Notes for M.A.

Armstrong’s Groups and Symmetry

Christian Stigen Larsen
March 2016

1 Symmetries of the Tetrahedron Multiplication

• For Q − {0}, Qpos , R − {0}, Rpos , {+1, −1}, C −
Symmetry group Captures the rules of how symme- {0}, C † , {±1, ±i}: e = 1 and x−1 = 1/x.
tries combine for a given object.

Z under addition modulus n e = 0, x−1 = n − x

Order of operations In the product∗ xyz, do z first, for x 6= 0, finite abelian group and denoted Zn .
then y and finally x. If order doesn’t matter in G, it’s
commutative (or abelian). Remember to label geomet- Z under multiplication modulus n Requires n to be
ric vertices. prime.

2 Axioms 4 Dihedral Groups

Group Set G with multiplication (addition, rotation, When n > 3 we can manufacture a plate whish has
etc.) satisfying n equal sides. These are the non-commutative dihe-
dral rotational symmetry groups Dn . E.g. D3 =
• associativity, i.e. (xy)z = x(yz) {e, r, r2 , s, rs, r2 s}. xm xn = xm+n and (xm )n =
xmn provided we interpret x0 = e. For any multipli-
• identity element e ∈ G such that xe = x = ex
cation table, each element in G appears only once in
• inverse e ∈ G such that x−1 x = e = xx−1 every given column or row.
rn = e, s2 = e, sr = rn−1 s, rn−1 = r−1 , etc.
Properties common to all groups Each element is of form ra , ra s where 0 6 a 6 n − 1.

• The identify element of a group is unique. For k = a +n b, ra rb = rk and ra (rb s) = rk s. For

l = a +n (n − b), (ra s)rb = rl s and (ra s)(rb s) = rl
• The inverse of each element of a group is unique. — thus r and s generate Dn .
The order |G| is the number of elements in the group.
If xn = e, then the element x has finite order n when n
3 Numbers is the smallest such n.

Addition of Z, Q, R, C
5 Subgroups and Generators
• Identity is zero
• −x is the inverse A subgroup of G is a subset of G which itself forms
a group under the multiplication of G. For H to be a
∗ Rotations, flips, multiplications, additions, etc. Same order as

functional composition. † Complex numbers of modulus 1.

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subgroup of G, H < G: more than one of them. Therefore they are commuta-
tive.
• xy ∈ G for any x, y ∈ H
• eH ∈ G
A few tricks
• For any x ∈ H, x−1 ∈ G
• Each element of Sn can be written as a prod-
• Associativity in G implies the same for H. uct of cyclic permutations, and any cyclic permu-
tation can be written as a product of transposi-
Subgroup generated by x, or hxi For an element x tions: (a1 a2 . . . ak ) = (a1 ak ) . . . (a1 a3 )(a1 )(a2 ).
in G, the set of all xn is a subgroup of G (remember Therefore, each element of Sn can be written as a
x0 = e). Finite order m means x0 = e, x1 , . . . , xm−1 . product of transpositions.
So order of x ∈ G is precisely the order of hxi. If • (ab) = (1a)(1b)(1a)
hxi = G, i.e., generates all of G, then G is a cyclic
group. • (1k) = (k − 1, k). . .(34)(23)(12)(23)(34). . .(k −
1, k)

