University of New South Wales School of Mathematics
It
MATH2601 Higher Linear Algebra
1. GROUPS, FIELDS AND ABSTRACT ALGEBRA
Introduction. An important development in mathematics since the
middle of the nineteenth century has been the realisation that, to some
extent, the properties of mathematical objects can be studied without
reference to the specific identity of those objects. You have already be-
gun to take this approach in learning about vector spaces. For example,
the following result is true in any vector space V .
Theorem. If the vectors v1 , . . . , vn are linearly dependent then
one of them can be written as a linear combination of the others.
is identical in all four cases: really, only the notation is different.
seems clear that we are missing something important if we insist on
regarding them as calculations belonging to four unrelated topics.
Here are a few of the many algebraic structures which have been
found useful in modern mathematics.
A vector space describes the situation where we know how to
add objects and how to multiply objects by numbers. I put the
words add and multiply in quotation marks because there is no re-
quirement that these operations have their conventional meanings. The
numbers, or scalars, involved in a vector space must form a field (see
below). You have studied various examples of vector spaces in firstyear
mathematics. One which you have probably not seen, but which is very
important in certain areas of number theory, is the set
 
It makes no difference at all here whether the vectors we are talking
about are arrows drawn in a plane, 3 4 matrices, polynomials or
something else; whether the scalars are real numbers, complex numbers,
or a different field; whether addition means lining up the tip of one
vector with the tail of another or some kind of algebraic operation: the
property is true regardless of the type of vectors it refers to.
There are two principal reasons why the abstract algebraic approach
is fruitful. One is simply economy. It would make very little sense to
prove the above theorem for arrow vectors, then do it all over again
for 3 4 matrices, yet again for polynomials, and so on, when we can
just do it once for all. The other is that by using abstract methods
we can concentrate our attention on what is actually important in our
algebraic problems and gain a deeper understanding of the issues. For
example, the arithmetic involved in evaluating
(1, 2, 3, 5) + 2(3, 1, 4, 2)
   
1 2 3 1
and +2
3 5 4 2
and (1 + 2t 3t2 + 5t3 ) + 2(3 t + 4t2 2t3 )
and (1 + 2i, 3 + 5i) + 2(3 i, 4 2i)
1 2
S = x + y 5  x, y Q ,
with the scalar field being Q, the set of rational numbers. Exercise.
Check that this is indeed a vector space by confirming that the vector
space axioms hold.
A field may be thought of as a set of numbers within which we
can add, subtract, multiply and divide, with the usual exception that
we cannot divide by zero. Important examples are Q, R and C. If you
are taking MATH2400 you will learn about finite fields and their use in
constructing errorcorrecting codes.
The set S above can also be thought of as a field! Certain problems
of number theory require us to multiply together, or, conversely, to
factorise elements of sets such as S. On the other hand, a number of
basic facts about S are best understood by ignoring the multiplication
and viewing S as a vector space over the field of rational scalars. The
interaction between these two points of view proves to be immensely
important.
Observe that the set of integers is not a field because it is not always
possible to divide integers.
In a group only one operation is considered. Groups are of great
significance in the study of symmetry, and this leads to applications
in quantum theory and the classification of subatomic particles. One
can also use group theory to investigate the solvability of algebraic and
differential equations, and, in particular, to show that an arbitrary poly-
nomial of degree 5 or more cannot be solved by any method analogous
to the quadratic formula.
Roughly speaking, a ring is a set within which we can add, subtract
and multiply, but where division may not always be possible. Typical
examples are Z, the set of integers, and Zm , the set of integers modulo
m. Another is the set
it looks just like a + b, a b and so on, notations with which we are very
familiar. And indeed, this is the general idea we are talking about
some kind of rule which takes two elements of a set and returns an
element of the set. However, you should always remember what a binary
operation really is: a function (with certain constraints on the domain
and codomain).
