MATH 30A: CHAPTER 9

9. Normal subgroups and factor groups This chapter is about normal subgroups N G and the factor group G/N associated to a normal subgroup. 9.1. Normal subgroup. I gave the denition of a normal subgroup and gave some examples. Denition 9.1. A subgroup H of G is called normal if aH = Ha for all a G. Example 9.2. Here are some obvious examples: (1) If G is abelian then all subgroups H are normal. (2) The center Z (G) is normal in G. (3) G is a normal subgroup of G. Next I pointed out that the equation aH = Ha does not mean that a commutes with the elements of H . In terms of elements it means: For all h H there is an h H so that ah = h a But we know what the element h has to be. We just multiply both sides of the equation by a1 to get: h = aha1 The statement is that this element lies in H . This is called a conjugate of h. Theorem 9.3. A subgroup H of G is normal i it contains the conjugates of all of its elements. I.e., if aHa1 = H for all a G. The words dont quite match the equation since the words say: aHa1 H . But this is for all a G. In particular it is supposed to hold for a1 : (a1 )H (a1 )1 H Conjugating by a this gives H aHa1 . So, we get H = aHa1 .
Date : October 18, 2006.
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MATH 30A: CHAPTER 9

We looked at the subgroups of the dihedral group D4 and determined which are normal. D4 = {e, r, r2 , r3 , s, sr, sr2 , sr3 } The elements r and r3 are conjugate since r3 = srs1 = srs r has no other conjugates since these are the only elements of order 4. The elements s and sr2 are conjugate. Similarly, sr and sr3 are conjugate. This means that any normal subgroup containing s will also contain sr2 and similarly for the other two. Proposition 9.4. The normal subgroups of D4 are the trivial group {e}, the whole group D4 , the center r2 and the three subgroups of order 4: r , s, r2 , sr, r2 I pointed out that: Theorem 9.5. Any subgroup of index 2 is normal. Proof. If H G has index 2 then there are only two left cosets. One is H and the other is aH where a is any element of G which is not in H . Since these are disjoint and their union is G, we have aH = G H The right cosets have the same description: Ha = G H and Ha = H if a H . So, H G. if a G H

MATH 30A: CHAPTER 9

9.2. Factor groups. If N G then the set of cosets of N form a group with multiplication dened by (aN )(bN ) := abN The additive notation is: (a + N ) + (b + N ) := (a + b) + N This group, whose elements are the cosets of N with operation dened by one of the two formulas above, is denoted G/N . To check that this is a group the only thing we have to check is that the multiplication is well-dened because the other conditions are obvious. (E.g., eN = N is the identity, (aN )1 = a1 N .) Well-dened means independent of all choices. But what choices did we make? As I pointed out before, you get the same left coset in many ways.
1 a1 N = a2 N a 1 a2 N

So, suppose that a1 N = a2 N and b1 N = b2 N . Then we have two dierent formulas for the product and we need to show: a1 b 1 N = a2 b 2 N In other words, we need to check that (a1 b1 )1 a2 b2 N . But:
1 1 1 1 1 1 (a1 b1 )1 a2 b2 = b 1 a1 a2 b2 = b1 (a1 a2 )b1 (b1 b2 ) b1 N b1 N = N N = N

9.2.1. Z/n. Take the additive group G = Z. Since this is abelian, all subgroups are normal. Take the subgroup 4Z. Call the cosets x := x + 4Z Then there are 4 cosets: 0, 1, 2, 3 and 0 = 4 = 8 = 12 = and similarly, the other cosets have many names. Addition is given by: x+y =x+y This is just addition modulo 4. So, Z/4Z = Z4 The group Z/nZ is often just written Z/n.

MATH 30A: CHAPTER 9

9.2.2. D4 /Z (D4 ). The center of D4 consists of the identity and rotation by : Z = Z (D4 ) = r2 = {e, r2 } This is a normal subgroup of D4 of index 4. So, the factor group D4 /Z has 4 elements: Z = {e, r2 } A := {s, sr2 } B := {sr, sr3 } C := {r, r3 } Z is the identity. (N = eN is always the identity.) A2 = B 2 = Z since A, B contain elements of order 2. C 2 = r2 Z = Z since r2 Z . Thus, D4 /Z is abelian. Finally, AB = C, BC = A and AC = B since, e.g., AB = (sZ )(srZ ) = ssrZ = rZ = C. Question: If N G what is the order of aN ? How is the order of aN related to the order of a? The book points out that: Theorem 9.6. For any group G, G/Z (G) = Inn(G). Proof. The formula for the isomorphism : G/Z (G) = Inn(G) is (aZ ) = a which is the notation for the inner automorphism a (x) = axa1 It is easy to see that this mapping is onto (inner automorphisms are given by a by denition) and preserves the operation (a b = ab ). What is not obvious is that it is well-dened and 1-1. To show it is well-dened suppose that aZ = bZ . Then a1 b Z . This is the same as saying that, for all x G, a1 bx = xa1 b a(a1 bx)b1 = a(xa1 b)b1 b (x) = bxb1 = axa1 = a (x) To show that this mapping is 1-1 suppose that a = b . Then we have to show that aZ = bZ . Just run the above equations from bottom to top.

MATH 30A: CHAPTER 9

9.2.3. groups of order p2 . I want to show: Theorem 9.7. Groups of order p2 are abelian. This uses a whole bunch of interesting and important theorems. The rst deals with the number of conjugates of any element. Lemma 9.8. If g G then the conjugates aga1 of g are in 1-1 correspondence with the left cosets of the centralizer C (g ) of g . In particular the number of conjugates of g is equal to the index |G : C (g )| of the centralizer. This number divides the order of the group. Proof. This is easy: aga1 = bgb1 g = a1 bgb1 a a1 b C (g ) aC (g ) = bC (g ). Lemma 9.9. If G has pn elements where n 1 then the center of G has at least p elements. Proof. Collect the elements of G into conjugacy classes. Use the formula that g G has |G : C (g )| conjugacy classes. This number divides the order of the group. So, it is a power of p. So, |G| = pn is a sum of numbers, all of which are powers of p. But one of them is 1 (the identity is only conjugate to itself). So, at least p 1 of the other powers must also be p0 = 1. These are central elements. Lemma 9.10. If G/Z (G) is cyclic then G is abelian. Proof. If G/Z is cyclic, it is generated by one element aZ . Then the cosets are: ak Z and G is the union of these cosets. This means that every element of G has the form ak z . So, if we take two elements, they must be: aj z1 , ak z2 which commute: aj z1 ak z2 = aj ak z1 z2 = aj +k z2 z1 = ak z2 aj z1 . So, G is abelian. Now we can prove that groups of order p2 are abelian: The center Z must have at least p elements. So, G/Z has either p or 1 element. So, it is cyclic. So, G is abelian.