Subgroup generated by X If X < G‡ and, for ex-

ample, r,s,r2 ,sr (called words of X). Theorems
(6.1) The transpositions in Sn together generate Sn .
Theorems (6.2a) The transpositions (12), (13), . . . , (1n) to-
(5.1) A non-empty subset H of a group G is a sub- gether generate Sn .
group of G if and only if xy −1 belongs to H (6.2b) The transpositions (12), (23), . . . , (n−1, n) to-
whenever x and y belong to H. gether generate Sn .
(5.2) The intersection of two subgroups of a group is (6.3) The transposition (12) and the n-cycle
itself a subgroup. (12 . . . n) together generate Sn .
(5.3) Every subgroup of Z is cyclic. Every subgroup
Any element α of Sn can be written as a product of
of a cyclic group is cyclic.
transpositions in many different ways. But the number
of transpositions is always even or always odd. If α can
be written as the product of an even number of trans-
6 Permutations positions, then its sign must be +1; for odd, it is −1.
Therefore, by the first trick above, a cyclic permutation
A permutation is a bijection§ from a set X to itself is even precisely when its length is odd.
(e.g., replace all 3s with 1s). The collecticon of all per-
mutations of X forms a group Sx under composition of
functions (who each perform one specific permutation). Theorems
When X consists of the first n positive integers, we get (6.4) The even permutations in Sn form a subgroup
the symmetric group Sn of degree n and order n!. S3 of order n!/2 called the alternating group An
is not abelian of degree n.
(a1 a2 . . . ak ) is called a cyclic permutation, sending a1 (6.5) For n > 3 the 3-cycles generate An .
to a2 , . . . , ak to a1 . Its length is k and a cyclic permu-
tation of length k is called a k-cycle. A 2-cycle is called
a transposition. Every element of Sn can be written
as many such disjoint, meaning no integer is moved by 7 Isomorphisms
‡X is a subgroup of G.
§A one-to-one mapping between the elements of two sets, mean- If two multiplication tables have corresponding ele-
ing you can always go backwards as well. ments and products, they are isomorphic.

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Two groups G and G0 are isomorphic if there is a bijec- • The rotational symmetry group of the tetrahedron
tion ϕ from G to G0 which satisfies ϕ(xy) = ϕ(x)ϕ(y) is isomorphic to A4 .
for all x, y ∈ G. The function ϕ is called an isomor-
• The cube and octehedron both have rotational
phism between G and G0 . This is written G ∼
= G0 .
symmetry groups which are isomorphic to S4 .
• The dodecahedron and icosahedron both have ro-
Notes tational symmetry groups which are isomorphic to
• G and G0 have the same order. A5 .

• ϕ(x)
−1
= ϕ(x−1 ) for all x ∈ G. • If two solids are dual to one another, their rota-
tional symmetry groups are isomorphic.
• If G is abelian, then so is G0 .
• If H is a subgroup of G then ϕ(H) a subgroup of Theorems Every group is isomorphic to a subgroup
G0 . of permutations:
• An isomorphism preserves the order of each ele- (8.1) Cayley’s Theorem. Let G be a group, then G
ment. is isomorphic to a subgroup of SG .
• If ϕ : G → G0 and ψ : G0 → G00 are both iso- (8.2) If G is a finite group of order n, then G is iso-
morphisms, then the composition ψϕ : G → G00 is morphic to a subgroup of Sn .
also an isomorphism.

Examples 9 Matrix Groups

• ϕ : R → Rpos by ϕ(x) = ex and ϕ(x + y) = The set of all invertible n×n matrices with real numbers
ex+y = ex ey = ϕ(x)ϕ(y). as entries forms a group under matrix multiplication:
• The non-abelian, rotational group G for the tetra- Matrix multiplication is associative, the n × n identity
hedron is isomorphic to A4 . matrix In =  and the inverse of AB is B −1 A−1 . This
group is called the General Linear Group, GLn .
• Any infinite cyclic group G is isomorphic to Z by
ϕ(xm ) = m and ϕ(xm xn ) = ϕ(xm+n ) = m + Matrix multiplication is not commutative for n > 2,
n = ϕ(xm ) + ϕ(xn ). so we have a family of infinite non-abelian groups
GL2 , GL3 , etc. For n = 1 the single entry must be
• Any finite cyclic group of order n is isomorphic to a non-zero number (the matrix is invertible), and re-
Zn by ϕ(xm ) = m (mod n). duces to ordinary multiplication of numbers. Hence,
∼
• The numbers 1, −1, i, −i form a group under com- GL1 = R − {0}.
plex multiplication. It is cyclic, and i, −i are both AB −1 is orthogonal and by theorem (5.1) the collec-
generators. It gives two isomorphisms between tion of all n × n orthogonal matrices is a subgroup of
this group and Z4 . GLn . This subgroup is called the Orthogonal Group,
• D3 and S3 are isomorphic. On . Those elements of On which have determinant
equal to +1 form a subgroup of On called the Special
• There is no isomorphism between Q and Qpos . Orthogonal Group, SOn .
No further notes here, at the moment.