Exercise. For each of the following, find (if possible) a set on which it
is a binary operation, and a set on which it is not a binary operation.
  arithmetic: +, , , , quotient, remainder;
R = x + y 5  x, y Z ,
which is closely related to the vector space (and field) S mentioned on
page 2.
Finally, a module is in effect (almost) the same as a vector space,
except that the scalars need only form a ring and not necessarily a
field. So, for example, we cannot have a vector space with (only) integer
scalars, but we can have a module with integer scalars. In the most
useful case, the only difference between a module and a vector space
is that in a module we cannot divide scalars. However, this lack has
surprisingly deep consequences: to give just one example, the vector
space theorem quoted on page 1 is not true in a module! Exercise.
Recall (or look up) the proof of this theorem, and explain where it goes
wrong in a module.
Binary operations. Recall that the Cartesian product of two sets
A, B is the set of all ordered pairs with first element belonging to A and
second belonging to B, that is,
A B = { (a, b) | a A and b B } .
Definition. A binary operation on a set A is a function from A A
to A.
The function which constitutes a binary operation is usually given
a special symbol rather than a letter name: thus, instead of f (a, b)
we would write something like (a, b). However, this still looks pretty
mystifying, so instead of (a, b), what we will actually write is a b: now
3 4
set operations: , , complement;
functions: composition, inverse;
vectors: dot product, cross product.
Groups. There are certain properties which are shared by a large num-
ber of the binary operations in the above examples (as well as many
properties which are not). Three of the most important are taken to
define a group.
Definition. A group (G, ) consists of a nonempty set G and a binary
operation on G for which the following properties, known as the group
axioms, are satisfied.
1. Associativity. For all a, b, c G we have (a b) c = a (b c).
2. Identity element. There exists an element e of G such that for all
a G we have a e = a and e a = a.
3. Inverses. For each a in G there is an element b of G such that
a b = e and b a = e.
Comments.
In some sources you will find another axiom, that of closure: for all
a, b G we have ab G. We do not need to take this as a separate
axiom, since it is part of what we mean by a binary operation on
G. Nevertheless, note carefully that part of proving something
is a group is to check that the proposed binary operation really
is a binary operation on the given set.
We did not actually need to say that G is nonempty, as we have
specified in axiom 2 that G has at least one element.
Definition. A group (G, ) is called abelian
if it satisfies the following axiom.
4. Commutativity. For all a, b G we have
a b = b a.
Notation and terminology.
We will use various notations for the group
operation. You need to be absolutely clear Niels Henrik Abel
that conventional symbols do not repre- (18021829)
sent standard operations, unless we say so. Instead of a b we will
sometimes write a + b (which might not mean addition), or a b or
ab (which might not mean multiplication), or even a $ b if we feel
like it (probably not).
We will not use the symbol + unless the group is abelian; with other
symbols, the group may be abelian or not.
The inverse of an element a will usually be written as a1 . Be
sure to read this correctly as a inverse if you say a to the
minus one then you are implicitly assuming that the operation is
multiplication, and this is likely to lead you into all sorts of errors.
If the group operation is written + , we shall often write 0 instead
of e for the identity and a instead of a1 for the inverse.
We shall need notations for repeated operations. Usually, if n is a
positive integer, we shall write an to denote a a a, where the
expression contains n copies of a. We shall also define a0 = e (think
about it this should make sense) and an = a1 a1 a1 .
If the group operation is written as +, then we shall normally write
na to denote a+a+ +a, rather than an . Note carefully that what
we have here is repeated addition. It is not multiplication: there
is only one operation in a group, and if the operation is addition,
then multiplication is meaningless!
Strictly speaking, a group must be a pair (G, ) consisting of a set
and an operation. However, we shall often say the group G if
the specific meaning of is understood (or irrelevant). Sometimes
instead of (G, ) is a group we shall say G is a group under .
An abelian group may be referred to as a commutative group.
5 6
Examples of groups.
