Abstract Algebra Vocabulary

Chapter 0: Preliminaries

Injection (p. 2) A map f : A B is an injection if a1 6= a2 = f (a1 ) 6=

f (a2 ). f is an injection i f has a left inverse.
Surjection (p. 2) A map f : A B is a surjection if b B a A b = f (a).
f is a surjection i f has a right inverse.
Euclidean algoritm (p. 5) A procedure which produces the greatest common
divisor of two integers a and b. From the algorithm, it follows that
(a, b) gcd (a, b) = ax + by , x, y Z.
Integers modulo n (p. 8) Z/nZ. Letting a {a + kn|k Z} for a given n Z
be an equivalence class, Z/nZ is the set of such equivalence classes.
b a b.
a
+ b a + b, a
Chapter 1: Introduction to Groups

Dihedral group (p. 23) For n Z3 , D2n
= {

symmetries of a regular n-gon
 }=
1, r, . . . rn1 , s, srr, . . . srn1 = r, s|rn = s2 = 1, rs = sr1 . |D2n | =
2n.
Generators (p. 26) A subset S of a group G with the property that every element of G can be written as a nite product of elements of S and
their inverses. We write
G = hSi .

Relations (p. 26) Any equations in a general group G which the generators satisfy.
Presentation (p. 26) For a group G, the set of generators S and a collection of
relations R1 , . . . , Rm such that any relation among the elements of
S can be deduced from these relations. We write
G = hS|R1 , . . . , Rm i .

Symmetric group (p. 29) S {bijecttions from }, where is any nonempty

set.
Sn {bijections from }, where = {1, . . . , n}, is called the
symmetric group of degree n.
1

Ring (p. 223) A set R together with two binary operations + and such that
(R, +) is an abelian group, is associative, and a, b, c R, a
(b + c) = a b + a c (a + b) c = a c + b c. The ring
is commutative if is commutative, and the ring has an identity if
e Ra Re a = a e = a. All elds are rings.
Field (p. 34) A set F together with two binary operations + and such that
(F, +) is an abelian group (whose identity can be called 0), (F {0} , )
is an abelian group, and a, b, c F , a (b + c) = a b + a c.
Equivalently, a eld is a ring with 0 1+ and 1 1 6= 0, which
has a multiplicative inverse a 6= 0 R. F F {0}.
General linear group (p. 34) GLn (F )
{A|A is an n n matrix with entries from F and det (A) 6= 0}.
Quaternion group (p. 36) Q8 {1, 1, i, i, j, j, k, k},
with 1a = a1 = a, (1) (1) = 1, (1) a = a (1) = a, if
i i = j j = k k = 1. D
For mixed multiples, useijk (eg., i j = k).
E
As a presentation, Q8 = 1, i, j, k| (1)2 = 1, i2 = j 2 = k2 = ijk = 1, .
Group action (p. 41) A map from G A A, written as g a, for which g1
(g2 a) = (g1 g2 ) a , 1 a = a g1 , g2 G, a A.
Faithful (p. 43) A group action is faithful if distinct elements of G induce distinct permutations of A.
Kernel [of an action] (p. 43) ker (G  A) {g G|g b = bb B}.
Chapter 2: Subgroups

Subgroup criterion (p. 46) A subset H of a group G is a subgroup i H 6=

and x, y H , xy 1 H .
Centralizer (p. 49) CG (A) g G|gag 1 = a a A , with A G, i.e., it is
the set of elements of G which commute with all elements of A.


Center (p. 50) Z (G) CG (G), i.e., it is the set of elements of G which commute with all other elements of G.


gAg 1 (p. 50) gAg 1 gag 1 |a A .


Normalizer (p. 50) NG (A) g G|gAg 1 = A , i.e., the set of elements of
G such that commutation gives ga = bg , with a, b A.

Stabilizer (p. 51) Gs {g G|g s = s}, i.e., for G acting on A, the stabilizer
of G on s is the set of elements of G which map s to itself.
Cyclic group (p. 54) hxi a group that can be generated by a single element
x. For such a group H , we can write H = hxi.
Zn the cyclic group of order n.
2

Subgroup generated by a set (p. 62) hAi the intersection of all subgroups of
G containing A, where A G. Alternatively, and equivalently,
A {a11 a22 ann |n Z , n 0 , i ai A , i = 1}, i.e., A is the
subgroup whose set is all nite products of elements of A.
Lattice of subgroups (p. 66) A graph, constructed by plotting all subgroups of
G starting at the bottom with {1}, ending at the top with G, and,
roughly speaking, with subgroups of larger order positioned higher
on the page than those of smaller order.
Chapter 3: Quotient Groups and Homomorphisms

Fibers of a homomorphism (p. 73) If is a homomorphism from G to H , then

the bers of are the sets of elements of G projecting to single
elements above H . For a given element h of H , we say that Xh is
the ber [of ] above (or over) h. E.g., Let G = {a, b, c}, h H ,
and (a) = (b) = h 6= (c). Then, Xh = {a, b}.
Kernel [of a homomorphism] (p. 75) ker = {g G| (g) = 1}, where : G
H is a homomorphism..
Quotient/factor group (p. 76) G/K {Xh |h H} with group operation is
Xa Xb = Xab , where there is a homomorphism : G H with
kernel K ker .
Coset (p. 77) gN {gn|n N }, N g {ng|n N } are the left and right coset
of N in G, respectively, where N G and g G.
A representative of a coset is any element of that coset.
Conceptually, the left coset, gN , of N in G is simply the left translate of N by G. Similarly for the right coset. For this reason, for
additive groups an alternative notation is g + N gN , N + g N g .
Example: G = Z, N = Zeven = {. . . , 2, 0, 2, . . .}. Then,
0N = {. . . , 0 + 2, 0 + 0, 0 + 2, . . .} = {. . . , 2, 0, 2, . . .},
1N = {. . . , 1 + 2, 1 + 0, 1 + 2, . . .} = {. . . , 1, 1, 3, . . .},
2N = {. . . , 2 + 2, 2 + 0, 2 + 2, . . .} = {. . . , 0, 2, 4, . . .}.
Comparing, 0N is N translated by 0 (Zeven again), 1N is N translated by 1 (Zodd ), and 2N is N translated by 2 (Zeven again).
1
Conjugate [element or set] (p. 82) The element gng
is called the

conugate of
1
n N by g , and the set gN g
gng 1 |n N is called the
conjugate of N by g .

Normal, normalize (p. 82) An element g normalizes N if gN g 1 = N . A subgroup N G is called normal if every element of g normalizes N ,
g G gN g 1 = N . We denote that N is a normal subgroup of

G as N E G. Note that
N E G NG (N ) = G
gN = N g g G

gN g 1 N

g G

({gN |g G} , ) is a group, where uN vN (uv) N.

Natural projection (homomorphism) (p. 83) The natural projection (homomorphism) of G onto G/N is the homomorphism : G G/N, g 7
gN , where N E G.
Complete preimage (p. 83) If H G/N , the complete preimage of H in G is
the preimage of H under the natural projection homomorphism.