Selected exercises from Abstract Algebra by Dummit

and Foote (3rd edition).

Bryan Félix
Abril 12, 2017

Section 1.1
√
Exercise (9). Let G = {a + b 2 ∈ R | a, b ∈ Q}.

a) Prove that G is a group under addition.

Proof. We prove the four group axioms:

i. Closed under addition.

√ √
Let g1 = a + b 2 and g2 = c + d 2 be two elements in G. Then,
√ √
g1 + g2 =(a + b 2) + (c + d 2)
√
=(a + c) + (b + d) 2

which is clearly a member of G.

ii. Associativity.
Inherited from R+ .
iii. Existence of the identity element. √
Inherited from R+ , namely 0. Observe that 0 = 0 + 0 2 ∈ G.
iv. Existence of inverses. √
From the inverse elements of R+ we take g −1 = −g = (−a) + (−b) 2. Clearly an
element of G.

b) Prove that the nonzero elements of G are a group under multiplication.

Proof. Again, we prove the four group axioms:

i. Closed under multiplication.

√ √
Let g1 = a + b 2 and g2 = c + d 2 be two elements in G. Then,
√ √
g1 g2 =(a + b 2)(c + d 2)
√ √
=ac + ad 2 + cb 2 + 2bd
√
=(ac + 2bd) + (ad + cb) 2

which is clearly a member of G.

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 ii. Associativity.
Inherited from R× .
iii. Existence of the identity element. √
Inherited from R× , namely 1. Observe that 1 = 1 + 0 2 ∈ G.
iv. Existence of inverses.
From the inverse elements of R× we take
1
g −1 =
g
1
= √
a+b 2
√
a−b 2
= 2 2
by radicalization
a − 2b
√
   
a b
= + 2
a2 − 2b2 a2 − 2b2
where the latter is clearly an element of G.

Exercise (25). Prove that if x2 = 1 for all x ∈ G then G is abelian.

Proof. We take arbitrary g1 and g2 in G. Then
(g1 g2 )2 = 1
(g1 g2 )(g1 g2 ) = 1
g1 (g2 g1 )g2 = 1 multiply g1 on the left and g2 on the right
(g1 g1 )(g2 g1 )(g2 g2 ) = g1 g2
g12 (g2 g1 )g22 = g1 g2
1(g2 g1 )1 = g1 g2
g2 g1 = g1 g2
as desired.

Section 1.3
Exercise (15). Prove that the order of an element in Sn equals the least common multiple of
the lengths of the cycles in its cycle decomposition.
Proof. Let σ be an element of SN . Since every element in Sn has a unique disjoint cycle
decomposition we assume without loss of generality that this is the case. Then, we write σ as:
σ = πl1 πl2 . . . πln
were each π represents a disjoint cycle of length li .
Recall that πli acts on the set {1, 2, . . . , li } by cyclically permuting the set. Therefore |πli | = li .
Since disjoint cycles commute we note that
σ m = πl1 m πl2 m . . . πln m
Therefore σ m = 1 if and only if
l1 , l2 , . . . ln |m
Since we take the order of σ to be the smallest m that satisfies the previous property, our
definition coincides with the least common multiple of the set {l1 , l2 , . . . , ln }.

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Exercise (18). Find all numbers n such that S5 contains an element of order n

Solution. Using the same notation as in the previous exercise we observe that an element
σ ∈ S5 will have order n if and only if n = lcm{l1 , . . . , lm }. Where li is the length of the cycle
in the decomposition
σ = π l 1 π l 2 . . . πl m
The characteristic elements of S5 (up to relabeling) are

1
(1 2)
(1 2)(3 4)
(1 2 3)
(1 2 3)(4 5)
(1 2 3 4)
(1 2 3 4 5)

The order of the elements, respectively, are: 1,2,2,3,6,4,5. Therefore n = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}.

Section 1.4
Exercise (11). Let H(F ) be the Heisenberg group over F. Let X, Y ∈ H(F ).

a) Compute the matrix product XY . Exhibit explicit matrices such that XY 6= Y X.

Solution:  
1 a + d af + b + e
XY = 0 1 c+f 
0 0 1
Furthermore  
1 a + d cd + b + e
Y X = 0 1 c+f 
0 0 1
Observe that XY 6= Y X whenever af 6= cd. For any field F take a = f to be the multi-
plicative identity, and c = d to be the additive identity. Then, by the uniqueness axioms
1 × 1 6= 0 + 0 and the matrix product XY will not be commutative.

b) Find an explicit formula for the matrix inverse X −1 and deduce that H(F ) is closed under
inverses.
Solution: This is an easy computation from the product XY given above. We want

a+d=0
c+f =0
af + b + e = 0

Then

d = −a
f = −c
e = −(af ) − b = ac − b

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 Therefore  
1 −a ac − b
X −1 = 0 1 −c 
0 0 1
Closure under inverses then follows.
c) Prove the associative law for H(F )

Proof. Let      
1 a b 1 d e 1 i j
X = 0 1 c  , Y = 0 1 f  , Z = 0 1 k 
0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
Then
    
1 a b 1 d + i dk + e + j 1 a + d + i af + (a + d)k + b + e + j
X(Y Z) = 0 1 c  0 1 f + k  = 0 1 c+f +k 
0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
On the other hand
    
1 a + d af + b + e 1 i j 1 a + d + i af + (a + d)k + b + e + j
(XY )Z = 0 1 c + f  0 1 k  = 0 1 c+f +k 
0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
Associativity then follows. Furthermore, |H(F )| = |F |3 , since we get to choose 3 elements
for a, b, c.

d) Find the order of each element of the finite group H(Z/2Z).

