Homework 3 Answers (27 points)

EECS 475
Fall 2014
Problem 1.
(a) (3 pts) Compute (1525) (using the formula to be given in class on Thursday). (Recall
that (n) = |Z

n
| is Eulers totient function.)
First nd the prime factorization.
1525 = 5
2
61
The formula from class shows that
(1525) = 1525
(
1
1
5
) (
1
1
61
)
= 1200
(b) (3 pts) Use the Extended Euclidean Algorithm to compute 27
1
mod 41.
We use the Extended Euclidean Algorithm to nd integers x and y such that
27x + 41y = gcd(27, 41) = 1.
a b x y
27 41 3 2

41 27 2 3

27 14 1 2

14 13 1 1

13 1 0 1

1 0 1 0
Therefore 27 (3)+41 (2) = 1. If we reduce modulo 41, we have 1 27 (3)
27 (38) (mod 41), so 38 = 27
1
mod 41.
(c) (3 points) Recall that an isomorphism from group G to group H is a one-to-one, onto
function f : G H such that f(a b) = f(a) f(b) for all a, b G. We say that two groups
are isomorphic if there is an isomorphism between them. Show that if G is of order 4 and
has an element of order 4, it is isomorphic to Z
4
.
Suppose that G is a group of order 4 and has an element g of order 4. Then G
is a cyclic group; in fact G = {g
0
, g
1
, g
2
, g
3
} (recall g
0
= e, the group identity).
The group multiplication is
g
i
g
j
= g
(i+j) mod 4
.
The group multiplication table looks like this:
g
0
g
1
g
2
g
3
g
0
g
0
g
1
g
2
g
3
g
1
g
1
g
2
g
3
g
0
g
2
g
2
g
3
g
0
g
1
g
3
g
3
g
0
g
1
g
2
The group addition table for Z
4
looks like this:
0 1 2 3
0 0 1 2 3
1 1 2 3 0
2 2 3 0 1
3 3 0 1 2
The function f : G Z
4
given by f(g
i
) = i for i = 0, 1, 2, 3 is a group isomor-
phism. To see this, just check the two tables above to see that f transforms the
rst into the second.
(d) (3 points) Show that if G is of order 4 and has no elements of order 4, it is isomorphic
to Z
2
Z
2
.
Now suppose that G is a group of order 4 and has no elements of order 4. It
has an identity e which is the only element of order 1. Therefore, its other three
elements a, b, c must be of order 2. That is, a
2
= b
2
= c
2
= e. Now to gure out
the multiplication for the elements a, b, c, note that if we take any two distinct
elements, say a and b, their product a b cannot be a (because then b = e) and
cannot be b (because then a = e) so a b = c. Similarly, b a = c. Thus, the
product of any two distinct elements in the list a, b, c is the third element. The
group multiplication table looks like this:
e a b c
e e a b c
a a e c a
b b c e a
c c b a e
The group addition table for Z
2
Z
2
looks like this (if we leave out parentheses
and commas in the paris):
2
00 01 10 11
00 00 01 10 11
01 01 00 11 01
10 10 11 00 01
11 11 10 01 00
The function f given by f(e) = 00, f(a) = 01, f(b) = 10 and f(c) = 11 is an
isomorphism. To see this, just check the two tables above to see that f transforms
the rst into the second.
Problem 2.
(a) (3 pts) Show that a subgroup H of group G is a normal subgroup if and only if aHa
1
=
H for all a G.
() Suppose that H is a normal subgroup of G and a G. Then a H is a left
coset, so by denition it is also a right coset. That is, a H = H a. From this
it follows that a H a
1
= H a a
1
= H.
() Suppose a H a
1
= H for all a G. Multiply both sides of this equation
by a to get a H = H a. Thus, every left coset a H is also a right coset H a,
so H is normal.
(b) (3 pts) The index of a subgroup H of G is the number of left cosets of H in G. Show
that if H is a subgroup of index 2 in G, then H is a normal subgroup.
If H is of index 2, the only left cosets are H and its complement G H. But
these are also the only right cosets, so every left coset is a right coset. Hence, H
is normal.
Problem 3.
Recall from class that a group G is cyclic if there is an element a such every element of G
is a power of a. You may use the fact that Z

