Definitions

Chapter 2: The Integers

binary operation: A binary operation ? on a set S is a function ? : S × S → S . The element
?( x, y) is denoted s ? y. When discussing a binary operation ? on a set S , we denote this
structure as (S, ?).
commutativity: A binary operation (S, ?) is commutative if a ? b = b ? a for all a, b ∈ S .
associativity: A binary operation (S, ?) is associative if a?( b? c) = (a? b)? c for all a, b, c ∈ S .
identity: Cosider a binary operation (S, ?). An element e ∈ S is an identity if e ? a = a and
a ? e = a for every a ∈ S .
group: A group is a set G with a binary operation (G, ?) satisfying three axioms:
1. The operation is associative.
2. There is an identity element e ∈ G for which a ? e = a = e ? a for every a ∈ G .
3. For each a ∈ G , there is an inverse element a−1 ∈ G for which a ? a−1 = e and a−1 ? a = e.
abelian: A group G is abelian if a ? b = b ? a for all a, b ∈ G .
center: The center of a group G is the set Z (G ) = {a ∈ G : ax = xa∀ x ∈ G } ⊆ G
i.e. Z (G ) ={set of elements in G that commute everything in G } ⊆ G

Notation
Operation Symbol Inverse of a nth power of a
generic a?b a−1 a n = a ? a ? a . . . n times
"multiplication" ab a−1 a n = aaa . . . n times
"addition" a+b −a na = a + a + a + . . . n times

Chapter 3: Subgroups
subgroup: A subset H of a group G is a subgroup of G if H itself is a group under G ’s
operation.
Chapter 4: Cyclic Groups
cyclic subgroup: Given an element a ∈ G , the following subgroup of G can be made:
H = {a k : k ∈ Z} (if operator is •)
H = { ka : k ∈ Z} (if operator is +)
Such a group, denoted 〈a〉, is called a cyclic subgroup of G , generated by a.
cyclic: A group G is cyclic if there exists some a ∈ G for which 〈a〉 = G .
unit circle T: The unit circle in C is the set T = { z : z ∈ C, | z| = 1}. T is a subgroup of C? .
roots of unity: For n ∈ N, the solutions of Zn = 1 are called the nth roots of unity. They
form a cyclic subgroup of T, generated by ω = cos 2nπ + i sin 2nπ .

Notation
H = 〈a〉 = {a k : k ∈ Z}(•)
H = 〈a〉 = { ka : k ∈ Z}(+)

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Chapter 5: Permutation Groups
permutation: A permutation of a set of objects is a rearrangement of them on a line.
symmetric group: If A = {1, 2, 3, . . . , n}, the group S A is called the symmetric group on n
letters and is denoted S n .
cycle: A cycle is a permutation with at most one nontrivial orbit.
length of a cycle: For a cycle σ = {a 1 a 2 a 3 . . . a k }, for σ(a k ) = a 1 , the integer k is called the
length of σ.
disjoint cycles: Cycles σ = {a 1 a 2 . . . a k } and τ = { b 1 b 2 . . . b l } are disjoint if σ ∩ τ = ;.
transposition: A transposition is a cycle of length 2.
even/odd permutations: A permutation is even if it is a product of an even number of
transpositions. A permutation is odd if it is a product of an odd number of transpositions.
alternating group: The alternating group A n is A n = {σ ∈ S n : σ is even} ⊆ S n .

Chapter 6: Cosets and Lagrange’s Theorem

left/right cosets: If H is a subgroup of G and a ∈ G , then:
aH = {ah : h ∈ H } is the left coset of H .
Ha = { ha : h ∈ H } is the right coset of H .
index: Let G be a group and H be a subgroup of G . The index of H in G is the number of
left cosets of H in G , denoted by [G : H ].

