HW 8

Math 55a Homework 8
Due Wednesday October 30, 2024.
Material covered: Finitely generated abelian groups; group actions, orbits and counting; finite
subgroups of SO(3). (Artin §14.4,14.5,14.7, §6.7-6.12)
(Note: Several of the problems below review material previously covered, rather than this week’s
new material.)
0. Sometime over the weekend of October 26-27, please complete the week 8 survey (in Canvas).
1. Let G be a finite abelian group.

(a) For each prime p, show that the set of elements of order a power of p,
n
Gp := {g ∈ G | g p = e for some n},
is a subgroup of G.
(b) Show that there is a natural isomorphism G ∼
Q
= p Gp . (Do not use the classification theorem)
Q
(Hint: first construct a homomorphism φ : p Gp → G whose restriction to each factor is the
inclusion Gp ,→ G. Next, for each prime p, write |G| = pk m with p ̸ |m, let r be such that m|r and
r ≡ 1 mod pk , and consider the homomorphism g 7→ g r from G to itself. Show that the image of
this homomorphism is Gp , and use this to construct an inverse to φ.)
2. Prove that for any pair of positive integers a, b, the group Z/a×Z/b is isomorphic to Z/lcm(a, b)×
Z/ gcd(a, b). Using this, prove any finite product of finite cyclic groups is isomorphic to a product
of the form Z/a1 × · · · × Z/an , where a1 |a2 | · · · |an . (In fact, to a unique such product – but you
aren’t required to prove uniqueness).
3. Show that, if an element of GL(2, Z) (the group of invertible 2 × 2 matrices with integer
coefficients whose inverse also has integer coefficients) has finite order n, then n ∈ {1, 2, 3, 4, 6}.
(Hint: view the given element as a linear operator on a 2-dimensional complex vector space. What
can you say about its eigenvalues, and about its trace?)
4. A lattice in the Euclidean plane R2 is an additive subgroup Λ = Zu ⊕ Zv ⊂ R2 generated by

two linearly independent vectors. Let Λ ⊂ R2 be a lattice, and let G ⊂ O(2) be the subgroup of all
orthogonal transformations (rotations and/or reflections) of R2 which map Λ to itself.
Show that every element of G has finite order (hint: first show that Λ has finitely many shortest
vectors), and use the result of the previous problem to show that G must be isomorphic to either
Z/n or the dihedral group Dn , for some n ∈ {2, 4, 6}. (Optional: which of these possibilities
actually occur?)
5. (a) Show that any group of order 6 is isomorphic to either Z/6 or the symmetric group S3 .
(b) Classify all groups of order 8 up to isomorphism.
Hint for both parts: If ab ̸= ba, then one of a, b, and ab must have order > 2. (Why?) Moreover,
a subgroup H ⊂ G with |G/H| = 2 must be normal. (Why?)
1
6. Let G be a group, not necessarily finite, and let H ⊂ G be a subgroup of finite index, that
is, such that there are finitely many left cosets of H in G. Prove that the number of right cosets
is equal to the number of left cosets (so that we can define the index of H in G unambiguously).
(Hint: find an operation on G which maps left cosets to right cosets).
7. Let G ⊂ Sn be any subgroup of the symmetric group. The action of G on {1, . . . , n} is said
to be twice transitive if G acts transitively on ordered pairs of distinct elements, i.e. for every
i, i′ , j, j ′ ∈ {1, . . . , n} with i ̸= i′ and j ̸= j ′ , there exists σ ∈ G such that σ(i) = j and σ(i′ ) = j ′ .
Show that if the action of G on {1, . . . , n} is twice transitive and G contains a transposition then
G = Sn .
8. Let V be a 2-dimensional vector space over the field Fp , and G = GL(V ) the group of automor-
phisms of V (i.e., G = GL2 (Fp ), the group of 2 × 2 invertible matrices with entries in Fp ).
(a) Show that V has exactly p + 1 1-dimensional subspaces.
(b) Given this, we have a homomorphism ϕ : G → Sp+1 , since every automorphism of V must
permute its 1-dimensional subspaces. Describe the kernel and the image of ϕ for p = 2 and p = 3.
9. Recall that an element of the symmetric group Sn is called a k-cycle if it permutes k elements
cyclically and fixes the remaining n − k. How many k-cycles are there in Sn ?
10. Let G be a group of order pn with p prime, and suppose G acts on a finite set S. Prove that
if the cardinality of S is not divisible by p, then there must be an element s ∈ S fixed by every
g ∈ G; that is, an element whose stabilizer is all of G.
11. How many different bracelets can you make with 4 white beads and 4 black beads? (Hint: use
Burnside’s formula!)
12. How long did this assignment take you? How hard was it? What resources did you use,
and how much help did you need? (Remember to list the students you collaborated with on this
assignment.) Did you have any prior experience with this material?

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Math 55a Homework 8

Due Wednesday October 30, 2024.

1. Let G be a finite abelian group.

4. A lattice in the Euclidean plane R2 is an additive subgroup Λ = Zu ⊕ Zv ⊂ R2 generated by

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