Homework #7, Math 417, Prof.

Eugene Lerman
Due Wednesday, March 19, 2014 in class
1 Let X, Y be two sets and f : X Y , h : Y X two maps (functions)
with
h(f(x)) = x for all x X.
(a) Prove that h is onto and f is 1-1.
(b) Give an example to show that h need not be 1-1 and f need not be onto.
Hint: for an example its enough to consider the case where X has exactly one
element and Y has two elements.
2 Let f : G H be a homomorphism. Suppose that g G has nite order
n. Show that the order of f(g) divides the order of g.
3 Suppose a group G acts on a set X and y G x, that is, y = a x for
some a G. Show that aG
x
a
1
= G
y
, where G
x
, G
y
are stabilizers of x and y,
respectively.
4 Exercise 5.1.5 on p. 247.
5 Let G be a group and H a subgroup.
(a) Show that the map inv : G G, inv(g) = g
1
is a bijection. Prove that
it is an isomorphism if and only if G is abelian.
(b) Show that for every a G inv sends the coset aH of H bijectively to the
coset Ha
1
. Use this to dene a bijection G/H H\G. Conclude that if
|G/H| is nite and equals some integer n then |H\G| is also nite and equals
n, whether or not G is nite.
1