Discrete Structures

Unit II : Groups and Rings ( Refer T-1 )

• Algebraic Systems, Groups, Semi Groups,
Monoid
• Subgroups, permutation Groups
• Codes and Group Codes,
• Isomorphisms and Automorphisms
• Homomorphisms and Normal Subgroups
• Rings, Integral Domains, Fields
• Ring Homomorphisms, Polynomial Rings and
Cyclic codes
• Unit II at a Glance
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Introduction contd…:
Consider the example of hair colour of a child
b) Hair colour of a child :
Father↓ Mother→ light dark
light light dark
dark dark dark

A = {light, dark}, Function from AxA to A

Closed Operation : A function or a binary operation from AxA to A

in above example (b) is closed operation. A function or a binary
operation from AxA to B in example (a) above is not closed
operation.

Operator Symbols (*, . , +, etc.) : Instead of using customary latter

names like f,g,h etc. for functions, we shall use ‘operator symbols’ like
 Unit IV : Groups and Rings
Introduction
Algebraic System : A set together with a number of operations on the
set is called as Algebraic System.
For example, (N,+,*,Δ, .) is an algebraic system with three operations
on set N such that +(a, b) is equal to 0 or 1 depending on whether the
sum of a and b is even or odd and *(a, b, c) is equal to the maximum
of a, b, c.
Closed Operation: Let (A,* ) be an algebraic system .for a,b belongs
to A , a * b also belongs to A.
Associative Operation : Let * be a binary operation on a set A. The
operation * is said to be associative if (a*b)*c = a*(b*c) for all a,b,c Є
A.
For example, Let A be a set of people and Δ be a binary operation such
that a Δ b is equal to the taller one of a and b, assuming that no two
people are of same height. Here Δ is an associative operation.
 Unit IV : Groups and Rings
Semigroup :
Let (A, *) be an algebraic system where * is a binary
operation on set A. (A, *) is called a semigroup if the
following conditions are satisfied:
1.* is a closed operation
2.* is an associative operation

Example : A {2, 4, 6, …} and + be an ordinary addition operation

on integers in A. Since + is a closed and associative operation
(A, +) is a semigroup.
Subsemigroup : Let A be a set of all positive even integers and +
is an ordinary addition operation of integers. Let set B is of all
positive integers which are multiples of 4. i.e.
A = {2, 4, 6, …}, B = {4, 8, 12, …} clearly B is subset of A
and B is closed under the operation +. Hence (B, +) is a
 Unit IV : Groups and Rings
Left Identity :
Let (A, *) be an algebraic system where * is a binary
operation on set A. An element e Є A, is called a left identity
if for all x Є A, e * x = x.

Right Identity :
Let (A, *) be an algebraic system where * is a binary
operation on set A. An element e Є A, is called a right
identity if for all x Є A, x * e = x.
Identity :
An element in A is said to be an identity if it is both left identity
and right identity.
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Monoid :
Let (A, *) be an algebraic system where * is a binary
operation on set A. (A, *) is called a monoid if the following
conditions are satisfied:
1.* is a closed operation
2.* is an associative operation
3.There exists an identity

Example :
1.Algebraic system (Z, +) with identity as 0
2.Let A be a set of people and Δ be a binary operation
such that a Δ b is equal to the taller one of a and b,
assuming that no two people are of same height. Here
identity is the shortest person in A.
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Submonoid :
Let (A, *) be a monoid with the identity element e and B is a
subset of A, then (B, *) is said to be submonoid if B is closed
under the operation * and e Є B.

Examples :
The algebraic system (N, +) with identity 0 is a
monoid, and (A, +) where set A is the set of even numbers
with identity 0 is submonoid.

