History of Mathematics

After 1700
HPS391 / MAT391
Lindsey Shorser ( lshorser@math.toronto.edu )

Week 5 - Part 1
Groups and Galois
Theory
 What is a group?
• A set that is closed under a specified operation

• If x and y are in S, x * y is still in S

• That operation is associative

• (x * y) * z = x * (y * z)

• There is an identity element

• e is in S such that e * x = x * e = x for all x in S

• Each element has an inverse in the set

• x * (x-1) = (x)-1 * x = e for all x in S

 Where did the definition
come from?
• x+2=5

• integers with addition

• add two integers and you get an integer

• can subtract two on the left of both sides and then perform the +
and - in any order, so addition is associative

• 0 is the identity

• -2 is the additive inverse of 2

• 2x = 5

• rational numbers with multiplication

• To solve basic equations, we need the
properties of a number group. (integers with +,
rational numbers with x, etc.)

• The definition of group also describes useful

properties of reflections and rotations of a
regular geometric shape.

• It turns out that the properties of a group are so

useful that most abstract algebraic objects
include group properties (e.g., fields, modules,
rings, etc.)
 Group or Not a Group
• integers with addition

• even integers with addition

• odd integers with addition

• integers with multiplication

• multiples of 7 with addition

• words in letters “a” and “b” with concatenation,

• radian angles with addition

 How to define a group
• Dn = < r, s | rn = s2 = e, sr = rn-1s >

• r is a rotation that puts the first vertex onto

the second. s is a reflection through the first
vertex.

• Sn = the set of all permutations on n objects

• <a,b> is the free group of two elements (“words”

in “a” and “b”)
 Function Groups
• Consider the group of functions f : S —> S where the set
S = { a, b, c } where ab = c, ac = b, and bc = a, and
order does not matter (i.e., it is an abelian group)

• The identity maps a —> a, b —> b, c —> c.

• composition of functions is associative: f(g(h)) = (f(g))(h)

• compose two functions S —> S —> S and you still get a

function from S —> S

• The inverse function of f is the function that “undoes” f. So

if f(a) = b, and g is its inverse, g(b) = a.
 Automorphisms of Field
Extensions
• A structure preserving map f: A —> B allows you to
use the operation in A before applying f or using the
operation in B after:

• f(a1 * a2) = f(a1) @ f(a2)

• Apply these functions to {a + bX | where “a” and “b”

can be any rational number and X is the square root of
2}

• This is a field extension because the rational numbers

form a field and it is extended by the square root of 2.
 Example
• Extend Q by the square root of 2 and 3 and end
up with the square root of 6 as well.

• Automorphisms (structure preserving functions

under multiplication) would send root 2 to root 2,
or root 2 to root 3, since root 6 always goes to
root 6. Why?

• This forms a group with two elements (identity

map and mapping roots 2 and 3 onto each other)
• On the board we will see examples of letting X in {a +
bX} be the roots of a polynomial.

• Galois intuitively understood that permuting the roots X

would have the same effect as discovering symmetries
of a function.

• Why do we care? If a Galois Group (that permutes the

roots of polynomial p(x) ) is “solvable” then there is a
reasonable formula for finding its roots. Otherwise, there
is not.

• Galois theory relates the solvability of polynomials to the

solvability of their Galois Groups.
How can you describe Galois Theory
without the definition of a group?

• With difficulty.

• Galois died in 1822.

• His ideas were not published (or taken seriously

by anyone) until 1846 when his last paper was
published by Joseph Liouville accompanied by
some of Liouville’s own explanations (“groups”
were ignored or missed in this exposition)
• Dedekind did not refer much to Galois' theory in
writing, but lectured on it at Göttingen in 1858,
showing a very good understanding (by our
modern understanding)

• Eugen Netto's books of the 1880s, based on

Jordan's Traité, made Galois theory accessible
to a wider German and American audience.

• Also, Heinrich Martin Weber's highly influential

1895 algebra textbook made Galois Theory
accessible and more widely used.
 What makes Galois Theory
“abstract algebra”
• Example: How can you tell if your game of “chess”
and my game of “squares and pieces” is the
same game?

• describe a set of items and their rules

• compare multiplication table (or addition table,

etc.) to see if they are the same group

• Can map one algebraic object (such as a group)

onto multiple contexts. (e.g, Zn)