Group Theory

Subgroups, normal subgroups, quotient groups, homomorphism theorems

1. Show that in a finite group of odd order every element is a square.

2. Consider the group (R, +), the additive group of the real numbers. a)
Show that any homomorphism from a finite group to (R, +) has to
be the trivial homomorphism. b) Show that any homomorphism from
(R, +) to a finite group has to be the trivial homomorphism.

3. Let A and B be finite subgroups of a group G of relatively prime orders;

that is, gcd(|A|, |B|) = 1. Prove that the function ϕ : A × B → G
defined by ϕ(a, b) = ab is injective.

4. Let G be a group containing normal subgroups of order 3 and 5. Prove

G contains an element of order 15.

5. If x, y are elements of G such that (xy)11 = (yx)19 = 1, then x and y

are inverses of one another.

6. Suppose G is a group and a ∈ G is an element so that the subset

S = {gag −1 | g ∈ G} contains precisely two elements. Prove that G
contains a normal subgroup N so that N ̸= {1} and N ̸= G.

7. Show the groups ⟨a, b | ababa = babab⟩ and ⟨x, y | x2 = y 5 ⟩ are isomor-
phic. Here, ⟨xi , i ∈ I | rj = sj , j ∈ J⟩ stands for the quotient of the
free group generated by {xi , i ∈ I} by the normal subgroup generated
by the elements rj s−1
j , j ∈ J.

8. Given a surjective homomorphism of groups ϕ : G → H, define

Γ(ϕ) = {(g, ϕ(g)) | g ∈ G} ⊂ G × H

1
Prove that Γ(ϕ) is a subgroup of G × H and that Γ(ϕ) is a normal
subgroup if and only if H is abelian.

2
 Group Theory
Lagrange’s Theorem, Cauchy’s theorem

1. Let G be a simple group of order n. Let H be a subgroup of G of

index k with H ̸= G. Show that n divides k!.

2. Does there exist a non-abelian group of order 2012?

3. Let G be a nonabelian group of order 27. Find the class equation for
G.

4. (a) Show that any group of order p2 is abelian for any prime p. (b)
Let G be a group of order 2873. It can be shown that G contains one
normal subgroup of order 17 and another normal subgroup of order
169. Use this assertion (which you need not prove) to show that G is
abelian.

5. Let G be a finite group whose order is a power of a prime integer. Let

Z(G) denote the center of G. Show that Z(G) ̸= {e}.

6. Suppose H1 and H2 are subgroups of a finite group G. Prove that

[G : H1 ∩ H2 ] ≤ [G : H1 ][G : H2 ],

with equality if and only if every element of G can be written h1 h2 for

some h1 ∈ H1 and h2 ∈ H2 . Do not assume that G is abelian.

7. Identify all isomorphism classes of groups of order 20 having a unique

subgroup of order 5 and an element of order 4.

8. Let G be a group of order p4 for a prime number p with |Z(G)| = p2 .

Calculate the number of conjugacy classes in G as a function of p.

1
 Group Theory
Standard examples (cyclic groups, symmetric groups)

1. Find an element of largest order in the symmetric group S12 . Justify

your answer.

2. (a) Let Sn denote the group of permutations of the set {1, 2, . . . , n}.
How many different subgroups of order 4 does S4 have? Justify your
calculation. (Two subgroups are considered different if they are dif-
ferent as sets.) (b) There is a homomorphism of S4 onto S3 . (You do
not need to prove that there exists such a homomorphism.) Show that
there is no homomorphism of S5 onto S4 .

3. Show that a finite group which is generated by two distinct elements

each of order 2 must be isomorphic to a dihedral group.

4. Prove that for all n ≥ 3, the symmetric group Sn contains elements x

and y of order 2 such that xy is of order n.

5. Show that an element of GL2 (Z) has order 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, or ∞. Find

elements of each of these orders.

6. Describe the conjugacy classes in the dihedral group D6 . (D6 has 12

elements.)

7. Give an example of 3 pairwise nonisomorphic groups of order 24.

8. Give an example of a group G that contains a conjugacy class with 5

elements.