1. If + denotes ordinary addition of integers, then (Z, +) is a group.
2. Let denote ordinary multiplication.
Explain why (Z, ) is not a group.
If G is the interval ( 12 , 2 ), explain why (G, ) is not a group.
Find some wellknown sets G such that (G, ) is a group.
3. Let m be a positive integer. Then the set Zm = { 0, 1, . . . , m 1 }
is a group under addition modulo m.
4. The set Zm is not a group under multiplication modulo m. However,
if we define
Um = { a Z | 1 a m and gcd(a, m) = 1 } ,
then Um is a group under multiplication modulo m. It is called
the (multiplicative) group of units modulo m. For example,
{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 } is a group under multiplication modulo 7, while
{ 1, 3, 7, 9 } is a group under multiplication modulo 10.
Exercise. Is { 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 } a group under multiplication modulo
10? What about { 2, 4, 6, 8 }?
5. The set F of all bijective functions f : R R is a group under
composition of functions. Recall that composition is often written
with the symbol and is defined by
(f g)(x) = f (g(x))
for all x. Note that this group is nonabelian; all of our previous
examples have been abelian.
6. Let G = { x R | 1 < x < 1 }. For any x, y G define
x+y
xy = ,
1 + xy
where the addition, multiplication and division on the right hand
side are the standard operations with real numbers. Then is a
binary operation on G, and (G, ) is a group.
Exercise in notation. In the given group, evaluate a4 , where which fits exactly into the hole. Exercise. If we remove the square
the group is (Z, +) and a = 7; from the hole, in how many ways can it be replaced?
the group is Z11 as in example 3 above, and a = 7; We can describe a removalandreplacement of the square by
means of a function , where (k) is the location after the move of
the group is U11 as in example 4, and a = 7;
the vertex of the square which was in location k before the move.
the group is F from example 5, and a is 2x 3; For example, a rotation through a right angle anticlockwise is given
the group is G from example 6, and a = 21 . by
(1) = 2 , (2) = 3 , (3) = 4 , (4) = 1 ,
Basic properties of groups. In order to work seriously with groups,
the first thing we need to do is to expand our knowledge base beyond often written as 1 2 3 4
the three facts which we have at this stage. = .
2341
Lemma. Basic properties of groups. Let (G, ) be a group. Similarly, a reflection about the diagonal joining vertices 1 and 3 is
1. Uniqueness of identity. There is only one identity element in G. given by
1 2 3 4
2. Uniqueness of inverses. Each element of G has only one inverse. = .
1432
3. Inverse of an inverse. For each a G we have (a1 )1 = a.
The natural operation with functions of this type is to perform
4. Inverse of a product. For all a, b G we have (a b)1 = b1 a1 . one move followed by another: we write for the move we get
5. Cancellation. Let a, b, c G. If ab = ac then b = c, and if ba = ca by performing on the result of . (Note carefully the order of
then b = c. operations it may seem strange but the reason will soon become
Proof. We prove the first and leave the others as exercises. Suppose clear.) For example, we have
that G has identity elements e and f . Then 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
= and =
2143 4321
e=ef because f is an identity
=f because e is an identity. and (which should be obvious)
1 2 3 4
So there is only one identity, and this completes the proof. 4 = .
1234
Examples, continued. In fact, a little thought will show that the operation we are de-
7. Is R3 a group under the cross product? scribing is just composition of functions (this is why we denote
8. Consider the operation x y = y on the 2element set S = { 0, 1 }. followed by by and not ); and that the set of all possible
Note that for all a in S we have 0 a = a, and for any a we can moves of the square is
take b = 0 giving a b = 0. It is clear that is associative. Is (S, )
G = { e, , 2 , 3 , , , 2 , 3 } ;
a group?