The algebraic system (C, +), where C is a set of odd

numbers and C is subset of N but C is not closed under the
operation of addition, moreover 0 does not belong to C.
Therefore (C, +) is neither monoid or submonoid.
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Left inverse and right inverse :
Let (A, *) be an algebraic system with an identity e. Let a be an
element in A. An element b is said to be a left inverse of a if b*a = e
and an element b is said to be a right inverse of a if a*b = e.
For example :
* α β γ δ
α α β γ δ β is left inverse of γ
β β δ α γ δ is right inverse of γ
γ γ β β α
δ δ α γ δ
An element b is said to be inverse of a if it is both a left and right
inverse of a. Clearly if b is inverse of a , then a is also an inverse of b.
Intuitively an inverse “cancels” the effect of the element when they are
combined.
For example : A = {acids, alkalis, water} and * is a binary operation
giving the product of combination of two chemicals. Water is neutral
element and inverse of acids is alkalis and their combination yields water.
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Group :
Let (A, *) be an algebraic system where * is a binary
operation on set A. (A, *) is called a group if the following
conditions are satisfied:
1.* is a closed operation
2.* is an associative operation
3.There exists an identity
4.Every element in A has a left inverse

** We know that because of associativity a left inverse of an

element is also a right inverse of the element in a group.
Proof : Let b be a left inverse of a and c be a left inverse of b and
e be an identity in a algebraic system. Then,
(b*a)*b = e*b = b, therefore
c*((b*a)*b) = c*b = e = ((c*b)*a)*b = (e*a)*b = a*b
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Group contd… :
** Inverse of an element is unique.
Proof : Let b and c are inverse of a. Then,
b*a = e = c*a
(b*a)*b = (c*a)*b
b*(a*b) = c*(a*b)
b=c
Inverse of a is denoted as a-1
Exampl-1 : Algebraic system (I, +) , where I is the set of integers, + is the binary operation, 0 is the

identity element Є I and inverse of n is –n Є I. Therefore (I, +) is a Group.

Example-2: Algebraic system (G, Δ) where G = {even, odd} and

Δ is a binary operation symmetric difference

Δ even odd (G, Δ) is a group

even even odd even is an identity

odd odd odd even & odd are their own inverses
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Abelian or commutative group :
A group (A, *) is called an Abelian or a commutative group if * is a
commutative operation.

For example, (Zn, *), referred as a group of integers modulo n, is an abelian or commutative group where,

a*b =a+b if (a+b) < n and

= a + b –n if (a+b) >= n

Subgroups :

Let (A, *) be a group and B be a subset of A. (B, *) is said to be a subgroup of A if (B, *) is also a group by itself. To

check (B, *) as a group following steps are to be followed:

1.* should be closed operation on B
2.* should be associative
3.Identity element of A Є B
4.Inverse of any element in B must be unique and Є B
For example, (I, +) is a group and (E, +) is a subgroup ( E : even integers)
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Permutation Groups :
A one-to-one function from a set S onto itself is called a permutation
of the set S. Let S = {a, b, c, d}, then a b c d used as a notation
bdca

to represent permutation of the set S that maps a into b, b into d, c into c and d into a, i.e. in the upper row the elements of set

A written down in an arbitrary order and in the lower row the images of elements in upper row are written below the element

itself (f(a) = b, f(b) = d, f(c) = c, f(d) = a) .

For a set of n elements in S, let set A denote the set of all n! permutations (n-tuples) of elements in A. We define a

binary operation o on A to be the composition of two functions which is a closed operation on A. For example, let Л ab
1=
cd Л abcd Л abcdЄA
2= 1oЛ2 =
bdca bacd dabc
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Permutation Groups contd…:

1)Thus binary operation o is closed.

2)Similarly we can also prove that it is associative i.e.
(Л1o Л2) o Л3 = Л1o (Л2 o Л3).
abcd
3) Identity element is
abcd

4) Every element of A has an inverse in A.

Thus (A, o) is a group called as permutation group.