1
 Group Theory
Direct products, structure of finite abelian groups

1. Let G be a finitely generated abelian group. Prove that there are no

nontrivial homomorphisms ϕ : Q → G, where Q denotes the additive
rationals.

2. Consider the subgroup H of the group Z/12×Z/12 generated by the

element (a4 , a6 ), where a is a generator of Z/12. a) What is the or-
der of H? List its elements. b) How many elements are there in
(Z/12×Z/12)/H? c) Write (Z/12×Z/12)/H as a product of cyclic
groups, each of which has order equal to a power of some prime. Find
a generator for each of these cyclic subgroups.

3. Let G be a finite abelian group and let ϕ : G → G be a group

homomorphism. Note that for all positive integers k the function
ϕk = ϕ ◦ ϕ ◦ · · · ◦ ϕ is also a homomorphism from G to G. Prove there
is a positive integer n such that G ∼ = ker(ϕn ) × ϕn (G).

4. Let f : Z3 → Z4 be the function

f (a, b, c) = (a + b + c, a + 3b + c, a + b + 5c, 4a + 8b)

(a) Prove that f is a group homomorphism. (b) Let H denote the

image of f . Find an element of infinite order in Z4 /H. (c) Calculate
the order of the torsion subgroup of Z4 /H.

5. Classify, up to isomorphism, all groups of order 24 which are quotient

groups of Z2 .

6. Find the number of two dimensional subspaces of (Z/p)3 , where p is a

prime.

1
7. How many invertible elements are there in the ring Z/105? Find the
structure of the group of invertible elements as an abelian group.

8. Find the order of the automorphism group of the abelian group G =

C3 ⊕ C3 ⊕ C3 , where C3 is a cyclic group of order 3.

2
 Rings and Fields
Ideals, quotient rings, homomorphism theorems

1. Let R be a ring with 1, let a ∈ R, and suppose an = 0 for some n ∈ N.

Prove that 1 + a is a unit of R.

2. Let R be a commutative ring with unit and let a, b ∈ R be two elements

which together generate the unit ideal. Show that a2 and b2 also
generate the unit ideal together.

3. (a) Show that any ring automorphism of R sends every element of Q

to itself. (b) Show that any ring automorphism of R sends positive
numbers to positive numbers. (c) Deduce that R has no nontrivial
automorphisms.

4. Show that a ring homomorphism ϕ : Q[x] → Q[x] is an isomorphism

if and only if ϕ(x) = ax + b for some a, b ∈ Q, a ̸= 0.

5. Consider the rings F5 [x]/(x2 ), F5 [x]/(x2 − 3), and F5 × F5 . Show that

no two of them are isomorphic to each other.

6. Find the inverse of the unit 201 in the ring Z/2015Z.

7. Let R = { 2mn | m ∈ Z, n ∈ N}, where N denotes the set of nonnegative

integers. Prove that R is a subring of Q. For every ideal I of R, prove
that there exists an ideal J of Z such that I = { 2mn | m ∈ J, n ∈ N}.

8. Let F11 be the field with 11 elements. Consider the quotient rings A =
F11 [x]/(x2 −2) and B = F11 [x]/(x2 −5). Is there a ring homomorphism
ϕ : A → B? Is there a ring homomorphism ϕ : B → A?

1
 Rings and Fields
UFD, PID, Euclidean domains, polynomial rings

1. Let f (x) = x2 + ax + b and g(x) = x2 + cx + d be irreducible rational

polynomials, having roots α and β, respectively. Find necessary and
sufficient conditions on the coefficients (a, b, c, d) that imply that Q(α)
is isomorphic to Q(β). Prove that your conditions are both necessary
and sufficient.
√
2. Let R be the subring of R given by R = {n + m −10 | m, n ∈ Z}.
√
Show that the element 2 − −10 is irreducible in R but not prime.
√ √ √
3. Consider the ring R = Q[x, x, 4
x, 8
x, . . . ] consisting of finite sums
of the form Σm ni
i=1 ai x with ai ∈ Q and ni a positive rational num-
ber whose denominator is a power of two. Show that every finitely
generated ideal in R is principal. Exhibit a nonprincipal ideal in R.