9. Consider a piece of cardboard having a square hole, the corners of and that G is a group under composition. It can be regarded as
the hole being labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 in anticlockwise order, and a square a group of bijections (not the group of all bijections, however) on

7 8
 { 1, 2, 3, 4 }, and is called the group of symmetries of the square Comment. If S is a (nonempty) finite subset of G, then closure alone
or the dihedral group D8 . will guarantee that S is a subgroup of G. (Exercise!)
If we go back to our original situation and add another rule by
Examples, continued.
saying that we are not allowed to turn the square over, then the
allowable moves are just { e, , 2 , 3 }, which forms the group of 12. For any nonnegative integer m, write mZ for the set of all (integer)
rotations of the square. multiples of m. Then mZ is a subgroup of (Z, +). Conversely, every
subgroup of Z is equal to mZ for some m.
Exercise. Assuming that we have convinced ourselves that com-
position is a binary operation on G, the element must be one of If m1 | m2 , then m2 Z is a subgroup of m1 Z.
the eight elements listed above. Which one? 13. The set C of nonzero complex numbers is a group under multi-
10. Other geometric objects have symmetry groups too. The symme- plication. For any positive integer m, the set of all complex mth
tries of a regular ngon can be treated in the same way as above, roots of 1 is a subgroup of C .
and we get the dihedral group D2n . A circle has infinitely many 14. For any positive integer n, the set of all invertible real nn matrices
symmetries; we can write its symmetry group as forms a group under matrix multiplication. It is often denoted
GL(n, R) and is called the general linear group of degree n over
{ | 0 < 2 } { | 0 < } , R. It has many important subgroups, including
where is an anticlockwise rotation through an angle about the the special linear group SL(n, R) of n n real matrices with
centre of the circle, and is a reflection about the diameter which determinant 1;
makes an angle with the horizontal. Exercise. Express in the orthogonal group O(n) of n n orthogonal matrices;
terms of 0 and a rotation. the special orthogonal group SO(n) = SL(n) O(n) of n n
11. Let S = { 1, 2, 3, 4 } and let G be the set of all bijections f : S S. orthogonal matrices with determinant 1.
Then G is a group under composition of functions; the reasons for
this are essentially the same as in example 5. (In fact, the set of Returning to example 4, lets consider in particular U5 = { 1, 2, 3, 4 }
bijections on any set will form a group.) and U10 = { 1, 3, 7, 9 }. Remember that these are groups under the op-
erations of multiplication modulo 5 and modulo 10 respectively. Instead
Observe that the bijections of S include the symmetries of the of actually doing the multiplication, we could simply write out all the
square (example 9), which in turn include the rotations of the results in tables.
square. This leads into our next topic.
1 2 3 4 1 3 7 9
Definition. Let (G, ) be a group, and let S be a nonempty subset of
G. If (S, ) is a group, then we say that S is a subgroup of G. 1 1 2 3 4 1 1 3 7 9
2 2 4 1 3 3 3 9 1 7
Lemma. Let (G, ) be a group and let S be a nonempty subset of G. 3 3 1 4 2 7 7 1 9 3
The S is a subgroup of G if and only if the following conditions hold.
4 4 3 2 1 9 9 7 3 1
1. Closure under . For all a, b S we have a b S.
2. S contains inverses. For all a S we have a1 S. If we take the group table for U5 and relabel the elements 1, 2, 3, 4 as
Proof. Exercise. 1, 3, 7, 9 respectively we obtain precisely the table for U10 . We say that

9 10
these two groups are isomorphic: the concept is similar to isomorphism Definition. Let G and H be groups with operations and respec-
of graphs, which some of you have met in MATH1081 Discrete Mathe- tively. A homomorphism from G to H is a function : G H with
matics. The idea is that in many situations, the actual identity of group the property that
elements is unimportant and the only thing that matters is how they (a b) = (a) (b)
relate to each other. From this point of view we can regard these groups for all elements a, b of G. An isomorphism is a bijective homomor-
as being the same. phism. The groups G and H are said to be isomorphic, written G
= H,
Consider the group table for Z4 , recalling that in this case the oper- if there exists an isomorphism between them. The kernel and image
ation will be addition modulo 4. If we write the elements in the obvious of a homomorphism : G H are the sets
order, the table does not look quite like those above; but the order in
which we list the elements is not important, and if we change the or- ker = { a G | (a) = f } and im = { (a) | a G } ,
der then we see that once again we have a relabelling of the same where f is the identity element of H.
structure.
