MID-SEMESTER EXAMINATION-SOLUTION

MTH-204, MTH-204A
ABSTRACT ALGEBRA
Fall-2016
Date: 18th September 2016

Time Allowed: 2 hrs Max. Marks: 30

1. Give COMPLETE and PRECISE definitions for the following. [5]
a. Group b. Quotient Group c. Isomorphism of Groups d. Direct Product of Groups e. Group action.
Done in Class.
2. Give an example of each of the following. [4]
a. A subgroup of order 4 in A4 .
{1, (12)(34), (13)(24), (14)(23)}.
b. A group for which any two non-trivial subgroups have non-trivial intersection.
The quaternion group Q8 or the set of integers Z.
c. An element of order 6 in S5 .
(12)(345)
d. Two subgroups of a group G whose product is not a subgroup.
In G = D3 take, H = {1, y} and K = {1, xy}.
3. State and prove Lagrange’s theorem. [6]
Done in class.
4. State the first isomorphism theorem. Use this to decide whether the following pairs of groups are
isomorphic or not. [1+3+3]
∗
R
a. {1,−1} and R+ . (Note: R∗ denotes the set of all non-zero real numbers and R+ denotes the set of all
positive real numbers).
Z24
b. h6i and Z6 . (Note: h6i denotes the subgroup generated by 6).
Ans: Let f : G → G′ be a homomorphism of groups. Then G/Ker(f ) is isomorphic to f (G).
a. Define f : R∗ → R+ by x 7→ |x|.
Check that this is a surjective homomorphism with Kernel {1, −1}. By the first isomorphism theorem
R∗ ∼ +
{1,−1} = R .

( x 7→ x2 will also work)

b. Define φ : Z24 → Z6 by x 7→ x mod 6.
Check that this is a surjective homomorphism with Kernel h6i. By the first isomorphism theorem we have
Z24 ∼
h6i = Z6 .

5. Prove that in a group of odd order a non identity element is not conjugate to its inverse. [5]
Ans: Suppose x 6= 1 is conjugate to x−1 . If x = x−1 , then x2 = 1. Hence |G| is divisible by 2. This is a
contradiction. Hence x 6= x−1 . Since |Cx | is odd, Cx contains an element y which is neither x nor x−1 .
Since x is conjugate to y, x−1 is conjugate to y −1 . Hence y −1 ∈ Cx . Since y 6= y −1 , we must conclude that
|Cx | is even. This is a contradiction.
6. Let S3 acts on the set A = {(i, j) : 1 ≤ i, j ≤ 3} by σ.(i, j) = (σ(i), σ(j)) for σ ∈ S3 and (i, j) ∈ A.
Compute the orbits and stabilizers of this action. [6]
Ans: O(1,1) = O(2,2) = O(3,3) = {(1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3)}.
If i 6= j the orbit O(i,j) = {(k, l) : 1 ≤ k, l ≤ 3 and k 6= l}.
The stabilizer of (1, 1) is the set {id, (23)} where id is the identity element in S3 .
The stabilizer of (2, 2) is the set {id, (13)}.
The stabilizer of (3, 3) is the set {id, (12)}.
If i 6= j then the stabilizer of (i, j) contains only the identity element.