Solutions to Example Sheet 1

1. The symmetric group S3 acts on R2 , by permuting the vertices of an equilateral triangle centered at
0. Choose a basis of R2 , and for each g 2 S3 , write the matrix of g in this basis.
Solution. Let e1 , e2 , e3 be the three vertices. Choose any of the two, say, e1 , e2 to be our basis
vectors. Since e1 + e2 + e3 = 0 and S3 acts by permuting the indices, we have:
(12)e1 = 0e1 + 1e2
(12)e2 = 1e1 + 0e2

(13)e1 = 1e1 1e2

(13)e2 = 0e1 + 1e2

(123)e1 = 0e1 + 1e2

(123)e2 = 1e1 1e2

(132)e1 = 1e1 1e2

(132)e2 = 1e1 + 0e2

(23)e1 = 1e1 + 0e2

(23)e2 = 1e1 1e2

Let denote the permutation representation associated with this action. Then with respect to this
basis,

1 0
0 1
1 0
(id) =
((12)) =
((13)) =
0 1
1 0
1 1
((23)) =

1
0

1
1

((123)) =

0
1

1
1

((132)) =

1 1
1 0

2. Let be a representation of G. Show det is a one dimensional representation.

Solution. det is a composition of two homomorphisms and has image in C.
3. Let : G ! Aut(V ) be a representation of G, and
of G. Show

: G ! k be a one dimensional representation

(i) e : G ! Aut(V ), g 7! (g)(g) is a representation of G,

(ii) e is irreducible i is irreducible.

Solution.

(x) is a scalar and so commutes with (y) for all x, y 2 G.

(i) e(xy) = (xy)(xy) = ( (x) (y))((x)(y)) = ( (x)(x))( (y)(y)) = e(x)e

(y) and e(id) =
(id)(id) = I.

(ii) Let U V . e(x)U U i (x)(x)U U i (x)U U .

4. Let N be a normal subgroup of G. Given a representation of G/N , define a representation of G and

describe which representations of G arise in this way.
Solution. Let the representation be : G/N ! Aut(V ). Let : G ! G/N , x 7! xN be the quotient
map. Then : G ! Aut(V ) is a composition of two homomorphisms, thus a homomorphism and
thus a representation of G. [left diagram]
e Aut(V )

?
G/ ker(e
)

Q
Q
Q

Q
Q
?
Q
-s
G/N
Aut(V )

Let e : G ! Aut(V ) be a representation. Then the map : G/ ker(e

) ! Aut(V ), g ker(e
) 7! e(g) is
a well-defined homomorphism and e = . N = ker(e
) E G is non-trivial precisely when is not
faithful. [right diagram]

5. Let G act on a complex vector space V , and let h, i : V V ! C be a skew-symmetric form, ie.
hx, yi = hy, xi for all x, y 2 V . Show
(x, y) =

1 X
hgx, gyi
|G|
g2G

is a G-invariant skew-symmetric form. Does this imply every finite subgroup of GL2n (C) is conjugate
to a subgroup of Sp2n (C)?
Solution. Let h 2 G. Then
1 X
1
(hx, hy) =
hghx, ghyi =
|G|
|G|
g2G

g0 h

1 2G

hg 0 x, g 0 yi

(write g = g 0 h

1 X 0
hg x, g 0 yi = (x, y).
|G| 0
g 2G

So (, ) is G-invariant. It is straightforward to check that (, ) is skew-symmetric and bilinear. It

is not true that every finite subgroup of GL2n (C) is conjugate to a subgroup of Sp2n (C) = {A 2
GL2n (C) | AT JA = J} where J = 0In I0n . When n = 1,

a c
0 1
a b
0 1
ad bc
0
0 1
=
()
=
() ad bc = 1,
b d
1 0
c d
1 0
0
bc ad
1 0
so Sp2 (C) = SL2 (C) = {A 2 GL2 (C) | det A = 1}. Since det A is unchanged under conjugation,
we just need to pick an A 2 GL2 (C) that has finite order and det A 6= 1. For instance, A = ( 0i 0i )
generates a subgroup G of order 4 and det A = 1, so xGx 1 * GL2 (C) for any x 2 GL2 (C).

