MODERN ALGEBRA 1: HOMEWORK 04

DUE WED OCTOBER 11 2017

We use multiplicative notation for groups unless otherwise stated. So if one just
says G is a group, one expects multiplication notation, but if one says Z/n is a
group one clearly means additive notation. Keep in mind that for abelian groups
H G written additively, cosets are writen as g + H, g G, and the neutral
element of G is written as 0, not 1, etc.

Recall that if G is a group and N E G a normal subgroup then G/N is a group

called the quotient of G by N .
If N G is not a normal subgroup then G/N just means the set of cosets and
it then has no group structure.

Problems
(1) Suppose : G H is a homomorphism of groups and N is its kernel (recall
that the kernel of is N := 1 (1) = {g G : (g) = 1}.)
(a) Prove that its kernel N is a normal subgroup of G;
(b) Prove that the map : G/N (G) defined by gN 7 (g) is an
isomorphism. (Careful: keep in mind that there are more than one
name for the element gN G/N so you must show that is well
defined).
Remark: This is called The First Isomorphism Theorem of Group Theory.

(2) Prove that a group generated by just one element is isomorphic to one of
Z or Z/n, n = 1, 2, 3, . . . .

(3) Prove that

(a) any subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic;
(b) any quotient of a cyclic group is cyclic

(4) (a) Prove that Z/n has a exactly one subgroup of order m for each divisor
m of n.
(b) Prove that Z/n has exactly one quotient group of order m for each
divisor m of n.

(5) (a) Let G1 and G2 be groups. Prove that the binary operation on G1 G2
defined by (g1 , g2 )(g10 , g20 ) = (g1 g10 , g2 g20 ) defines a group (called the
cartesian product of G1 and G2 ).
(b) More generally, describe how you would define the cartesian product
G1 G2 Gn of n groups.
(c) Prove that the Klein 4-group (whose multiplication table you saw in
problem 4 of HW03) is isomorphic to Z/2 Z/2.

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(6) Prove that if H G and |G/H| = 2 then H E G.

(7) (Extra credit)

(a) Let H G. Prove that the map G/H H\G defined by gH 7 Hg 1
is well defined and bijective (so the number of left cosets equals the
number of right cosets even if G is infinite).
(b) Prove that the map G/H H\G defined by gH 7 Hg is not well
defined unless H E G.