p
is cyclic when p is prime.
(a) (3pts) Show that when p 3 is prime, there are exactly two elements a Z

p
such that
a
2
= 1.
Since Z

p
is cyclic and of order p 1, there is a generator g. That is, Z

p
=
{g
0
, g
1
, 1
2
, . . . , g
p2
}. (Weve started the enumeration with g
0
rather than g
1
,
but that is ne since g
0
= 1.) Now consider the function f : Z

p
Z

p
given by
f(a) = a
2
mod p. Now half of the elements in Z

p
are of the form g
2i
: they are
g
0
, g
2
, g
4
, . . . , g
p3
. Each of these elements is in the range of f since f(g
i
) = g
2i
.
In fact, there are at least two elements that map onto g
2i
since f(g
i+(p1)/2
) =
(g
i+(p1)/2
)
2
= g
2i
g
p1
= g
2i
, by Fermats Theorem. This means that every
element of the form must be mapped onto exactly twice. Thus, there are exactly
two elements that map onto 1 (and they are 1 and -1 mod p. In other words,
there are exactly two elements a such that a
2
= 1.
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(b) (3 pts) Show that when p 3 is prime,
(p 1)! 1 (mod p).
Hint: (p 1)! is the product of all of the elements in the group Z

p
. What are the inverses of
these elements?
The elements of Z

p
are 1, 2, . . . , p1. Every one of these elements has an inverse.
By part (a), the only two elements that are inverses of themselves are 1 and 1.
Thus, if we take the product of all these elements modulo p, we can pair each
element with its inverse, except for 1 and -1. The product of an element and its
inverse is 1, so the product of all the elements is 1. That is,
(p 1)! 1 (mod p).
Problem 4.
(a) (3 pts) In rings, ideals play the same role that normal subgroups play in group theory.
Let (R, +, ) be a ring. I R is a left ideal if the following two conditions hold
1. I is closed under +. That is, whenever a and b are elements of I, a + b is an element
of I.
2. I is closed under left multiplication by an arbitrary ring element. That is, whenever r
is an element of R and a is an element of I, r a is an element of I.
A right ideal is dened in the same way except that multiplication is on the right. I is an
ideal if it is both a left ideal and a right ideal.
Show that if R is a ring with identity 1 and I is a left ideal containing 1, then R = I.
This follows from the denition of left ideal. We know that for every a R,
aI I. But if 1 I then a aI I, so every element is in I.
(b) (3 pts) Let R = (A, +, ) be a ring with identity. Dene two new binary operations
and on A:
a b = a + b + 1
a b = a b + a + b
Show that (A, , ) is a ring with identity. Be sure to state which element is the additive
identity and which is the multiplicative identity in this ring. (Hint: try to nd a bijection
f : A A such that f(a + b) = f(a) f(b) and f(a b) = f(a) f(b).
Consider the function f : A A given by f(x) = x 1. Clearly, f is onto: for
every y there is an element that maps onto y, namely y+1. Also, f is one-to-one,
for if f(x) = f(x

) then x1 = x

1, so, adding 1 to each side of this equation,

we have x = x

.
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Now
f(x + y) = x + y 1
= (x 1) + (y 1) + 1
= f(x) f(y)
and
f(x y) = x y 1
= (x 1) (y 1) + (x 1) + (y 1)
= f(x) f(y)
This means that all the ring axioms will hold for and , with f(0) = 1 as
the identity for and f(1) = 0 as the identity for . Take any three elements
x, y, z in A. Since f is onto, there are elements a, b, c in A such that f(a) = x,
f(y) = b and f(z) = c. Then prove the associative and identity axioms for :
(x y) z = (f(a) f(b)) f(c)
= f((a + b) + c))
= f(a + (b + c))
= x (y z)
x (1) = f(a) f(0)
= f(a + 0)
= f(a)
= x
Similarly, (1) x = x.
Prove the inverse axiom for . x has an additive inverse since
x f(a) = f(a + (a))
= f(0)
= 1
and similarly, f(a) x = 1.
The proof that is associative is essentially the same as the proof that is
associative.
Finally, prove the distributive axiom
(x y) z = (f(a) f(b)) f(c)
= f((a + b) c))
= f(a c + b c))
= (x z) (y z)
and similarly x (y z) = (x y) (x z).
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