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Lecture 4a Cyclicnotationof Permutation

The document discusses cyclic notation for representing permutations as products of disjoint cycles or transpositions. It provides examples of writing permutations of sets of numbers in cyclic notation and as products of disjoint cycles or transpositions. It also lists some practice problems for expressing given permutations in these different notation forms.

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jayson.gulla
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13 views

Lecture 4a Cyclicnotationof Permutation

The document discusses cyclic notation for representing permutations as products of disjoint cycles or transpositions. It provides examples of writing permutations of sets of numbers in cyclic notation and as products of disjoint cycles or transpositions. It also lists some practice problems for expressing given permutations in these different notation forms.

Uploaded by

jayson.gulla
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Cyclic Notation of Permutation

We define the permutation α =


[ a1 a2 … an
a2 a3 … a1 ]
in cycle form as (a 1 a 2 … a n ¿ .We

called this notation as the cyclic notation of α of length n. Under this mapping
each element goes to the one except the last one which is mapped onto the
first.

The permutation [ 13
2 3
1 2 ]
in S3 can also be written as (1 3 2). The latter

notation is called a cycle, or the cyclic notation of the permutation. In (1 3 2) 1


goes to 3, 3 goes to 2 and 2 goes to 1.

In S4 the permutation
2 34
1 43 [ 12 ]
can also be written as (1 2) (3 4). The latter

notation is called a cycle. 1 goes to 2, 2 goes to 1, 3 goes to 4 and 4 goes to 3.


In particular, the notation is called a disjoint cycle.

Also the permutation [ 12 2 34


3 41 ]
has the cycle form (1 2 3 4) of length 4.

Two cycles are disjoint if there is no integer that appears in both cycles. This
means that there is no integer moved by two different cycles.

Every permutation of a finite set can be expressed as a cycle, or as a product of


two or more disjoint cycle.

A cycle of length two is called a transposition. In a transposition, all elements


have no movements except the two elements which are mapped onto each
other.

A cycle is a product of transposition. For example, (1 2 3) can be written in

terms of a product of transposition as (1 3 2) = (1 3) (1 2) =


1 2 3 1 2 3
3 2 1 2 1 3
= [ ][ ]
[ 13 2 3
1 2 ]
It is very important to note that every permutation can be expressed as a
product of transposition. For example S3, we express the permutation in cycle
form of length 3 as follows;

[ 12 2 3
3 1 ]
= (1 2 3) = (1 3 ) (1 2) = [ 13 ][
2 3 1 2 3
2 1 2 1 3 ]
[ 13 2 3
1 2 ]
= ( 1 3 2) = ( 1 2) (1 3) = [ 12 ][
2 3 1 2 3
1 3 3 2 1 ]
Problems:

A. Express each of the following permutations of [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ] as a product


of disjoint cycles.

1. [ 17 23 4 5 6 7 8
58 1 2 3 4 6 ]
2. [
6]
1 23 45 67 8
3 14 72 58

3. [ 13 23 4 5 67 8
6 4 1 8 25 7 ]

4. [ 12 23
34
45 67 8
16 78 5 ]
B. Express each of the following permutations of [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ] as a product
of transpositions.

1. [ 17 23 4 5 6 7 8
58 1 2 3 4 6 ]

2. [ 13 23 4 5 67 8
6 4 1 8 25 7 ]

3. [ 12 23
34
45 67 8
56 78 1 ]

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