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Solution Sen Ghosh Mukhopadhyay Abstract Algebra 5 2 Cyclic Group-1

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857 views5 pages

Solution Sen Ghosh Mukhopadhyay Abstract Algebra 5 2 Cyclic Group-1

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basakgourab00
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Study Material

Hints/Solutions to Ex. 5.2 (Cyclic Groups) from Sen, Ghosh,

Mukhopadhyay text (Universities Press, 2nd Ed.)

Course & Paper

Mathematics Hons. (Semester II) − CC4

Course Instructor

Sugata Adhya
Department of Mathematics, The Bhawanipur Education Society College

Question 1. Show that the 7th roots of unity form a cyclic group. Find all generators of

this group.

Hint. If A denotes the set of 7th roots of unity, then A = cos 2kπ 2kπ

n + i sin n : k = 0, 1, · · · , 6 .

Show that A = hcos 2π 2π


n + i sin n i. For the second part, find all elements of A having order 7.

Question 2. Show that the cyclic group (Z, +) has only two generators.

Hint. For k ∈ Z, hki = {kn : n ∈ Z}. Thus hki = Z only if k = ±1.

Question 3. Is the group (Z10 , +) a cyclic group? If so, find all generators of this group

and also find all its subgroups.


March 2020.
1
Hint. (Z10 , +) is cyclic, since Z10 = h1i.

All generators of (Z10 , +) : Find all such elements a ∈ Z10 such that o(a) = |Z10 |.

All subgroups of (Z10 , +) : Recall that corresponding to each divisor of 10, there exists

exactly one subgroup of Z10 of that order which must be cyclic.

Question 4. Show that for every positive integer n, the nth roots of unity form a cyclic

group.

Hint. If A denotes the set of nth roots of unity, then A = cos 2kπ 2kπ

n + i sin n : k = 0, 1, · · · , n − 1 .

Note that to show A is cyclic with respect to multiplication, it is enough to find some element

from A having order = |A|. Find one such element! (Use De Moivre’s theorem)

Question 5. Show that (Q+ , ·), (Q∗ , ·), (R+ , ·), (R∗ , ·), (C+ , ·) are not cyclic groups.

a
Hint. (Q+ , ·) : If possible, let Q+ = b where gcd(a, b) = 1. Clearly, a, b 6= 0. Choose a
a n

prime p such that p - a, b. Show that for no n ∈ Z, b = p.

Rest: Use the fact − Subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic.

Question 6. If G has only two subgroups, then prove that G is a cyclic group.

Hint. For a(6= e) ∈ G, hai ≤ G. But G and {e} are its only subgroups.

Question 7. Let G = hai be a cyclic group of order 20. Find all distinct elements of order

the subgroups (i) ha4 i, (ii) ha7 i.

Hint. (i) o(a4 ) = 5 =⇒ ha4 i = {e, a4 , a8 , a12 , a16 }.

(ii) o(a7 ) = 20 =⇒ G = ha7 i.

Question 8. Let G be a cyclic group of order 42. Find the number of elements of order 6

and the number of elements of order 7 in G.


2
Hint. If G = hai, then o(a) = 42. You just need to find the number of n’s in {1, 2, · · · , 42}
o(a)
such that o(an ) = gcd(n,42)
= 7 and 6.

Question 9. Prove that every noncommutative group has a nontrivial cyclic subgroup.

Solution. Every noncommutative group is nontrivial. Choose a (6= e) ∈ G. Then hai is the

required cyclic subgroup.

Question 10. Let G = {a, b, c, d, e} be a group. Complete the following Cauchy table for

this group:

∗ e a b c d

e e a b c d

a a

b b c d

c c

d d

Hint. o(b)|5 =⇒ o(b) = 5 =⇒ G is cyclic. Since, b0 = e, b1 = b, b2 = c, b3 = b.b2 = b.c =

d =⇒ b4 = a.

Note a.a = b8 = b3 = b. Similarly find the entries in the remainning cells.

Question 11. Find whether the following statements are true or false. Justify your answer.

a) Z × Z is a cyclic group.
√
b) {a + b 2 ∈ R : a, b ∈ Q} is a cyclic group under usual addition of real numbers.

c) G = {(1, 1), (1, −1), (−1, 1), (−1, −1)} is a group under the operation (a, b)(c, d) =

(ac, bd) but not a cyclic group.

d) The number of elements of the subgroup ha10 i in the cyclic group hai of order 30 is 10.

e) The symmetric group Sn contains a cyclic group of order n.


3
Hint. a) False: If possible, let Z × Z be cyclic. Then Z × Z = h(m, n)i = {(km, km) : k ∈ Z}

for some m, n ∈ Z. Since (1, 1) ∈ Z × Z, (1, 1) = (km, kn) for some k ∈ Z =⇒ m =

±1 and n = ±1. But h(±1, ±1)i = 6 Z × Z and h(±1, ∓1)i =


6 Z × Z.
√ √
b) False: For otherwise, n(a + b 2) = 1 for some n ∈ Z =⇒ b = 0. But then (a + b 2) 6=
√
2 for all choice of a.

c) True: First part: trivial. Second part: Note that G has no element of order 4.

d) False: Consider (Z30 , +).

e) True: Consider h(1 2 · · · n)i. Show that |h(1 2 · · · n)i| = n.

MCQ:

Question 12. Suppose G is a cyclic group such that G has exactly three subgroups viz. G,

{e} and a subgroup of order 5. Then the order of G is (i) 5, (ii) 10, (iii) 25, (iv) 125.

Hint. Since G is cyclic, for every divisor of |G| it has a subgroup of that order.

Question 13. Let G be a cyclic group of infinite order. Then the number of elements of

finite order in G is (i) 1, (ii) 2, (iii) 5, (iv) 0.

Hint. e is clearly of finite order. On the other hand, if G = hai then for k ∈ Z, ak cannot

be of finite order (since the order of a cannot be infinite).

Question 14. The number of generators of an infinite cyclic group is (i) 1, (ii) 2, (iii) 0,

(iv) infinite.

Solution. Correct option − ii: If G = hai, then a−1 must be another generator of G. If

possible, let G = hbi where b 6= a, a−1 . Then b = ap and a = bq for some p, q (6= 1, −1) ∈

Z =⇒ a = apq =⇒ o(a) < ∞, a contradiction. Hence there exists exactly 2 generators.


4
Question 15. The number of elements of order 5 in the cyclic group of order 25 is (i) 1, (ii)

2, (iii) 5, (iv) none of these.

Hint. Same hint as in Question 12.

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