4. Factor the polynomial x8 −x in the ring F2 [x].

5. Describe all prime ideals in the ring R[x].

6. Prove that the polynomial ring Q[x, y] contains an ideal I which can
be generated by 3 elements, but not by 2 elements.

7. Prove that there is an isomorphism of rings

C[x, y]/(x − x3 y) → C[y] ⊕ C[u, 1/u]

where C[u, 1/u] is the ring of Laurent polynomials Σni=−m ai ui (m, n ≥

0) with complex coefficients.

8. Let P be a prime ideal in a commutative ring R with 1. Let

f (x) = xn + a1 xn−1 + · · · + an−1 x + an ∈ R[x]

1
be a non-constant monic polynomial with coefficients in R. Suppose
that all coefficients a1 , . . . , an are in P , and that f (x) = g(x)h(x), for
some non-constant monic polynomials g(x), h(x) ∈ R[x]. Then show
that the constant term of f (x) is in P 2 , the ideal generated by all
elements of the form ab, where a, b ∈ P .

2
 JumpStart 2023
Analysis
Week 1: Metric Spaces and Basic Topology

• Each of the following eight problems is worth 10 points, therefore the maximum score for this
assignment is 80.

• Please either type or write your solutions clearly on separate sheets of paper, making sure each
page is labeled with the correct problem number.

• Combine your solutions (in the correct order) in a single pdf file and upload them on Canvas.

Notation: Throughout this assignment, we use the following notation for x ∈ Rn :

q
x = (x1 , x2 , · · · , xn ), |x| = x21 + x22 + · · · x2n

We say that Rn is given the "usual metric" when the distance between x, y ∈ Rn is given by |x − y|.
d


1. Given any metric space (X, d) show that X, 1+d is a metric space that shares the same family
of metric balls as (X, d).

2. Let N be the set of positive integers. Define a distance function d : N × N → [0, ∞) such that
(N, d) is a metric space that is not complete. Verify that your choice for d is indeed a metric,
and that (N, d) is not complete.

3. Suppose (X, d) is a compact metric space with an open cover {Uλ }λ∈Λ . Show that for some
ε > 0, every ball of radius ε is fully contained in at least one of the Uλ ’s.

4. Let X be the set of binary sequences x : N → {0, 1}, i.e. sequences taking only values 0 or 1.
Define the metric d on X by
(
0 if x = y
d(x, y) = −m
2 if m = min{n : x(n) 6= y(n)}

(a) Prove that (X, d) is compact.

(b) Prove that no point in (X, d) is isolated.

5. Define d on Rn by
|x − y|
d(x, y) =
|x|2 + |y|2 + 1
Let A ⊂ Rn be such that there exists ε > 0 so that if a, b ∈ A with a 6= b, then d(a, b) ≥ ε.
Show that A is finite.

6. Let E ⊂ R be a set with the property that any countable family of closed sets that cover E
contains a finite subcollection which covers E. Can E contain infinitely many points? Why or
why not?
7. Let (X, d) be a compact metric space. Suppose that h : X → Y ⊂ X is a map which preserves
d, i.e.
d(h(x1 ), h(x2 )) = d(x1 , x2 )
for all x1 , x2 ∈ X. Can Y be a proper subset of X? Why or why not?

8. For each positive integer n, define xn : [−1, 1] → R by


−1 if − 1 ≤ t ≤ −1/n

xn (t) = nt if − 1/n < t < 1/n

1 if 1/n ≤ t ≤ 1


(a) Show that {xn } is a Cauchy sequence in the metric space (C([−1, 1]), d), where C([−1, 1])
denotes the set of continuous functions defined on [−1, 1] and d denotes the metric given
by Z 1
d(x, y) = |x(t) − y(t)|dt
−1

(b) Show that (C([−1, 1]), d) is not complete.

 JumpStart 2023
Analysis
Week 2: Metric Spaces and Basic Topologies

• Each of the following eight problems is worth 10 points, therefore the maximum score for this
assignment is 80.

