MAS 311: Modern Algebra I (Spring 2015)

Homework 1

(Due 03.13)

1. Let Mn (R) = {n n real matrices}. Dene a relation on Mn (R) as follows:

A B if there exists an invertible C Mn (R) such that A = CBC 1 . Show that
this relation is an equivalence relation.
2. Let m, n, xi , and 1 i m be integers. Prove that if gcd(xi , n) = 1 for all
1 i m, then gcd(x1 xm , n) = 1.
3. Let H be a nonempty subset of a group G. We dene a relation on G by a b if
and only if ab1 H. Prove that H is a subgroup of G if and only if the relation
is an equivalence relation.
4. Suppose that G is a group such that (gh)2 = g 2 h2 for all g, h G. Show that G is
abelian.

5. Let G = {a + b 5 | a, b Q} be a subset of R. Show that (G\{0}, ) is a group,

where is the usual multiplication.
6. Let G = R\{1}. Dene an operation by a b = a + b + ab. Show that (G, ) is a
group.
7. Show that GLn (F ) is non-abelian for any n 2 and any eld F .
8. Prove that the multiplicative groups R {0} and C {0} are not isomorphic.
9. Let G be the quaternion group Q8 . Find two subgroups H and K of G such that
their union H K is not a subgroup of G.
10. Let H and K be subgroups of G. Prove that H K is a subgroup if and only if
H K or K H.