6. Let G act on a complex vector space V , and let v 2 V .

(i) Show averaging over the orbit of G on V defines a vector v fixed by G.
(ii) If V is irreducible, what can you say about v?
Solution. Let v G = OrbG (v) = {gv | g 2 G} and Gv = StabG (v) = {g 2 G | gv = v}.
Sn
G
(i) Let n = |v G |S= [G : Gv ], so G = i=1 gS
i Gv (partition into cosets) and v = {g1 v, . . . , gn v}. For
n
n
any g 2 G, i=1 ggi Gv = gG = G = i=1 gi Gv . So for each i = 1, . . . , n, there is a unique j
such that ggi Gv = gj Gv . Hence gv G = {gg1 v, . . . , ggn v} = {g1 v, . . . , gn v} = v G . If we define
n
1 X
1X
v= G
gu =
gi u,
|v |
n i=1
G
u2v

then it follows that

1X
1X
gv =
ggi u =
gi u = v
n i=1
n i=1

for all g 2 G.

(ii) Let U = { v | 2 C} V . Then gU = U for every g 2 G by (i). Since V is irreducible, we

must have U = {0} or V . Hence either v = 0 or V = U is one dimensional.

7. Let J

,n

be the n n Jordan block with eigenvalue 2 k (k is a field):

0
1
1
0 ... 0
B
.. C
B0 . . . . . .
.C
B
C
B ..
.
.
..
. . 0C
J ,n = B .
,
C
B
C
B.
C
..
@ ..
. 1A
0 ....... 0
nn

(i) compute J r,n , for each r

0,

(ii) let G = Z/N , and let k be an algebraically closed field of characteristic p 0. Determine all the
representations of G on vector spaces over k, up to equivalence. Which are irreducible? Which
do not split as a direct sum W W 0 , with W 6= 0 and W 0 6= 0 (such representations are called
indecomposable).
Solution. We may write J ,n = In + An where An is the n n nilpotent matrix with 1 on the
first superdiagonal and 0 everywhere else. Note that for i n 1, Ain is the matrix with 1 on the ith
superdiagonal and 0 everywhere else. Ain = 0 i i n.
2

(i) Since In commutes with An , we may apply binomial expansion to get

J r,n = ( In + An )r =

In +

min(r,n 1)

X
i=1

r
i

r i

Ain .

Note that by our observation above, the ith term in the binomial expansion falls on the ith
superdiagonal. So if r n 1, we have
0 r
1
r
r 2
r r 1
...
1 0 ........
0
2
r
B0
r r 1 ... r 2
1 0 ...
0 C
B
C
B ..
.. C
.
.
.
.
B
.
.
.
. C
C,
J r,n = B
B.
C
..
..
B ..
C
.
.
B
C
r
@ 0 ................................. 0
r r 1A
r
0 ...................................... 0
and if r

n, we have

J r,n

B0
B
B.
B ..
=B
B.
B ..
B
@0
0

r
2

r 1

..

r 2
r 1

..

...
...

r
n 1
r
n 2

...
0
...............

r n+1 1
r n+2 C

C
C
C
C.
C
C
C
A

r 1
r

(ii) Let : Z/N ! Autk (V ) be a representation of dimension d. Since k is algebraically closed, all
eigenvalues 1 , . . . , s of the linear map (1) lie in k and so we may pick a Jordan basis for (1),
ie. a basis of V such that (1) is a Jordan matrix
0
1
J 1 ,n1
0
........
0
B 0
J 2 ,n2 0 . . .
0 C
B
C
B ..
.. C
.
.
B
.
. C
(1) = B .
(7.1)
C
B .
C
.
..
@ ..
A
0
. . . . . . . . . . . 0 J s ,ns
where each nj

0 and n1 + + ns = d. Raising (7.1) to the exponent N gives:

Id = (0) = (1)N

J N1 ,n1
B 0
B
B ..
=B
B .
B .
@ ..
0

........
J N2 ,n2 0 . . .
..
.
..
.
........... 0

0
0
..
.
J Ns ,ns

So comparing blocks on both sides for each j = 1, . . . , s, we get

min(N,nj

Inj = J

j ,nj

Inj +

X
i=1

1)

N
i

N i

C
C
C
C.
C
C
A

(7.2)

Ainj

and we must have:

= 1, ie. is an N th root of unity,
Pmin(N,nj 1) N N i i
Bnj := i=1
Anj = 0.
i

t
1
t
1

Let N = p
1 pt be the prime factorization of N . Then Z/N = Z/p1 Z/pt . We will

first get the result for N = p and then later use Problem 9 to deduce the result for general N .
We need to consider two separate cases:

Case 1. char(k) 6= p

In this case Bnj 6= 0: this is clear when char(k) = 0; if char(k) = q prime 6= p, then p1 = p 6= 0
(mod q) and so the first superdiagonal is non-zero. Hence (7.2) could only hold if n1 = =
ns = 1 (ie. the Bnj terms cease to exist altogether). So (7.1) becomes
0

B0
B
B ..
(1) = B
B.
B.
@ ..