Lemma. Properties of homomorphisms. Let be a homomorphism
+ 0 1 2 3 + 0 1 3 2 from (G, ) to (H, ). Write the identity elements of G and H as e and
0 0 1 2 3 0 0 1 3 2 f , respectively. Then
1 1 2 3 0 1 1 2 0 3 1. identities map to identities, that is, (e) = f ;
2 2 3 0 1 3 3 0 2 1 2. inverses map to inverses: for all a G we have (a1 ) = (a)1 ;
3 3 0 1 2 2 2 3 1 0 3. ker is a subgroup of G;
4. im is a subgroup of H;
So, what is a relabelling? In effect, it is a function, and more specifi- 5. is onetoone if and only if ker = { e };
cally a bijection: to show that Z4 and U10 are isomorphic we may rely 6. if is an isomorphism then the inverse function 1 : H G is
on the bijection from Z4 to U10 given by also an isomorphism.
Proof. We prove the first and fourth results and leave the others as
(0) = 1 , (1) = 3 , (2) = 9 , (3) = 7 . exercises. For the first, the defining property of homomorphisms gives

The fact that the tables turn out to be the same means that if we take
a true statement such as 1 = 2 + 3 and relabel it to get 3 = 9 7, then
the latter statement is also true. That is,
2 + 3 relabelled equals 2 relabelled times 3 relabelled ,
or symbolically
(2 + 3) = (2) (3) .
This prompts the following definition.
(e) = (e e) = (e) (e) ,
that is, (e)f = (e)(e); and then by cancellation we have (e) = f .
For the fourth part, let c1 , c2 be elements of im . By definition we
have c1 = (a1 ), c2 = (a2 ) for some a1 , a2 G and hence
c1 c2 = (a1 ) (a2 ) = (a1 a2 ) im ;
so im is closed under . If c im , say c = (a), then the second
property in this lemma gives
c1 = (a)1 = (a1 ) im .

11 12
By the subgroup lemma (page 9), im is a subgroup of H. Cyclic groups form in many respects the simplest class of groups,
but they are nevertheless very important. Among other things,
Lemma. Isomorphism is an equivalence. The relation
= between every finite abelian group can be written in terms of cyclic groups.
groups is an equivalence relation, that is,
16. Consider U8 , the group of units modulo 8.
1. it is reflexive: for any group G we have G = G;
2. it is symmetric: for any groups G, H, if G 1 3 5 7
= H then H
= G;
H and H 1 1 3 5 7
3. it is transitive: for any groups G, H, K, if G = = K then

G = K. 3 3 1 7 5
5 5 7 1 3
Examples, continued. 7 7 5 3 1
15. Let m be a positive integer and consider the set
This is not isomorphic to Z4 . One way to see this would be to
Cm = { e, a, a2 , a3 , . . . , am1 } ; consider all 24 bijections from U8 to Z4 and show that none of them
satisfies the definition of a homomorphism; another way would be to
here a is regarded as an undefined symbol. We define an operation cut down the feasible bijections by using the lemma properties of
on Cm by specifying that a0 = e and homomorphisms, page 12. An even better way would be to observe
 that if we calculate a a for all a U8 , we get the same answer four
k l ak+l if k + l < m times, whereas if we do likewise in Z4 we get two answers twice each.
a a =
ak+lm otherwise. Therefore the two groups are genuinely different, and neither can
be regarded as a relabelling of the other. To put this argument
In effect, we are multiplying powers in the usual way, with the rule more formally, suppose that there is an isomorphism : U8 Z4 .
that am = e. It is not hard to show that Cm is a group under this In U8 the products
multiplication; it is called the cyclic group of order m.
