Recall:

• When using cycle notation, we often leave out cycles of length 1. If a

number does not appear in a permutation, we assume that it is
mapped to itself.



For example, we could

write β = 1
5 2 4 3 as
β = 1 5 2 4 , omitting the 3 .

• We need to be very careful: 1 2 3 could be an element of S3 or
S4 or S5 ,etc. In each case, it would represent very different functions.
In S3 , it would represent the function α : {1, 2, 3} → {1, 2, 3} by
α(1) = 2, α(2) = 3, and α(3) = 1. But in S5 , it would represent the
function β : {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} → {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} by β(1) = 2, β(2) = 3,
β(3) = 1, β(4) = 4, β(5) = 5.

Math 321-Abstracti (Sklensky) In-Class Work October 4, 2010 1/8

Recall:

Friday, we found


I 1 5 2 4 =4


I 1 4 2 3 5 =5



I 1 2 3 5 4 =6

Conjectures:
I Cycles of length n have order n.
I Disjoint products of cycles have order equal to either the multiple or
the least common multiple of the lengths of the cycles.

Math 321-Abstracti (Sklensky) In-Class Work October 4, 2010 2/8

Some Results About Permutations

I Theorem 5.3: The order of a permutation of a finite set written in

disjoint cycle form is the least common multiple of the lengths of the
cycles.

Math 321-Abstracti (Sklensky) In-Class Work October 4, 2010 3/8

Some Results About Permutations

I Theorem 5.3: The order of a permutation of a finite set written in

disjoint cycle form is the least common multiple of the lengths of the
cycles.

I Theorem 5.1 Every permutation of a finite set can be written as a

cycle or as the product of disjoint cycles.

Math 321-Abstracti (Sklensky) In-Class Work October 4, 2010 3/8

Some Results About Permutations

I Theorem 5.3: The order of a permutation of a finite set written in

disjoint cycle form is the least common multiple of the lengths of the
cycles.

I Theorem 5.1 Every permutation of a finite set can be written as a

cycle or as the product of disjoint cycles.

I Theorem 5.2 If α = a1 a2 . . . am and β = b1 b2 . . . bk
are disjoint, then αβ = βα.

Math 321-Abstracti (Sklensky) In-Class Work October 4, 2010 3/8

Some Results About Permutations

I Theorem 5.3: The order of a permutation of a finite set written in

disjoint cycle form is the least common multiple of the lengths of the
cycles.

I Theorem 5.1 Every permutation of a finite set can be written as a

cycle or as the product of disjoint cycles.

I Theorem 5.2 If α = a1 a2 . . . am and β = b1 b2 . . . bk
are disjoint, then αβ = βα.

I Theorem 5.4 Every permutation in Sn for n > 1 can be written as a

product of (not necessarily disjoint) transpositions.

Math 321-Abstracti (Sklensky) In-Class Work October 4, 2010 3/8

Another Result About Permutations

I Lemma: If we decompose the identity permutation into a product of

r 2-cycles,  = β1 β2 · · · βr where the βi ’s are 2-cycles, then r must be
even. That is, the identity can not be written as the product of an
odd number of 2-cycles.

Math 321-Abstracti (Sklensky) In-Class Work October 4, 2010 4/8

In Class Work

1. For each of the following permutations, first write it as the product of

(not necessarily disjoint) transpositions, and then decide whether it is
even or odd.


(a) 1 5 2 4

(b) 1 6 2 1 4 3 6

2. Let n be a positive integer. If n is odd, is an n-cycle an odd or an

even permutation? How about if n is even?

3. Is the product of an even permutation and an odd permutation even

or odd? How about the product of two odd permutations?

Math 321-Abstracti (Sklensky) In-Class Work October 4, 2010 5/8

Solutions
1. For each of the following permutations, first write it as the product of
(not necessarily disjoint) transpositions, and then decide whether it is
even or odd.

(a) 1 5 2 4








1 5 2 4 = 1 4 1 2 1 5 = 1 5 5 2 2 4
Because my decomposition contained

an odd number of (not disjoint)
transpositions,

1 5 2

4 is an odd permutation.
(b) 1 6 2 1 4 3 6






1 6 2 = 1 2 1 6 = 1 6 6 2







1 4 3 6 = 1 6 1 3 1 4 = 1 4 4 3 3
  








1 6 2 1 4 3 6 = 1 2 1 6 1 6 1 3 1 4
  






= 1 6 6 2 1 4 4 3 3 6

This permutation is again odd.

Math 321-Abstracti (Sklensky) In-Class Work October 4, 2010 6/8
Solutions

2. Let n be a positive integer. If n is odd, is an n-cycle an odd or an

even permutation? How about if n is even?


For any n, we can write an n-cycle α = a1 a2 a3 · · · an as






α = a1 an a1 an−1 a1 an−2 · · · a1 a3 a1 a2 .

This is a product of n − 1 transpositions.

Thus if n is odd, α is even, and if n is even, α is odd.

Math 321-Abstracti (Sklensky) In-Class Work October 4, 2010 7/8

Solutions

3. Is the product of an even permutation and an odd permutation even

or odd? How about the product of two odd permutations?
An even permutation will always decompose into the product of an
even number of transpositions, while an odd permutation will always
decompose into the product of an odd number of transpositions.
Thus the product of an even and an odd permutation is the product
of an even + an odd number of transpositions, which is always odd.
Similarly, the product of two odd permutions is the product of an odd
+ an odd number of transpositions, which is always even.

Math 321-Abstracti (Sklensky) In-Class Work October 4, 2010 8/8