Group Theory

MATH10079

Wednesday 28th April 2021

1300-1500 † *

† All students: you have an additional 1 hour to assemble and submit your PDF.
Final submission deadline: 16:00.

*
Students with a Schedule of Adjustment for additional time in examinations:
You are entitled to a further fixed additional 1 hour for this remote examination.

Final submission deadline: 17:00

Attempt all questions

Important instructions

1. Start each question on a new sheet of paper.

2. Number your sheets of paper to help you scan them in order.
3. Only write on one side of each piece of paper.
4. If you have rough work to do, simply include it within your overall answer – put
brackets at the start and end of it if you want to highlight that it is rough work.
MATH10079 Group Theory 1

(1) Consider the group homomorphism

φ:Z×Z→Z
(a, b) 7→ 8a − 12b.

(In this question, you may use the fact that φ is a group homomorphism without
proof.)

(a) Show that ker φ and im φ are both isomorphic to Z, and give a generator of
each. [8 marks]
ker φ
Note that (12, 8) ∈ ker φ. Let A = Z×Z
h(12,8)i
and B = h(12,8)i
, which is a subgroup of A.

(b) Show that B is cyclic and find its order. [5 marks]

(c) Use the Isomorphism Theorems to show that A/B ∼
= Z. [7 marks]

[Please turn over]

MATH10079 Group Theory 2

(2) Indicate whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE, providing a short
(one or two sentence) justification for your answer. Clearly state any theorems that
you employ. Each answer will receive 2 marks if fully correct, 0 otherwise.
[20 marks]

(a) Z7 × Z10 is cyclic.

(b) S5 is equal to its own derived subgroup.
(c) Any group of order 77 contains a normal subgroup of order 11.
(d) There is no simple group of order 360.
(e) If two groups have the same composition factors, they are isomorphic.
(f) Any group of order 54 has a normal subgroup of order 27.
(g) Any group of order 54 has a normal subgroup of order 2.
(h) There is a group with class equation

60 = 1 + 20 + 15 + 24.

(i) There is a group G and a homomorphism φ : S3 → G with ker φ = {e, (12)}.

(j) If G is a group and H ≤ G, then the composition length of H is no bigger than
the composition length of G.

[Please turn over]

MATH10079 Group Theory 3

(3) (a) Let G = Z3 /hf1 , f2 , f3 i, where f1 = (3, 9, 6), f2 = (−3, −3, 6), f3 = (−6, −6, 0).
If possible, write G as a direct product of cyclic groups of prime power order,
clearly indicating the steps in your computation. If this is impossible, explain
why. [9 marks]
(b) (i) Up to isomorphism, how many abelian groups of order 180 are there? Give a
complete list, where each group is given as a direct product of cyclic groups
of prime power order. [4 marks]
(ii) Show that, up to isomorphism, there is a unique abelian group of order 180
which has 18 elements of order 18. Indicate which group this is on your list
from part (i). [7 marks]

[Please turn over]

MATH10079 Group Theory 4

(4) (a) Find all subgroups of Z containing 54Z and the inclusions among them. Use
the Correspondence Theorem to find all subgroups of Z/54Z and the inclusions
among them. Identify these subgroups both as explicit subgroups of Z54 (for
example, {0, 27}) and as factors of the form nZ/54Z. [10 marks]
(b) Prove that for any n ≥ 3 there is a surjective group homomorphism from the
infinite dihedral group
D∞ = ha, c|a2 , c2 i
to the dihedral group Dn . Thus show that |D∞ | = ∞.
If you wish, you may use without proof the fact that

Dn ∼
= hx, y|x2 , y 2 , (xy)n i

for any n ≥ 3. [10 marks]

[Please turn over]

MATH10079 Group Theory 5

(5) The Z-series of a group G is a series of subgroups

{e} = Z0 (G) ≤ Z1 (G) ≤ Z2 (G) ≤ · · · ≤ G.

It is defined inductively: Z0 = Z0 (G) = {e}, and

Zi+1 = Zi+1 (G) = {g ∈ G | gZi ∈ Z(G/Zi )}.

(Here recall that if H is a group, then Z(H) denotes the centre of H.) In particular,
Z1 (G) = Z(G).

(a) Notice that for this definition to make sense, G/Zi (G) must be a group; that
is, each Zi (G) must be a normal subgroup of G. Prove that Zi (G) C G for all
i. [8 marks]
(b) Find Z(D4 ) and Z(D4 /Z(D4 )). Thus calculate the Z-series of D4 . [6 marks]
(c) A group has property Z if some Zn (G) is equal to G. Prove that if G has property
Z then G is solvable. [6 marks]

[End of Paper]