Lecture 5.

3: Examples of group actions

Matthew Macauley

Department of Mathematical Sciences

Clemson University
http://www.math.clemson.edu/~macaule/

Math 4120, Modern Algebra

M. Macauley (Clemson) Lecture 5.3: Examples of group actions Math 4120, Modern Algebra 1/8
Groups acting on elements, subgroups, and cosets

It is frequently of interest to analyze the action of a group G on its elements,

subgroups, or cosets of some fixed H ≤ G .

Sometimes, the orbits and stabilizers of these actions are actually familiar algebraic
objects.

Also, sometimes a deep theorem has a slick proof via a clever group action.

For example, we will see how Cayley’s theorem (every group G is isomorphic to a
group of permutations) follows immediately once we look at the correct action.

Here are common examples of group actions:

G acts on itself by right-multiplication (or left-multiplication).

G acts on itself by conjugation.
G acts on its subgroups by conjugation.
G acts on the right-cosets of a fixed subgroup H ≤ G by right-multiplication.

For each of these, we’ll analyze the orbits, stabilizers, and fixed points.

M. Macauley (Clemson) Lecture 5.3: Examples of group actions Math 4120, Modern Algebra 2/8
Groups acting on themselves by right-multiplication
We’ve seen how groups act on themselves by right-multiplication. While this action
is boring (any Cayley diagram is an action diagram!), it leads to a slick proof of
Cayley’s theorem.

Cayley’s theorem
If |G | = n, then there is an embedding G ,→ Sn .

Proof.
The group G acts on itself (that is, S = G ) by right-multiplication:

φ : G −→ Perm(S) ∼
= Sn , φ(g ) = the permutation that sends each x 7→ xg .

There is only one orbit: G = S. The stabilizer of any x ∈ G is just the identity
element:
Stab(x) = {g ∈ G | xg = x} = {e} .
\
Therefore, the kernel of this action is Ker φ = Stab(x) = {e}.
x∈G

Since Ker φ = {e}, the homomorphism φ is an embedding. 

M. Macauley (Clemson) Lecture 5.3: Examples of group actions Math 4120, Modern Algebra 3/8
Groups acting on themselves by conjugation
Another way a group G can act on itself (that is, S = G ) is by conjugation:

φ : G −→ Perm(S) , φ(g ) = the permutation that sends each x 7→ g −1 xg .

The orbit of x ∈ G is its conjugacy class:

Orb(x) = {x.φ(g ) | g ∈ G } = {g −1 xg | g ∈ G } = clG (x) .

The stabilizer of x is the set of elements that commute with x; called its
centralizer:

Stab(x) = {g ∈ G | g −1 xg = x} = {g ∈ G | xg = gx} := CG (x)

The fixed points of φ are precisely those in the center of G :

Fix(φ) = {x ∈ G | g −1 xg = x for all g ∈ G } = Z (G ) .

By the Orbit-Stabilizer theorem, |G | = | Orb(x)| · | Stab(x)| = | clG (x)| · |CG (x)|.

Thus, we immediately get the following new result about conjugacy classes:

Theorem
For any x ∈ G , the size of the conjugacy class clG (x) divides the size of G .

M. Macauley (Clemson) Lecture 5.3: Examples of group actions Math 4120, Modern Algebra 4/8
Groups acting on themselves by conjugation
As an example, consider the action of G = D6 on itself by conjugation.

e r r2 f r 2f r 4f
The orbits of the action are the
conjugacy classes:
r3 r5 r4 rf r 3f r 5f

The fixed points of φ are the size-1 conjugacy classes. These are the elements in the
center: Z (D6 ) = {e} ∪ {r 3 } = hr 3 i.