1 1, 3 3, 5 5, 77
Observe that the group of complex mth roots of unity (example 13)
can be regarded as a relabelling of Cm : replace e by 1 and a by are all the same; therefore
e2i/m . More formally, we may check that the function
(1 1) , (3 3) , (5 5) , (7 7)
k 2ki/m
: Cm { mth roots of unity } , (a ) = e are all the same in Z4 . By the homomorphism property, this means
that
is an isomorphism. In fact, the bijection
(1) + (1) , (3) + (3) , (5) + (5) , (7) + (7)
k
: Z m Cm , (k) = a are all the same in Z4 . But is a bijection and therefore (1), (3),
(5), (7) are equal to 0, 1, 2, 3, possibly in a different order; so in
shows that Zm is also isomorphic to Cm : this should not be sur- Z4 the elements
prising, since when we compute products in Cm , all we are really
doing is adding integers modulo m. 0 + 0, 1 + 1, 2 + 2, 3+3

13 14
 are all the same. But these elements are 0, 2, 0, 2 which are clearly
not all the same, and we have a contradiction.
Observe from this and page 11 that the groups of units modulo 5 and
10 are isomorphic to cyclic groups, but the group of units modulo
8 is not. It is a difficult question in number theory to determine
(with proof) which of the groups Um are cyclic.
17. The function : U8 Z4 defined by
(1) = (3) = 0 , (5) = (7) = 2
is a homomorphism, but not an isomorphism.
18. Consider relativistic motion in one dimension, and choose units so
that the speed of light is taken to be 1. Suppose that an observer
in one reference frame sees an event occurring at position x, time t.
Suppose also that a second observer, who is moving with velocity
v relative to the first, finds the same event to occur at position x ,
time t . Then we have


1

x , t = fv x, t = x vt, t vx .
1v 2
The 2dimensional Lorenz group consists of the set of functions
L = { fv | 1 < v < 1 }
under the operation of composition. Exercise. Prove that L is a
group. For those who are interested in such things: why did we
impose the restriction 1 < v < 1? Would you expect (on physical
grounds) the group to be abelian? Check your answer algebraically.
The group L is isomorphic to one of the groups in previous exam-
ples, and also to another very familiar group. Exercise. Identify
(with proof) these groups.
Lagranges Theorem. One of the fascinating things about group the-
ory is that a tiny set of axioms entails an immense range of consequences.
For instance, the axioms say nothing (explicitly) about the number of
15
elements in a group; yet it turns out that for any group G with a finite
number of elements, there is a stringent restriction on the number of
elements in a subgroup of G. This is one of the most fundamental facts
about subgroups.
Theorem. Lagranges Theorem. If G is a finite group and H is a
subgroup of G, then |H| is a factor of |G|.
Proof. We shall use multiplicative notation. For any a G we define
the left coset of H by a to be
aH = { ah | h H } .
We shall prove that
every element of G is in one of the cosets of H;
no element is in two different cosets;
any coset has the same number of elements as H.
It will then follow that the cosets split G into a number of sets of size
|H|, and so |G| is a multiple of |H|.
The first part is straightforward. Let g G; since H is a subgroup
of G it contains e, and so the coset gH contains ge; that is, g is an
element of gH.
Next, suppose that an element g of G is in both a1 H and a2 H.
Then g = a1 h1 = a2 h2 for certain elements h1 , h2 of H. Suppose that
k a1 H; then k = a1 h for some h H and so
k = a1 h = (a2 h2 h1 1
1 )h = a2 (h2 h1 h) .
But h2 h1
1 h is in H and so k a2 H. This shows that a1 H a2 H; by
a similar argument we have a2 H a1 H, and so a1 H = a2 H. Therefore
g is not in two different cosets.
