MAT 444 H.

Barcelo Spring 2004

Homework 3 Solutions
Section 2.10 Question: 4. a) Consider the presentation (1.17) of the symmetric group S 3 . Let H be the subgroup

{1, y} . Compute the product sets (1H )( xH ) and (1H )( x 2 H ) , and verify that they are not cosets.
Answer: a) Let G = S3 and H = y . Then ( H )( xH ) = {x, xy, x 2 y, x 2 } and

( H )( xH ) = {x 2 , x 2 y, xy x} and ( H )( xH ) = ( H )( x 2 H ) . If they were to be cosets then ( H )( x i H ) , for i = 1, 2 , should divide G = 6 . But

4 does not divide 6 thus ( H )( x i H ) are not cosets for i = 1, 2 .
Question: b) Show that a cyclic group of order 6 has two generators satisfying the rules x3 = 1, y 2 = 1, yx = xy . Answer: b) Let x = g 2 and y = g 3 . Then clearly x3 = y 2 = 1 and xy = yx . We should show

that C6 = g 2 , g 3 . But g 2 , g 3 = {1, g 2 , g 4 , g 3 , g 2 g 3 = g 5 } = C6 .

Question: c) Repeat the computation of (1), replacing the relations (1.18) by the relations given in part (b). Explain. Answer: c) Let H = {1, y} . Then xH = {x, xy } , x 2 H = {x 2 , x 2 y} and ( H ) ( xH ) = {x, xy, yx, yxy} = {x, xy} while ( H ) ( x 2 H ) = {x 2 , x 2 y} . Now ( H )( xH ) and ( H )( x 2 H ) are both cosets, since H C6 and C6 / H = {H , xH , x 2 H } is a group where

( H )( xH ) = xH and ( H )( x 2 H ) = x 2 H .
Question: 5. Identify the quotient group Answer:

/ P where P denotes the subgroup of positive real numbers.

/ P is a group since is abelian. Two real numbers a, b are in the same cosets if and only if ab 1 P (why?). Thus 2 real numbers ( 0) are in the same cosets if and only if

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their quotient is a positive real number. Thus / P has 2 cosets P and P . It is easy to see that the homomorphism : { 1} is a surjective homomorphism with ker( ) = P . Thus / ker { 1} by the first isomorphism theorem. Question: 8. Prove that the subset H of G = GLn ( ) of matrices whose determinant is positive forms a normal subgroup, and describe the quotient group G/H.
Answer: Let H GLn ( ) be the set of matrices with positive determinant. Let : GLn ( ) { 1} be given by ( A) = + 1 if det( A) > 0 and ( A) = 1 if det A < 0 . It is again easy to see that is a surjective map and it is an homomorphism since det( AB) = det( A) det( B ). Since SLn ( ) = ker it is normal and (by the first isomorphism theorem) isomorphic to { 1} . Question: 10. a) Describe the quotient groups / P and / U , where U is a subgroup of complex numbers of absolute value 1 and P denotes the positive reals. Answer: a) Let U = {z / z = 1} . Again to obtain an intuition for what the cosets of

/U

are, we note that z1 z2 U if z1 z2 z j = rj e j for j = 1, 2. Then z1 z2

i

= 1 . Using polar coordinates, let = r1 / r2 . So z1 , z2 are in the same cosets if and

only if r1 / r2 = 1, i.e. r1 = r2 , which means if they have the same length. Thus the cosets are all the concentric circles around the origin (excluding the origin). Let P be the group of positive real numbers (with law of composition the usual multiplication). Define : P by (r ei ) = r . Clearly, is a surjective map with ker( ) = U . Moreover, (r1 ei r2 ei2 ) = (r1 r2 ei (1 + 2 ) )
= r1 r2 = (r1 ei1 ) (r2 ei 2 )

Yielding that is a homomorphism. Thus

/U P .

Answer: 1 b) Consider / P . Again z1 , z2 are in the same cost if and only if z1 z2 P , that is if r1 i (1 2 ) 1 e P . But ei ( ) P = 0 (for 0 < 2 ), thus z1 z2 are in the same r2 coset if and only if 1 = 2 i.e.: if they are on the same ray from the origin. So the cosets of / P are all the rays emanating from the origin. Define : U by

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(r ei ) = ei =
ker( ) = {z

z . Clearly, is a surjective homomorphism with z

/ z = 1 and = 0} , that is ker( ) = P . Thus

/U P .

Miscellaneous Question: 10. Let H, K be subgroups of a group G, and let g G . The set
HgK = {x G x = hgk for some h H , k K }

is called a double coset. a) Prove that the double cosets partition G.

Answer: a) Let H , K < G , g G and HgK = {x G x = hgk for some h H , k K } . To

show that HgK partition G, it suffices to show that a b iff b = hak (for some h H , k K ) is an equivalence relation. 1. Reflexivity: a b since 1G H and K and a = 1a1 . 2. 3. Symmetry: if a b then b a, since if b = hak then h 1bk 1 = a and h 1 H , k 1 K . Transitivity: if a b , b c then a c , since if b = hak and c = hbk , then c = hhakk with hh H and kk K .

Question: b) Do all double costs have the same order? Answer: b) Let G = S3 , H = {1, xy} and K = {1, y} . Then H . I . K = {1, y, xy, xy 2 = x} while

H ( yx) K = {x 2 y, x 2 } . Thus, in general double cosets do not have the same number of elements. But what about double cosets HxH? What if H is normal?

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