Chapter 9: Isomorphisms
isomorphic/isomorphism: Two groups (G, ·) and ( H, ◦) are isomorphic if there exists a
one-to-one and onto map φ : G → H such that the group operation is preserved; that is,
φ(a · b) = φ(a) ◦ φ( b) for all a and b in G . If G is isomorphic to H , we write G ∼
= H . The map
φ is called an isomorphism.
external direct product: Given groups (G, ·), ( H, ◦), the external direct product is the group
consisting of the ordered pairs g, h ∈ G × H . The binary operation in G × H is defined by
( g 1 , h 1 )( g 2 , h 2 ) = ( g 1 · g 2 , h 1 ◦ h 2 ).
internal direct product: Let G be a group with subgroups H and K satisfying the follow-
ing conditions:
• G = HK = { hk : h ∈ H, k ∈ K }
• H ∩ K = { e}
• hk = kh, ∀ k ∈ K, h ∈ H
Chapter 10: Homomorphisms and Factor Groups
normal subgroup: A subgroup H of G is normal in G if gH = H g for all g ∈ G . i.e. the left
and right cosets are identical.
factor/quotient group: If N is a normal subgroup of a group G , then the cosets of N in G
form a group G / N under the operation (aN )( bN ) = abN . This group is called the factor or
quotient group of G and N .
group homomorphism: A homomorphism between groups (G, ·) and ( H, ◦) is a map φ :
G → H such that φ( g 1 · g 2 ) = φ( g 1 ) ◦ φ( g 2 ) for g 1 , g 2 ∈ G . The range of φ in H is called the
homomorphic image of φ.

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 Chapter 12: Structure of Groups

Chapter 15: Rings

rings: A nonempty set R is a ring if it has two closed binary operations, addition and mul-
tiplication, satisfying these conditions:
A.(R, +) is abelian.
1. a + b = b + a
2. (a + b) + c = a + ( b + c)
3. ∃0 ∈ R with 0 + a = a
4. ∀a ∈ R, ∃ − a ∈ R : a + (−a) = 0
B. Multiplication is associative
(ab) c = a( bc)
C. Distributive property applies
a( b + c) = ab + ac
( b + c)a = ba + ca
All of the above for all a, b, c ∈ R .
commutative ring: If ab = ba∀a, b ∈ R , then the ring R is a commutative ring.
ring with unity/identity: Some rings have a multiplicative identity 1 ∈ R such that
1a = a1 = a∀a ∈ R . Such a ring is called a ring with unity.
unit: Suppose R is a ring with unity 1 ∈ R . An element a ∈ R is called a unit if there is an
element a−1 ∈ R with aa−1 = 1.
subring: A subring of R is a subset S ⊆ R for which S is itself a ring under R ’s operations.
integral domains: A commutative ring with identity is called an integral domain if it has
no zero divisors.
division rings: If every nonzero element in a ring R is a unit, then R is called a division
ring.
fields: A commutative division ring is called a field.
ring homomorphism: A homomorphism between rings preserves the operations of addi-
tion and multiplication in the ring. i.e. if R and S are rings, then a ring homomorphism is a
map φ : R → S satisfying:

φ( a + b ) = φ( a ) + φ( b )
φ(ab) = φ(a)φ( b)

kernel: The set of elements that a ring homomorphism maps to 0 plays a fundamental role
in the theory of rings. For any ring homomorphism φ : R → S , we define the kernel of a ring
homomorphism to be the set ker φ = { r ∈ R : φ( r ) = 0}
ideal: An ideal in a ring R is a subring 1 ⊆ R with the property that:
If a ∈ I and r ∈ R , then ar ∈ I and ra ∈ I
i.e. rI ⊆ I and I r ⊆ I ∀ r ∈ R
principal ideal: If R is a commutative ring, then the set 〈a〉 = {ar : r ∈ R } is an ideal. It is
called the principal ideal.

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 Chapter 16: Polynomials
n
a i x i = a 0 + a 1 x + a 2 x2 + . . . + a n x n
X
polynomial over R : Any expression of the form f ( x) =
i =0
where a 1 ∈ R and a n 6= 0, is called a polynomial over R with indeterminate x.
monic polynomial: A polynomial is called monic if its leading coefficient is 1.
polynomial degree: If n is the largest nonnegative number for which a n 6= 0, we say that
the degree of f is n annd write deg f ( x) = n. If no such n exists (i.e. f = 0 is the zero polyno-
mial, then the degree of f is defined to be −∞.