7 Homework

P. 7.1. a) Show that two elements x, y ∈ G commute if and only if xy = x(by notation, xy := y −1 · x · y).
b) If σ = c1 c2 . . . ck is the disjoint cycles decomposition of a permutation σ ∈ Sn , then a permutation
α ∈ Sn commutes with σ if and only if

{c1 , c2 , . . . , ck } = {cα α α
1 , c2 , . . . , ck } .

c) Determine all the permutations α ∈ S6 which commute with the permutation σ = (1, 2, 3)(4, 5, 6).
P. 7.2. Determine the orders of the groups D and Q given by

D = ha, b| a4 = b2 = (ab)2 = 1i , Q = ha, b| a4 = 1, a2 = b2 , b−1 ab = a−1 i

and show that D and Q are not isomorphic.