Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
Autumn Semester 2024-25
MAC-401, MA-401 (Abstract Algebra)
Answer the following questions with complete justifications.
(1) Prove the following:
(a) A subgroup H of G is normal in G if and only if H is a disjoint union of conjugacy
classes of G.
(b) If a subgroup meets every conjugacy class of G, then H = G.
(2) Let G be a group and let H ⊴ G. Show that for every g ∈ G and for every h ∈ H, the
element [g, h] = g −1 g h = g −1 h−1 gh ∈ H.
(3) Let G′ denote the commutator subgroup (or derived subgroup) of G, i.e., group generated
by elements of the form [g1 , g2 ], where g1 , g2 ∈ G.
(a) Is G′ a normal subgroup of G?
(b) Find G′ , if G = D8 , Q8 , S3 , A4 .
(4) *
(a) Show that An , n ≥ 5 is generated by 3-cycles.
(b) If N is a normal subgroup of An , then N contains a 3-cycle.
(c) If N contains a 3-cycle, it contains all 3-cycles.
(d) What can you conclude about normal subgroups of An , n ≥ 5.
(5) Determine Z(An ), n ≥ 3.
(6) Let G be a group. If o(x) denotes the order of an element x in G, then show that for any
k ∈ N,
o(x)
o(xk ) = .
gcd(o(x), k)
(7) (a) Show that if G is a cyclic group of order n, then for each divisor d of n, there exists
a unique subgroup of G of order d.
(b) Suppose that G is a finite abelian group that has exactly one subgroup of order d, for
each divisor d of G, show that G is cyclic.
(c) Characterise those integers n such that the only abelian groups of order n are cyclic.
(8) Let G × H denote the direct product of groups G and H. Verify the following:
(a) Verify that o(x, y) = l.c.m(o(x), o(y)). Hence, or otherwise, if G and H are cyclic,
then G × H is cyclic if and only if ............................. (with reason)
(b) Verify that Z(G × H) = Z(G) × Z(H). Hence, G × H is abelian if and only if
.............................
(9) Prove that following are equivalent statements for a group G.
(i) G is abelian.
(ii) (ab)−1 = a−1 b−1 for every a, b ∈ G.
(iii) (ab)2 = a2 b2 for every a, b ∈ G.
(iv) (ab)n = an bn for every a, b ∈ G, for three consecutive values of n ∈ N.
(10) Check the following for a group G:
(a) Is Z(G) ⊴ G?
(b) If G/Z(G) is cyclic, then G is abelian.
(11) What are conjugacy classes of an abelian group of order n, n ∈ N?
