Sylow theorems

In mathematics, specifically in the field of finite group theory, the Sylow theo
rems are a collection of theorems named after the Norwegian mathematician Ludwig
Sylow (1872) that give detailed information about the number of subgroups of fi
xed order that a given finite group contains. The Sylow theorems form a fundamen
tal part of finite group theory and have very important applications in the clas
sification of finite simple groups.
For a prime number p, a Sylow p-subgroup (sometimes p-Sylow subgroup) of a group
G is a maximal p-subgroup of G, i.e. a subgroup of G that is a p-group (so that
the order of every group element is a power of p) that is not a proper subgroup
of any other p-subgroup of G. The set of all Sylow p-subgroups for a given prim
e p is sometimes written Sylp(G).
The Sylow theorems assert a partial converse to Lagrange's theorem. While Lagran
ge's theorem states that for any finite group G the order (number of elements) o
f every subgroup of G divides the order of G, the Sylow theorems state that for
every prime factor p of the order of a finite group G, there exists a Sylow p-su
bgroup of G. The order of a Sylow p-subgroup of a finite group G is pn, where n
is the multiplicity of p in the order of G, and every subgroup of order pn is a
Sylow p-subgroup of G. The Sylow p-subgroups of a group (for a given prime p) ar
e conjugate to each other. The number of Sylow p-subgroups of a group for a give
n prime p is congruent to 1 mod p.
Theorems
Collections of subgroups that are each maximal in one sense or another are commo
n in group theory. The surprising result here is that in the case of Sylp(G), al
l members are actually isomorphic to each other and have the largest possible or
der: if |G| = pnm with n > 0 where p does not divide m, then every Sylow p-subgr
oup P has order |P| = pn. That is, P is a p-group and gcd(|G : P|, p) = 1. These
properties can be exploited to further analyze the structure of G.
The following theorems were first proposed and proven by Ludwig Sylow in 1872, a
nd published in Mathematische Annalen.
Theorem 1: For every prime factor p with multiplicity n of the order of a finite
group G, there exists a Sylow p-subgroup of G, of order pn.
The following weaker version of theorem 1 was first proved by Cauchy, and is kno
wn as Cauchy's theorem.
Corollary: Given a finite group G and a prime number p dividing the order of G,
then there exists an element (and hence a subgroup) of order p in G.
Theorem 2: Given a finite group G and a prime number p, all Sylow p-subgroups of
G are conjugate to each other, i.e. if H and K are Sylow p-subgroups of G, then
there exists an element g in G with g 1Hg = K.
Theorem 3: Let p be a prime factor with multiplicity n of the order of a finite
group G, so that the order of G can be written as pnm, where n > 0 and p does no
t divide m. Let np be the number of Sylow p-subgroups of G. Then the following h
old:
np divides m, which is the index of the Sylow p-subgroup in G.
np 1 mod p.
np = |G : NG(P)|, where P is any Sylow p-subgroup of G and NG denotes the no
rmalizer.

Consequences
The Sylow theorems imply that for a prime number p every Sylow p-subgroup is of
the same order, pn. Conversely, if a subgroup has order pn, then it is a Sylow p
-subgroup, and so is isomorphic to every other Sylow p-subgroup. Due to the maxi
mality condition, if H is any p-subgroup of G, then H is a subgroup of a p-subgr
oup of order pn.
A very important consequence of Theorem 2 is that the condition np = 1 is equiva
lent to saying that the Sylow p-subgroup of G is a normal subgroup (there are gr
oups that have normal subgroups but no normal Sylow subgroups, such as S4).
Sylow theorems for infinite groups
There is an analogue of the Sylow theorems for infinite groups. We define a Sylo
w p-subgroup in an infinite group to be a p-subgroup (that is, every element in
it has p-power order) that is maximal for inclusion among all p-subgroups in the
group. Such subgroups exist by Zorn's lemma.
Theorem: If K is a Sylow p-subgroup of G, and np = |Cl(K)| is finite, then every
Sylow p-subgroup is conjugate to K, and np 1 mod p, where Cl(K) denotes the conju
gacy class of K.