• Please either type or write your solutions clearly on separate sheets of paper, making sure each
page is labeled with the correct problem number.

• Combine your solutions (in the correct order) in a single pdf file and upload them on Canvas.

Notation: Throughout this assignment, we use the following notation for x ∈ Rn :

q
x = (x1 , x2 , · · · , xn ), |x| = x21 + x22 + · · · x2n

We say that Rn is given the "usual metric" when the distance between x, y ∈ Rn is given by |x − y|.
1. Let ρ : R2 × R2 → [0, ∞) be defined by
(
|x − y| if x and y are on the same line through the origin,
ρ(x, y) =
|x| + |y| otherwise,

for x, y ∈ B.
(a) Show that ρ is a metric on R2 .
(b) Is the closed unit ball in (R2 , ρ) centered at (0, 0) ρ-compact? Why or why not?
(c) Is the closed unit ball in (R2 , ρ) centered at (1, 1) ρ-compact? Why or why not?

Note that ρ(x, y) is the minimum distance travelled in the usual metric in going from x to y
along lines through the origin.

2. Let G ⊂ R5 be the set of vectors a = (a0 , a1 , a2 , a3 , a4 ) with the property that the quintic
polynomial
Pa (x) = a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + a3 x3 + a4 x4 + x5
has five distinct real roots. Prove that G is open in the Euclidean metric topology on R5 .

3. Let (X, dX ) and (Y, dY ) be metric spaces. Let f : X → Y be surjective such that:

1
dX (x, y) ≤ dY (f (x), f (y)) ≤ 2dX (x, y)
2
for all x, y ∈ X. Show that if (X, dX ) is complete, then so is (Y, dY ).

4. Let C[0, 1] be the space of all real continuous functions defined on the interval [0, 1].
Define the distance on C[0, 1] by

d(f, g) = max |f (x) − g(x)|

x∈[0,1]
 Prove that S = {f ∈ C[0, 1] : d(f, 0) = 1} is not compact in the metric topology induced by d.

Note: Here 0 ∈ C[0, 1] denotes the constant function 0(x) = 0, x ∈ [0, 1].

5. Let (X, d) be a compact metric space and let ρ be another metric on X such that

ρ(x, y) ≤ d(x, y), x, y ∈ X

Show that for all ε > 0, there exists δ > 0 such that

ρ(x, y) < δ ⇒ d(x, y) < ε

6. Define the distance from a point p in a metric space (X, d) to a subset Y ⊂ X by

d(p, Y ) := inf{d(x, y) : y ∈ Y }

For any ε > 0 , define

Yε = {x ∈ X : d(x, Y ) ≤ ε}
Finally, given any two bounded sets A, B ⊂ X, define

D(A, B) := inf{ε > 0 : A ⊂ Bε and B ⊂ Aε }

(a) Show that D yields a metric on the set of closed bounded subsets of X.
(b) Show that D fails to do so on the set of bounded subsets of X.

7. Suppose (X, d) is a complete metric space. Show that if every continuous function on a subset
F ⊂ X attains a minimum, then F is closed.

8. Assume that bitter is a property of subsets of [0, 1] such that the union of two bitter sets is
bitter. Subsets of [0, 1] that are not bitter are called sweet. Thus every subset of [0, 1] is either
bitter or sweet. A sweet spot of a set A ⊂ [0, 1] is a point x0 ∈ [0, 1] such that for every open
set U ⊂ R (open in the sense of usual metric on R) that contains x0 , the set A ∩ U is sweet.
Show that if A ⊂ [0, 1] is sweet, then A has a sweet spot.
 JumpStart 2023
Analysis
Week 3: Sequences and Series

• Each of the following eight problems is worth 10 points, therefore the maximum score for this
assignment is 80.

• Please either type or write your solutions clearly on separate sheets of paper, making sure each
page is labeled with the correct problem number.

• Combine your solutions (in the correct order) in a single pdf file and upload them on Canvas.

1. Show that a sequence (an )n∈N of real numbers satisfying

∞
X
|an+1 − an | < ∞
n=1

is convergent.

