MAS 511 Spring 2019 April 17, 9:00-12:00 Instructor S.

Baek

Midterm
Max=140
1. Let G be a finite group and let H be a subgroup. Let p > q be prime integers.
(a) (15 marks) Assume that [G : H] is the smallest prime divisor of |G|. Show that H is normal
in G.
Let r = [G : H] and let G act by translation on G/H. Then, there exists a homomorphism
φ : G → Sr given by φ(g) = φg , where Sr is the symmetric group on r letters and φg (g 0 H) = gg 0 H.
Hence, Ker(φ) < H. Assume that [H : Ker(φ)] = m > 1. Then, by the isomorphism theorem and
Lagrange’s theorem, mr divides r!, thus m|(r − 1)!. Hence, there is a prime divisor of m and |G|
which is smaller than r. Therefore, m = 1 and H is normal in G.
(b) (20 marks) Let |G| = (pq)2 . Show that G contains a nontrivial normal subgroup.
Assume that G is simple. Let np (respectively, nq ) be the number of Sylow p-subgroups (re-
spectively, Sylow q-subgroups). Then, by Sylow’s theorem we have np = q 2 . Let P 6= P 0 be
two Sylow p-subgroups. If |P ∩ P 0 | = p, then |NG (P ∩ P 0 )| = p2 q, thus by (a) NG (P ∩ P 0 ) is
normal in G. Therefore, any two distinct Sylow p-subgroups have trivial intersection. Hence,
|{g ∈ G | |g| = p, p2 }| = (p2 − 1)q 2 , so nq = 1, a contradiction.
2. (20 marks) Let G = Aut(Z/pZ × Z/pZ), where p is a prime integer. Compute the number of
Sylow p-subgroups of G and the number of conjugacy classes in G.
Note that G = GL2 (Z/pZ). Hence, |G| = (p2 − p)(p2 − 1). Let P be the subgroup of upper
triangular matrix with 1’s on the diagonal. Then, P is a Sylow p-subgroup of G. Let N be the
normalizer of P in G. Then, N consists of all upper triangular matrices. Hence, |N | = p(p − 1)2 ,
thus np = [G : N ] = p + 1.
Since every conjugacy class in G is represented by a unique matrix in rational canonical form, it
suffices to find the number of rational canonical forms. It’s easy to check that there are (p − 1) +
p(p − 1) = p2 − 1 rational canonical forms.
3. (15 marks) Let G be a p-group and let N be a nontrivial normal subgroup of G, where p is a
prime integer. Show that |Z(G) ∩ N | ≥ p, where Z(G) is the center of G.
Let Gx = {gxg −1 | g ∈ G}. Write G = ∪x∈G Gx = Z(G) ∪ (∪x6∈Z(G) Gx). Then, N = (Z(G) ∩ N ) ∪
(∪x6∈Z(G) Gx ∩ N ). As N is normal in G, the intersection Gx ∩ N is either equal to Gx or the
empty set. As |Gx| = [G : CG (x)], we have |Gx| = 1 if and only if x ∈ Z(G). Since N is divisible
by p, the statement immediately follows.
4. Let F (X) be a free group on a set X and let u, v ∈ F (X) be non-identity elements.
(a) (20 marks) Prove that if uv = vu in F (X), then there exists w ∈ F (X) such that u = wm and
v = wn for some integers m and n.
Let u = x1 · · · xr and v = y1 · · · ys be reduced words for some r ≥ s. Let uv = x1 · · · xr−k yk+1 · · · ys
and vu = y1 · · · ys−l xl+1 · · · xr be reduced words for some k and l. As uv = vu, we have 0 ≤ l =
k ≤ s. We prove by induction on length(u) + length(v).
Assume that k = 0. Then, xi = yi for all 1 ≤ i ≤ s. Hence, u = vu0 , where u0 = xs+1 · · · xr , thus
vu0 = u0 v, so the statement follows by induction.
Assume that 0 < k < s. As uv = vu, we get x1 = y1 , xr = ys , and y1 = x−1 0
r . Let u = x2 · · · xr−1
and v 0 = y2 · · · ys−1 . Then, u0 v 0 = v 0 u0 , thus the statement follows by induction.
−1 −1 −1 −1
Finally, assume that k = s. Then, y1 = x−1 0
r , y2 = xr−1 , . . . , ys = xr−s+1 . Let u = xr−s+2 · · · x1 .
Then, u−1 = vu0 . As uv = vu, we have vu0 = u0 v. The statement follows by induction.
(b) (10 marks) Show that if um v n = v n um for some nonzero integers m and n, then uv = vu.
We proved in class that if un = v n , then u = v. Since um = v n um v −n = (v n uv −n )m , we have
u = v n uv −n . Similarly, as v n = uv n u−1 = (uvu−1 )n , we have v = uvu−1 .
(c) (10 marks) Prove that the centralizer of u is abelian.
Let a, b ∈ CF (X) (u). Then, by (a) there exist c, d ∈ F (X) such that

a = cl , u = cm , b = dn , u = dk

for some integers l, m, n, k. As cm dk = dk cm , by (b) we have cd = dc, thus by (a) there exists
f ∈ F (X) such that c = f r and d = f s . Hence, a = f rl and b = dn = f ns , so ab = ba.
5. Let G be a finite group whose order is divisible by 2.
(a) (10 marks) Let x, y ∈ G be elements of order 2. Show that either x and y are conjugate or
there exists an element z of order 2 such that z commutes with x and y.
n−1 n−1
Let w = xy and n = |w|. If n is odd, then wn = e is equivalent to w 2 xw− 2 = y. If n is even,
n
then z := w 2 commutes with x and y.
(b) (20 marks) Assume that G contains at least two Sylow 2-subgroups and any two different
Sylow 2-subgroups contain only the identity in common. Show that any two elements of order 2
are conjugate.
Let P 6= Q be Sylow 2-subgroups. Let x ∈ P and y ∈ Q be elements of order 2. If x is not
conjugate to y, then by (a) ∃z of order 2 such that zx = xz and zy = yz. Let R be the Sylow
2-subgroup containing z. Since hx, zi is a 2-group, it is contained in a Sylow 2-subgroup S. By
assumption, S = P = R. Similarly, we have S = Q = R, thus P = Q = R = S, a contradiction.
Hence, every element of order 2 in P is conjugate to y. Therefore, any two elements of order 2 in
P are conjugate.