By the Orbit-Stabilizer theorem:

|D6 | 12
| Stab(x)| = = .
| Orb(x)| | clG (x)|
The stabilizer subgroups are as follows:

Stab(e) = Stab(r 3 ) = D6 ,
Stab(r ) = Stab(r 2 ) = Stab(r 4 ) = Stab(r 5 ) = hr i = C6 ,
Stab(f ) = {e, r 3 , f , r 3 f } = hr 3 , f i,
Stab(rf ) = {e, r 3 , rf , r 4 f } = hr 3 , rf i,
Stab(r i f ) = {e, r 3 , r i f , r i f } = hr 3 , r i f i.
M. Macauley (Clemson) Lecture 5.3: Examples of group actions Math 4120, Modern Algebra 5/8
Groups acting on subgroups by conjugation
Let G = D3 , and let S be the set of proper subgroups of G :
n o
S = hei, hr i, hf i, hrf i, hr 2 f i .

There is a right group action of D3 = hr , f i on S by conjugation:

τ : D3 −→ Perm(S) , τ (g ) = the permutation that sends each H to g −1 Hg .

τ (e) = hei hr i hf i hrf i hr 2 f i

hei hf i

τ (r ) = hei hr i hf i hrf i 2
hr f i

hr i hr 2 f i hrf i
τ (r 2 ) = hei hr i hf i hrf i hr 2 f i

τ (f ) = hei hr i hf i hrf i hr 2 f i The action diagram.

Stab(hei) = Stab(hr i) = D3 = ND3 (hr i)

τ (rf ) = hei hr i hf i hrf i hr 2 f i
Stab(hf i) = hf i = ND3 (hf i),
Stab(hrf i) = hrf i = ND3 (hrf i),
τ (r 2 f ) = hei hr i hf i hrf i hr 2 f i Stab(hr 2 f i) = hr 2 f i = ND3 (hr 2 f i).
M. Macauley (Clemson) Lecture 5.3: Examples of group actions Math 4120, Modern Algebra 6/8
Groups acting on subgroups by conjugation
More generally, any group G acts on its set S of subgroups by conjugation:

φ : G −→ Perm(S) , φ(g ) = the permutation that sends each H to g −1 Hg .

This is a right action, but there is an associated left action: H 7→ gHg −1 .

Let H ≤ G be an element of S.

The orbit of H consists of all conjugate subgroups:

Orb(H) = {g −1 Hg | g ∈ G } .

The stabilizer of H is the normalizer of H in G :

Stab(H) = {g ∈ G | g −1 Hg = H} = NG (H) .

The fixed points of φ are precisely the normal subgroups of G :

Fix(φ) = {H ≤ G | g −1 Hg = H for all g ∈ G } .

The kernel of this action is G iff every subgroup of G is normal. In this case, φ
is the trivial homomorphism: pressing the g -button fixes (i.e., normalizes) every
subgroup.
M. Macauley (Clemson) Lecture 5.3: Examples of group actions Math 4120, Modern Algebra 7/8
Groups acting on cosets of H by right-multiplication
Fix a subgroup H ≤ G . Then G acts on its right cosets by right-multiplication:

φ : G −→ Perm(S) , φ(g ) = the permutation that sends each Hx to Hxg .

Let Hx be an element of S = G /H (the right cosets of H).

There is only one orbit. For example, given two cosets Hx and Hy ,

φ(x −1 y ) sends Hx 7−→ Hx(x −1 y ) = Hy .

The stabilizer of Hx is the conjugate subgroup x −1 Hx:

Stab(Hx) = {g ∈ G | Hxg = Hx} = {g ∈ G | Hxgx −1 = H} = x −1 Hx .

Assuming H 6= G , there are no fixed points of φ. The only orbit has size
[G : H] > 1.
The kernel of this action is the intersection of all conjugate subgroups of H:
\ −1
Ker φ = x Hx
x∈G

Notice that hei ≤ Ker φ ≤ H, and Ker φ = H iff H C G .

M. Macauley (Clemson) Lecture 5.3: Examples of group actions Math 4120, Modern Algebra 8/8