Solution:
       
 1 0 0   1 1 0   1 1 1   1 1 1 
   
 0 1 0  = 1, 0
  1 0  = 2, 0
  1 0  = 2, 0
  1 1 = 4,

 0 0 1   0 0 1   0 0 1   0 0 1 
       
 1 0 0   1 0 1   1 0 1   1 1 0 
   
 0 1 1  = 2, 0
  1 0  = 2, 0
  1 1  = 2, 0
  1 1 = 4,

 0 0 1   0 0 1   0 0 1   0 0 1 

e) Prove that every nonidentity element of the group H(R) has infinite order.

Proof. Let  
1 a b
X = 0 1 c 
0 0 1
and assume that X has finite order. We will show that X must be the identity in H(R).
Using standard notation observe that, upon multiplication, the (1, 2) and (2, 3) entries of
the matrix X n are equal to n · a and n · c, respectively. Since R under addition does not
have a non identity element of finite order, it must be that a = c = 0. Therefore
 
1 0 b
X = 0 1 0
0 0 1
But again, by the same argument, the entry (1, 3) in X n is equal to 2 · n · b. Then b = 0,
and therefore X = is the 2 × 2 identity matrix.

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Section 1.6
Exercise (4). Prove that the multiplicative groups R − {0} and C − {0} are not isomorphic.

Proof. Note that every number in the multiplicative group R − {0} has infinite order, except
for −1 with | − 1| = 2. In contrast, the multiplicative group C − {0} has elements of any given
order. This is clear from the theory of roots of unity. Therefore, there can not be a bijection
that preserves the order of the elements.

Exercise (6). Prove that the additive groups Z and Q are not isomorphic.

Proof. The additive group Z has representation Z+ = h −1, +1 i i.e. −1 and 1 are the generators
of the group. We proceed by contradiction and assume that Q+ ∼ = Z+ . Then, there must be
two elements q1 , q2 with p1 , p2 , q1 , q2 ∈ Z that generate Q . Observe that h pq11 , pq22 i is a subgroup
p1 p2 +

/ h q11q2 i. Therefore pq11 , pq22 do not generate Q+ .

of h q11q2 i. Furthermore, q1 q12 +1 ∈

Exercise (18). Let Gbe any group. prove that the map φ : G → G given by φ(g) = g 2 is an
homomorphism if and only if G is abelian.

Proof.

i. Assume that φ is an homomorphism. Then, for arbitrary g1 , g2 ∈ G the following two

expansions of φ(g1 g2 ) are true:

φ(g1 g2 ) = (g1 g2 )2
= (g1 g2 )(g1 g2 )
φ(g1 g2 ) = φ(g1 )φ(g2 )
= (g1 )2 (g2 )2
= (g1 g1 )(g2 g2 )

by equating both statements and by multiplying by (g1 )−1 and (g2 )−1 appropriately we
have:

(g1 g2 )(g1 g2 ) = (g1 g1 )(g2 g2 )

g1 (g2 g1 )g2 = g1 (g1 g2 )g2
g2 g1 = g1 g2

as desired

ii. Now assume that G is abelian. Then,

φ(g1 g2 ) = (g1 g2 )2
= (g1 g2 )(g1 g2 )
= (g1 g1 )(g2 g2 ) since G is abelian
= g12 g22
= φ(g1 )φ(g2 )

as desired.

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Section 1.7
Exercise (21). Show that the group of rigid motions of a cube is isomorphic to S4

Proof. Observe that by fixing a labeling of the pairs of opposite vertices of a cube we obtain
a faithful action under the rigid motions (); i.e. disctinct permutations of the vertices come
from distinct rigid motions. Note that is is also a surjection since || = |S4 | = 24. Hence the
action is both injective and surjective and therefore  ∼= S4 .

Exercise (23). Explain why the action of the group of rigid motions of a cube on a set of three
pairs of opposite faces is not faithful. Find the kernel of this action.

Solution First observe that the order of the group of rigid motions of a cube  has order
24. In contrast to S3 which only has order 6. Therefore a map φ :  → S3 can not be injective
and hence not faithful. The kernel of the action is the set of rigid motion that preserves the
x, y, z axis of the cube but might change their orientation. In other words, it is the set of rigid
motions by 180 degrees around any axis.