Finally, if H has elements h1 , h2 , . . . , hm then the left coset aH has
elements ah1 , ah2 , . . . , ahm ; and all these elements are distinct, because
ahi = ahj hi = hj
(cancellation property, page 7). Therefore aH has the same number of
elements as H. As explained previously, this completes the proof.
16
Example to illustrate the above proof. Let G = U7 = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 }
and H = { 1, 2, 4 }. It is easy to check that H is a subgroup of G. The
left cosets of H are
1H = { 1, 2, 4 } ; 2H = { 2, 4, 1 } ;
3H = { 3, 6, 5 } ; 4H = { 4, 1, 2 } ;
5H = { 5, 3, 6 } ; 6H = { 6, 5, 3 } ;
we can see that each coset has the same number of elements as H, and
that different cosets do not overlap. There are only two different cosets,
which between them make up all of U7 . So the number of elements in
G is twice the number in H.
Another example: consider the group G = { e, , 2 , 3 , , , 2 , 3 } Definition. A field is a (nonempty) set F with two binary operations
of symmetries of the square. It has a subgroup (check! ) H = { e, }
whose cosets are
eH = { e, } , H = { , } , 2 H = { 2 , 2 } , 3 H = { 3 , 3 } 1. Associativity of addition. For all a, b, c in F we have (a + b) + c =
(check this too); thus G is made up of four cosets, each having 2 ele-
ments.
Comments.
If we used additive notation we would write a coset of H as a + H.
You can visualise this as a translation of H: think of the cosets as
being a collection of parallel planes which between them fill up all of
R3 . Notice that only one of these planes will contain the origin and
will therefore be a subspace of R3 ; in the same way, only one coset
(namely, H itself) will contain the identity and will be a subgroup
of G.
We may also define right cosets Ha = { ha | h H }. In the
example involving U7 , left cosets and right cosets are the same; and
it is not hard to see that this will always be the case in an abelian
group. However in the group G of symmetries of the square, one of
the right cosets of H is
3
H = { , } this is to rule out the trivial case of a oneelement field F = { 0 }.
17
which is not equal to any of the left cosets: thus left and right cosets
are not the same. On the other hand, K = { e, , 2 , 2 } is also
a subgroup of G, but the left and right cosets of K are the same.
(Exercise. Check this if you think carefully, there is a very simple
reason why it is true.)
It turns out that subgroups for which left and right cosets coincide
are especially important, and this leads into the topic of quotient
groups.
Fields. Roughly speaking, a field is a set of numbers within which we
can add, subtract, multiply and divide, except for division by zero, in
accordance with sensible rules. More precisely:
addition, denoted +, and multiplication, denoted by or juxtaposition,
such that the following properties hold.
a + (b + c).
2. Commutativity of addition. For all a, b in F we have a + b = b + a.
3. Zero element. There exists an element 0 of F such that if a F
then a + 0 = a.
4. Negatives. For each element a of F there is an element b of F such
that a + b = 0. (We usually denote this element by a.)
5. Associativity of multiplication. If a, b, c F then (ab)c = a(bc).
6. Commutativity of multiplication. If a, b F then ab = ba.
7. Multiplicative identity. There exists a nonzero element 1 of F such
that if a F then 1a = a.
8. Multiplicative inverses. For each nonzero a in F there is an element
b of F such that ab = 1. (We usually denote this element by a1 .)
9. Distributive law. For all a, b, c in F we have a(b + c) = ab + ac.
Comments.
Notice that we have slipped into axiom 7 the requirement that 1 6= 0:
18
 The first four axioms state that (F, +) is an abelian group, the next
four that (F { 0 }, ) is an abelian group. Because of this, we
immediately have results such as (a) = a and the cancellation
laws.