8 Plato’s Solids and Cayley’s The-

orem 10 Products
Remember: A surjection between two finite sets which The direct product G × H of two groups G and H
have the same number of elements must be a bijection. is constructed by (g, h)(g 0 , h0 ) = (gg 0 , hh0 ), where

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g, g 0 ∈ G and h, h0 ∈ H. Thus, (gg 0 , hh0 ) ∈ G×H and Corrolaries
G × H is a group. The correspondence (g, h) → (h, g)
(11.2) The order of every element of G is a divisor of
means that G×H is isomorphic to H ×G. Unless either
the order of G.
of G or H are of infinite order, |G × H| = |G| · |H|. If
both G and H are abelian, so is G × H. In reverse, if (11.3) If G has prime order, then G is cyclic.
G × H is abelian, so are both G and H.
(11.4) If x is an element of G then x|G| = e.
E.g., the elements of Z2 × Z3 are {0, 1} × {0, 1, 2} = (11.5) Euler’s Theorem. If the highest common fac-
{(0, 0), (0, 1), (0, 2), (1, 0), (1, 1), (1, 2)} and their el- tor of x and n is 1, then xφ(n) is congruent to 1
ements are combined by (x, y) + (x0 , y 0 ) = (x +2 modulo n.
x0 , y +3 y 0 ). We follow the convention of using +
for the group structure whenever we have products of (11.6) Fermat’s Little Theorem. If p is prime and if
cyclic groups. As continually adding (1, 1) to itself, we x is not a multiple of p, then xp−1 is congruent
can fill out the whole group, and therefore Z2 × Z3 is to 1 modulo p.
cyclic and isomorphic to Z6 .

12 Partitions
Klein’s group Z2 × Z2 is non-cyclic and isomorphic
to the group of plane symmetries of a chessboard. Let X be a set and let R be a subset of the cartesian
n
We write R for the direct product of n copies of R. product X × X. Given two points x and y of X, we say
that x is related to y if the ordered pair (x, y) happen to
lie in R. If (a) each x ∈ X is related to itself, (b) if x
is related to y, then y is related to x, for any two points
Theorem (10.1) Zm × Zn is cyclic if and only if the
x, y ∈ X, (c) if x is related to y and if y is related to z,
highest common factor of m and n is 1.
then x is related to z for any three points x, y, z ∈ X
— then we call R and equivalence relation on X. For
each x ∈ X the collection of all points which are related
Theorem (10.2) If H and K are subgroups of G for to it is written R(x) and called the equivalence class of
which HK = G, if they have only the identity element x.
in common, and if every element of H commutes with
every element of K, then G is isomorphic to H × K.
Theorems
The linear transformation fJ : R3 → R3 sends each
vector x to −x and is called central inversion. (12.1) R(x) = R(y) whenever (x, y) ∈ R.

Some important notions at the end of the chapter have

been left out, currently.

11 Lagrange’s Theorem

Let H < G and break it up as the union of the k + 1

pieces H, g1 H, . . . , gk H, then |G| = (k + 1)|H|.
(11.1) The order of a subgroup of a finite group is al-
ways a divisor of the order of the group.
Note: The opposite is not true; the existence of a divisor
m of |G| does not imply the existence of a subgroup of
G.