........
0 ...
..
.
..

.......

.
0

1
0
0C
C
.. C
.C
C.
C
A

(7.3)

In this case the representations are irreducible i they are indecomposable

and clearly this occurs

when they are one dimensional, ie. when (1) = i where pi = 1.

Case 2. char(k) = p

Since p | pl for l = 1, . . . , p 1, Bnj = 0 i nj p . So here the matrix (1) in (7.1)

can be non-diagonal. These representations are indecomposable
precisely when the matrix in

(7.1) is a Jordan block, ie. (1) = J i ,ni where pi = 1 and ni 2 {1, . . . , p }; the irreducible
representations among these are the ones with ni = 1, ie. (1) = i .
t
1
Now back to the general N = p
1 pt . Note that Case 2 occurs only when char(k) = pi for
t
1
some i = 1, . . . , t. By Problem 9, the representations of Z/p
1 Z/pt are the tensor product
1
t
representations 1 t : Z/p1 Z/pt ! GLd1 dt (C), 1 7! 1 (1) t (1) where
i
i
i : Z/p
i ! GLdi (C) are representations of Z/pi of dimension di , i = 1, . . . , t. 1 t is
t
1
irreducible when each i is and every irreducible representation of Z/p
1 Z/pt is of this
form.

When char(k) - N , then the irreducible/indecomposable representations of Z/N are of the form
Z/N ! C , 1 7! 1 t where pi i = 1 for i = 1, . . . , t. When char(k) | N , may assume
wlog that char(k) = pt . Then the irreducible representations are of the same form as in the
case char(k) - N while the indecomposable representations are of the form Z/N ! GLdt (C),
1 7! 1 t 1 J t ,dt , where pi i = 1 for i = 1, . . . , t and J t ,dt is a Jordan block of dimension
t
dt 2 {1, . . . , p

t }.
Remark. Recall that the tensor product of two matrices A = (aij ) 2 M(n, F) and B 2 M(m, F)
is the matrix A B 2 M(nm, F) defined by
0
1
a11 B a12 B . . . a1n B
B a12 B a22 B . . . a2n B C
B
C
AB =B .
..
.. C
..
@ ..
.
.
. A
an1 B an2 B . . . ann B
where aij B denotes scalar multiplication, ie. multiplying each entry in B by aij 2 F. For tensor
product of t > 2 matrices, just apply this t 1 times.
8.

(i) Show that if : G ! GLn (R) is a homomorphism, then there exists a matrix P 2 GLn (R) such
that P (g)P 1 is an orthogonal matrix for each g 2 G (recall: A is orthogonal if AAT = I).

(ii) Determine all finite groups which have a faithful representation on a two dimensional real vector
space.
Solution.

(i) Let h, i denote the usual inner product on Rn , ie. hu, vi = uT v. As usual, we define a G-invariant
inner product (, ) on Rn by
(u, v) :=

1 X
h(g)u, (g)vi
|G|
g2G

for all u, v 2 Rn . As in Problem 5, we have ((g)u, (g)v) = (u, v) for all g 2 G and it is again
straightforward to check that (, ) is an inner product, ie. a symmetric positive definite bilinear
form. Hence there exists a symmetric positive definite matrix A 2 GLn (R) such that
(u, v) = uT Av
for all u, v 2 Rn . By the spectral theory for such operators, there exists Q 2 p
O(n) suchpthat
QAQT = D = diag( 1 , . . . , n ) (which are the eigenvalues of A). Let S = diag( 1 , . . . ,
n ),
so S 2 = D and we have A = QT S 2 Q. Let g 2 G, so ((g)u, (g)v) = (u, v) gives
uT (g)T A(g)v = uT Av
for all u, v 2 Rn and hence
which gives

(g)T QT S 2 Q(g) = QT S 2 Q
(S

Q(g)T QT S)(SQ(g)QT S

) = I.

Note that S and S are both diagonal and thus symmetric. Hence if we let P = SQ, then the
above equation becomes
(P (g)P 1 )T (P (g)P 1 ) = I
1

so P (g)P

2 O(n).

(ii) Let G be a finite group and : G ! GLn (R) be a faithful representation. By the earlier part,
there exists an equivalent representation (which we will denote by the same letter) such that
(G) O(n). Since is faithful, we have G
= (G) O(n), ie. G is isomorphic to a (finite)
subgroup of O(n). Hence G is either dihedral or cyclic.