As we mentioned with reference to groups on page 4, we have omit-
ted the closure axioms for addition and multiplication (stated in
some sources) because for us they are part of the definition of a
binary operation. However, these properties must be checked in
order to prove that a given structure is a field.
Examples.
1. You are already familiar with the fields Q = { rational numbers },
R = { real numbers } and C = { complex numbers }.
2. Properties of certain kinds of fields are extremely important in num-
ber theory. For any real or complex number we define Q() to
be the smallest field which contains Q as a subset and also has
as an element. It can be shown that

Properties of addition and multiplication (separately) in a field follow, by
Q 2 = { a + b 2 | a, b Q } , Q(i) = { a + bi | a, b Q } .
Exercise. Check that these really are fields. If = e2i/5 then
Q() = { a + b + c 2 + d 3 | a, b, c, d Q } .
If we wish to extend Q by we need something rather more com-
plicated:
multiplication modulo 5. The only special thing about 5 in this
example is that it is prime; in fact, if p is any prime then Zp forms
a field.
There are finite fields with pk elements, where p is prime and k is a
positive integer; however (warning!) these fields do not consist of
the integers modulo pk , unless k = 1. It can be shown that there
are no finite fields except for these.
The finite field with pk elements is often referred to as a Galois
field and notated GF(pk ).
Definition. Further operations in a field. Let a, b be elements of a field
F. We define the operations of subtraction and division by
a b = a + (b) and a b = a/b = ab1 ,
provided in the latter case that b 6= 0. Note that strictly speaking,
division is not a binary operation on F.
and large, from the group axioms. However, there are many important
basic results which involve addition and multiplication together.
Lemma. Properties of fields. Let F be a field and a, b, c F. Then
1. a0 = 0;
2. a(b) = (ab);
3. a(b c) = ab ac;
4. if ab = 0, then either a = 0 or b = 0.
n p()  o Proof of the second result. We have
Q() =  p, q Q[x] and q 6= 0 ;

q()
here Q[x] denotes the set of all polynomials in one variable with
rational coefficients.
3. We have already seen that Z5 is an abelian group under addition;
and that if we remove 0 we obtain U5 , an abelian group under
multiplication; and it is well known that the distributive law also
holds. Therefore Z5 is a field under the operations of addition and
19
ab + a(b) = a(b + (b)) = a0 = 0 = (ab) + ((ab)) ,
and the result follows from the cancellation rule.
Different fields have various important extra properties. The field
R is complete, which means, roughly speaking, that every infinite dec-
imal represents a number: see MATH3570 Foundations of Calculus for
more details (and more precision). Completeness is essential for doing
20
calculus: if we tried to do calculus using only rational numbers, then im-
portant results such as the Intermediate Value Theorem would no longer
be true. You are also familiar with the fact that R can be ordered, and
with many of the implications of this.
The complex field is also complete, and so we can do calculus on
C: some of you will already be studying this. However C cannot be
ordered (exercise: work out what this means, and then prove it, care-
fully). Another vital property of C is that it is algebraically closed:
every polynomial with coefficients in C has roots in C. This guarantees
that a real or complex n n matrix will always have n eigenvalues*.
As mentioned above, Q() and similar fields are very important in
number theory. They can be employed in order to settle the three famous
problems of ancient Greek geometry, by showing that it is impossible to
square the circle, to trisect an arbitrary angle or to duplicate a cube.
They can be used to solve Diophantine equations such as x2 + 2 = y 3 ,
where x, y must be integers, and also make an appearance in the proof
of Fermats Last Theorem.
Finite fields are widely used in information theory, for example,
in cryptography and errorcorrecting codes. In particular, certain con-
structions of these kinds employ vector spaces over finite fields. For
more on these topics you could take MATH2400 Finite Mathematics
and MATH3411 Information, Codes and Ciphers.
For MATH2601, the main purpose of fields will be as the sets of
scalars associated with vector spaces. Mostly we shall be working over
R or C.

* conditions apply.

21