2b) Prove that for

x, y G

, if

x 1 ax y 1 ay

then

xy1 Ca

aG

The equivalent class of an element

under ~ is denoted [a] and is called conjugate class

a G .
aG
of a. Our aim is to prove
that if G is finite, then
for every
. We want to show
a G : CG a
CG a CG a g G ga ag
that
where
is
=
is the subgroup of elements
a
that commute with .

First note that if

a, x, y G

then

a xy 1 ayx 1 xy a xy 1

So that

xy1 Ca

x 1ax y 1ay

iff

CG a x CG a y

xy 1 a a xy 1

. If

x 1ax y 1ay

then