2. Pick an arbitrary real number t0 . Define a sequence (tn )n∈N by

tn = sin(cos(tn−1 )), n ≥ 1.

Prove that this sequence converges and that the limit is independent of the choice of t0 .

3. Suppose that (an )n∈N is an unbounded, increasing sequence of positive numbers. Show that
the series ∞
X an+1 − an
n=1
an
diverges.

4. Let log denote the natural logarithm (in base e). Does the following series converge?
X 1
n≥2023
(log n)log(log n)

5. Pick a0 ∈ (0, 1) and define a sequence (an )n∈N by

an+1 = a3n − a2n + 1, n ∈ N.

(a) Prove that (an )n∈N converges and find its limit.

(b) Define bn = a1 .a2 · · · an , n ∈ N. Prove that (bn )n∈N converges and find its limit.

6. Show that the following sequence (xn )n∈N converges.

s r
√ q
√
x1 = 1, x2 = 2, xn = 2 3 · · · n, n ≥ 3
7. Let (an )n∈N be a sequence of nonnegative real numbers such that limn→∞ an = 0 and
1
|an+1 − an | ≤ 2 for every n ∈ N. Show that the series ∞ n
P
n=1 (−1) an converges.
n
8. Prove or disprove the following:

(a) (Disregard; repeated problem; same as Problem 1) If the series ∞

P
n=1 |an+1 − an | converges
for some real sequence (an )n∈N , then the sequence (an )n∈N converges.

series ∞
P
(b) If
Pthe n=1 |an+1 − an | converges for some real sequence (an )n∈N , then the series
∞
n=1 an converges.
 JumpStart 2023
Analysis
Week 4: Sequences and Series

• Each of the following eight problems is worth 10 points, therefore the maximum score for this
assignment is 80.

• Please either type or write your solutions clearly on separate sheets of paper, making sure each
page is labeled with the correct problem number.

• Combine your solutions (in the correct order) in a single pdf file and upload them on Canvas.

1. Let f : R → [0, 1] be a continuous function and choose x1 ∈ (0, 1). Define xn via the
recurrence relation
3 2 1 |xn |
Z
xn+1 = xn + f , n ≥ 1.
4 4 0
Prove that the sequence (xn )n∈N is convergent and find its limit.

2. For x ∈ R, let bxc denote the largest integer that is less than or equal to x. Prove that
√
∞
X (−1)b nc

n=1
n

converges.
l+1
1 1 1
Z
Hint: You may take for granted the inequality: < <
l+1 l x l
3. Suppose that (an )n∈N is a sequence of positive real numbers and ∞
P
n=1 an = ∞. Prove
that
P∞ there exists a sequence of positive real numbers (b )
n n∈N such that limn→∞ bn = 0 and
n=1 an bn = ∞.

P∞
4. Suppose that the series n=1 an converges conditionally. Show that the series
∞
X
n(log n)(log log n)2 an
n=3

diverges.

5. Let 0 < xn < 1 be an infinite sequence of real numbers such that for all 0 < r < 1
X r
log ≤ 1.
xn <r
xn

Show that ∞
X
(1 − xn ) < ∞.
n=1
6. Show that the following limit exists:
n
!
√ X 1
lim 2 n− √ .
n→∞
k=1
k

7. Suppose that (an )n∈N is a bounded sequence of positive numbers. Show that

a1 + a2 + · · · + an
lim =0
n→∞ n
if and only if
a21 + a22 + · · · + a2n
lim = 0.
n→∞ n

8. (a) Show that for each integer n ≥ 1 there exists a unique x > 0 such that

1 1 1 √
√ +√ + ··· + √ = n.
nx + 1 nx + 2 nx + n
(b) Call xn the solution from (a) and find limn→∞ xn .
 JumpStart 2023
Analysis
Week 5: Sequences and Series

• Each of the following eight problems is worth 10 points, therefore the maximum score for this
assignment is 80.
• Please either type or write your solutions clearly on separate sheets of paper, making sure each
page is labeled with the correct problem number.
• Combine your solutions (in the correct order) in a single pdf file and upload them on Canvas.

