of examples are some matrix groups. In these examples we will x a coecient ring R. For now R is one of Q, R, C, Fp := Z/pZ or Z/nZ. But in fact one can take R to be any commutative ring. Let R be the group of all invertible element of R; so an element a R is in R if and only if there exists an element b R such that a b = 1 in R. We will also x a positive integer n. In the examples below the groups operate on the set Rn of all column vectors of size n with entries in R. So they operate as linear transformations on Rn . When R is innite, these groups are usually innite. 6. The general linear group GLn (R), consisting of all invertible n n matrix with entries in the ring R. This set forms a group under matrix multiplication. Note that an n n matrix A matrix with entries in R is invertible (i.e. it has an inverse matrix B in R) if and only if det(A) R ; the inverse A1 of A is given by the standard formula in terms of the determant of A and its (n 1) (n 1) minors. 7. The special linear group SLn (R) is the normal subgroup of GLn (R), consisting of all n n matrics A with coecients in R such that det(A) = 1. It is the kernel of the homomorphism det : GLn (R) R = GL1 (R). 8. The subgroup Bn (R) of GLn (R), consisting of all upper-triangular n n matrices with entries in R. 9. The group Nn (R) of Bn (R), consisting of all strictly upper-triangular n n matrices with coecients in R. The group Nn (R) is a normal subgroup of Bn (R). When n = 3, Nn (R) is often called a Heisenberg group. 1

Here are some more matrix groups. They are examples of Lie groups , groups which can be studied using the tools of dierential and integral calculus. 10. Denote by On (R) the orthogonal group action on Rn . It consists of all n n matrices A with entries in R, such that
t

A A = A t A = Idn .

The group law is induced by matrix multiplication. The intersection On (R) SLn (R) is called the special orthogonal group . 11. For any n n matrix A with entries in C, denote by A its hermitian conjugate, that is the result of rst taking the complex conjugate of A (i.e. conjugate all entries of A), than take the transpose. Denote by Un the set of all n n matrices A with entries in C, such that A A = A A = Idn . It is a subgroup of GLn (C), called the unitary group . The intersection Un SLn (C) is called the special unitary group . In the next batch of examples we shall nd some non-commutative nite groups. 12. The quaternion group Q; it has eight element: Q = {1, i, j, k } . It is the group of all invertible elements in the ring of quaternions with integer coefcents. The center of Q is {1}. We have i2 = j 2 = k 2 = 1, i j = k = j i, j k = i = k j and k i = j = i k . The quaternion group Q is related to the Hamiltonian quaternions as follows. Let HZ = {a + b i + c j + d k | a, b, c, d Z} be the ring of Hamiltonian quaternions with integer coecients. Then Q is the group H of invertible elements in H. 13. Let n 1 be a positive integer. Denote by Sn the symmetric group of all permutations of the set {1, . . . , n} with n elements. (A permutation of a set T is a bijection from T to itself.) The group law for Sn is given by composition of permutations. In order to conform with the standard convention about permutations, we will think of Sn as operation on the right of {1, . . . , n}. So for 1 , 2 Sn , their product 1 2 is the permutation which sends each element m {1, . . . , n} to ((m)1 )2 . In other words, permute rst by 1 and then by 2 . The group Sn has n! elements. 14. We can attach to every permutation Sn its sign . The sign of a transposition is 1, and sign : Sn 2 := {1} is a surjective homomorphism from Sn to the group 2 = {1} of the square roots of unity. The kernel of sign, consisting of all even permutations, is called the alternating group in n letters. 2

15. The group S4 contains a copy of the Klein-four group (Z/2Z) (Z/2Z), namely the normal subgroup N = {id, (12)(34), (13)(24), (14)(23)}. Here (12)(23) is the permutation of the set {1, 2, 3, 4} which interchanges 1, 2 and interchanges 3, 4; similarly for the two other non-trivial elements. The quotient of S4 by this normal subgroup N is isomorphic to S3 . Notice that N is also a subgroup of A4 . 16. Let n 3 be a positive integer, and let Pn be the regular n gon on R2 , with vertices j j ), sin( 2n ) , j = 0, 1, . . . , n 1. The dihedral group D2n is the group of all cos( 2n symmetries of Pn . It has 2n elements, consisting of n rotations and n reections. It can be generated by two element s and t, such that s is an element of order 2 (a reection), t is an element of order n (a reection), and s t s1 = t1 . When n = 3, the dihedral group D6 is isomorphic to the symmetric group S3 . 17. More generally, let S be a Platonic solid in R3 . Then the group of all symmetries of S is a nite subgroup of the orthogonal group O3 (R). Here is a list of the Platonic solids: the regular tetrahedrons, the cubes, the regular octahedrons, the regular dodecahedrons and the regular icosahedrons. Then standard duality construction shows that the symmetry groups for the cubes and for the regular octahedrons are isomorphic; also the symmetry groups for the regular dodecahedrons and the regular icosohedrons are isomorphic. Artins book is an excellent source for informations about these groups.