Remark. One of you pointed out that since every A 2 O(n) has det A = 1 and det P (g)P T =
det (g), the result in (i) implies that every real representation of a finite group has determinant 1.
Note that this however does not imply that the original (g) is orthogonal since there are lots of
non-orthogonal matrices in GLn (R) that have determinant 1. That det (g) = 1 follows also from
the fact that a linear character must take elements in G to roots of unity, and if is real, then these
can only be 1.

9. Let G = Z/N Z/M . Determine all the irreducible complex representations of G.

Solution. Since every complex irreducible representation of an abelian group is one dimensional
(see Remark 2 below for a proof), we have : Z/N Z/M ! GL1 (C) = C . We just need to
see where the generators (1, 0), (0, 1) 2 Z/N Z/M maps to. So suppose ((1, 0)) = 2 C and
((0, 1)) = 2 C . Now
1 = ((0, 0)) = ((N, 0)) = ((1, 0))N =

so 2 {e2ki/N | k = 0, . . . , N 1}. Likewise, 2 {e2li/M | l = 0, . . . , M 1}. So for (m, n) 2

Z/N Z/M ,
((m, n)) = (m(1, 0) + n(0, 1)) = ((1, 0))m ((0, 1))n = m n .
Since can be any N th root of unity and can be any M th root of unity, there are altogether
N M = |Z/N Z/M | such irreducible representation.

Remark 1. This extends easily to Z/N1 Z/Nt and since every finite abelian group has a
structure of this form, we may construct all irreducible representations of such groups. How about
infinite abelian groups? The finitely generated ones would have structure Zr T where the T is a
finite abelian group. Since we know that an irreducible representation of Z has the form Z ! C ,
n 7! n where 2 C , the same method allows us to construct all the irreducible representations.
These are again one dimensional but the number of such representations is now uncountably infinite
if r > 0 (since we have uncountably infinite choice for 2 C; note that need not be a root of unity
anymore).
Remark 2. Let : G ! Aut(V ) be an irreducible representation of G over a complex vector space
V . Let x 2 G. Then the linear map (x) : V ! V , v 7! (x)v has eigenvalue x 2 C . So
Vx := ker((x)
x V ) 6= {0} since it contains eigenvectors. For g 2 G and v 2 Vx ,
((x)

x V

)(g)v = (xg)v

(g)

xv

= (gx)v
5

(g)

xv

= (g)((g)

x V

)v = 0

so (g)v 2 Vx . Hence Vx is G-invariant and by irreducibility must either be {0} (ruled out) or V . It
follows that (x) = x V . Irreducibility again implies that (x) = x and V is one dimensional.
10. Let G = Z/N . G acts on R2 as symmetries of the regular N -gon. Choose a basis of R2 , and write
the matrix (1) representing the action of 1 2 Z/N in this basis.
(i) Is this an irreducible representation?
(ii) Regard (1) as a complex matrix, so that we get a representation of Z/N on C2 . Decompose C2
into its irreducible summands.
Solution. Let (1) be the anticlockwise rotation through an angle
basis {(1, 0), (0, 1)} of R2 and with respect to this basis,

cos 2
sin 2
N
N
.
(1) =
cos 2
sin 2
N
N

2
N .

We choose the standard

(i) One way to see that is irreducible (over R) is to note that the only proper subspace invariant
under the rotation (1) is {0}. Alternatively, a non-trivial G-invariant subspace of R2 must be
one dimensional and hence we look for 0 6= v 2 R2 such that (1)v = v. The characteristic
polynomial is
2
2 cos 2
+1=(
e2i/N )(
e 2i/N )
N
and so has no real zeroes (alternatively, 4 cos2

2
N

4 < 0). Hence such a v does not exist.

(ii) Over C, the eigenvalues e2i/N , e 2i/N have corresponding eigenvectors (1, i), (1, i) 2 C2 , so
the non-trivial G-invariant subspaces are spanned by these and we have
C2 = C(1, i)

C(1, i).

Its a direct sum since (1, i) and (1, i) are orthogonal with respect to the standard hermitian
inner product on C2 .

11. A hermitian inner product on C2 is given by a 2 2 matrix X such that X = X; the inner product
is hx, yi = xT Xy. Explicitly find a hermitian inner product invariant under the group G GL2 (C)
generated by the matrix

1
1
1
0
(Hint: average the standard hermitian inner product).
Solution. Its easy to check that

1
G=
0

0
1
,
1
1

1
0
,
0
1

1
.
1

By the hint, we have

1 X
hgu, gvi
|G|
g2G
"
T
1 T
1 0
1
= u
0 1
0
3

4/3 2/3
= uT
v.
2/3 4/3

(u, v) =

0
1
+
1
1

1
0

1
1

1
0
+
0
1

1
1

0
1

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Version 1.1 (March 16, 2001)

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