1. Let a > 0 and let (xn )n∈N be a sequence of real numbers. Assume that the sequence

x1 + x2 + · · · + xn
yn = , n∈N
na
is bounded. Show that for each b > a, the series
∞
X xn
< ∞.
n=1
nb

2. Define for n ≥ 2 and p > 0

n
X 1
Hn (p) = (log k)p and an (p) = .
k=1
Hn (p)
P
For what values of p does n an (p) converge?

3. Let (an )n∈N be a bounded sequence such that

an−1 + an+1
≤ an , n ≥ 2.
2

P (an )n∈N converge?

(a) Does the sequence
(b) Does the series n an converge?

4. Show that the following series converges conditionally:

∞ ! !
X (−1)n
exp −1
n
n=1

5. (a) Show that for all a ∈ R,  ∞ 

X a  π
< .

n2 + a2  2


n=1

(b) Determine the value of

( ∞  )
X a 
sup  :a∈R .
 
 n=1 n2 + a2 
6. Does the sequence following sequence converge?
√
xn = cos(π n + n2 ), n ≥ 1

7. Determine all real x for which the following series converges:

∞
X nn
xn .
n=1
n!

Hint: You may take for granted the fact that

n!
lim √ = 1.
n→∞ 2πn(n/e)n

8. For what values of r > 0 is the following limit finite?

n 2
X nr−1
lim
n→∞
k=1
nr + k r
 JumpStart 2023
Analysis
Week 6: Functions on Rn

• Each of the following eight problems is worth 10 points, therefore the maximum score for this
assignment is 80.

• Please either type or write your solutions clearly on separate sheets of paper, making sure each
page is labeled with the correct problem number.

• Combine your solutions (in the correct order) in a single pdf file and upload them on Canvas.

1. Suppose that f : R2 → R is a continuous, compactly supported function. Define a new function

g : R2 → R by
f (y)
Z
g(x) = dy, x ∈ R2 .
R 2 |x − y|
Prove that the improper integral does in fact converge and that g is continuous.

Recall that convergence of the improper integral means that the Riemann integral

f (y)
Z
dy
ε<|x−y|< 1ε |x − y|

has a limit as ε ↓ 0.
Z ∞
2. Does the improper integral cos(x2/3 ) dx converge? Justify your answer.
0

3. Let f : R → [0, +∞) be a differentiable function such that both f and −f 0 are nonincreasing
on R. Prove that
lim f 0 (x) = 0.
x→+∞

4. Define continuous functions fn : [0, 1] → R by

1 + xn
fn (x) = , x ∈ R, n ∈ N.
1 + 2−n
Show that the sequence (fn )n∈N is not equicontinuous on [0, 1].

5. Let (fn )n∈N be a uniformly bounded sequence of continuous functions defined on [0, 1] × [0, 1],
and let Z Z 1 1
Fn (x, y) = s−1/2 t−1/3 fn (s, t) ds dt, x, y ∈ [0, 1], n ∈ N
y x

(a) Show that for each n ∈ N, Fn (x, y) is well defined (possibly as an iterated improper
integral) for (x, y) ∈ [0, 1] × [0, 1].

(b) Show that the sequence (Fn )n∈N has a subsequence (Fnk )k∈N converging uniformly on
[0, 1] × [0, 1] to a continuous limit F .
 R∞
6. Let f : R2 → R be a continuous function such that 0 f (x, y) dy exists for every x ∈ [0, 1]
and there exists a positive constant C such that
Z ∞ 
  C
 f (x, y) dy  ≤ , for z > 0 and 0 ≤ x < 1.

z log(2 + z)

Show that Z 1 Z ∞ Z ∞ Z 1
f (x, y) dy dx = f (x, y) dx dy.
0 0 0 0

7. Find all values of (x, y) minimizing the function

x y
f (x, y) = +
y x

on the set {(x, y) : x > 0, y > 0, x2 + 2y 2 = 3}.

8. Let fn : [0, 1] → [0, 1] be a sequence of functions that converge uniformly to a limit function
f : [0, 1] → [0, 1]. Assume that each fn maps compact sets to compact sets. Does f also map
compact sets to compact sets?