 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Codes and Group Codes :
Coding problem : The coding problem is that of representing
distinct messages by distinct sequences of letters from a given
alphabet.
Binary alphabet : B = {0, 1}, 0 and 1 are letters
Word : Sequence of letters from alphabet is often referred to as a
word
Code : A code is a collection of words that are to be used to
represent distinct messages. A word in a code is also called as
codeword
Block code : A block code is a code consisting of words that are of
the same length.
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Codes and Group Codes contd…:
Error detection and correction : When a codeword
is transmitted from its origin to destination, in the
course of transmission, interferences such as noises
might cause some of the 1’s in the codeword to be
received as 0’s and vice-versa. Consequently the
received word might no longer be the transmitted one
and it is our desire to detect such errors and recover
the transmitted word if at all possible. This is called as
error detection and correction.
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Codes and Group Codes contd…:
Group Codes : Let (A, Δ) be an algebraic system where A is the
set of all binary sequences of length n. Let Δ be a binary
operation on A such that for x, y Є A, x Δ y is also a sequence of
length n that has 1’s in those positions where x and y differ and
0’s in those positions where x and y are the same.

x y xΔy Let x = 00101, y = 10110

0 0 0 xΔy = 10011
0 1 1 identity is 00000
1 0 1 inverse of x is x itself
1 1 0 (A, Δ ) is a group
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Codes and Group Codes contd…:
Hamming distance : Let x Є A, we define the weight of
x, denoted as w(x) = number of 1’s in x. Hamming
distance or simply the distance between x and y, denoted
as d(x, y) to be the weight of xΔy or w(xΔy)
For example, let x = 1110000, y = 1001100 then
w(x, y) = w(xΔy) = w(0111100) = 4
• Distance between two words is exactly the number of
positions at which they differ.
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Codes and Group Codes contd…:
Parity check code : The encoding function e : is called parity
check code (m, m+1):
Let b=b1,b2,b3......bm bm+1

Let us define encoding function e(b) as,

e(b) = b1 b1 b2 b3 … bm bm+1

where bm+1 = 0 iff the number of 1’s in b is even

= 1 iff the number of 1’s in b is odd

Thus every code word e(b) has even weight.

• A single error in the transmission of a code word will modify the received word to a
word of odd weight and therefore can be detected. In the similar fashion any odd

number of errors can be detected, but even number of errors can’t be detected.
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Ex. consider encodind function,let us assume m=3,then

e(000)=0000
e(000)=0000
e(000)=0000
e(000)=0000
e(000)=0000
e(000)=0000
e(000)=0000
e(000)=0000
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Isomorphism, Automorphism and Homomorphism :
Isomorphism : Consider the following algebraic systems
(A, *) and (B, Δ)
* a b c d Δ α β γ δ a a b c d
α α β γ δ
b b a a c β β α α γ
c b d d c γ β δ δ γ
d a b c d δ α β γ δ

By changing set A = {a, b, c, d} to set B{α, β, γ, δ} and binary

operation * to Δ, we obtain the algebraic system (B, Δ) as shown
above. The two algebraic systems (A, *) and (B, Δ) are “essentially
the same”. The algebraic system (B, Δ) is isomorphic to the
algebraic system (A, *) if we can obtain (B, Δ) from (A, *) by
renaming the elements and / or the binary operation in (A, *).
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Isomorphism, Automorphism and Homomorphism :
Formal definition of Isomorphism : We say that the
algebraic system (B, Δ) is isomorphic to the algebraic system
(A, *) if there exists a one-to-one onto function from A to B
such that for all a1 , a2 Є A , f(a1*a2) = f(a1) Δ f (a2). The function f is called as
isomorphism from (A, *) to (B, Δ) and (B, Δ) is called as isomorphic image of A. In above example, the

function f such that f(a) = α, f(b) = β, f(c) = γ and f(d) = δ is an isomorphism from the algebraic system

(A, *) to the algebraic system (B, Δ).

 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Isomorphism, Automorphism and Homomorphism :
Automorphism : An isomorphism from an algebraic system
(A, *) to (A, *) is called as an automorphism on (A, *).
For example, The function f such that f(a) = d, f(b) = c,
f(c) = b and f(d) = a is an isomorphism on the algebraic
system (A, *) i.e. an automorphism on (A, *).

Homomorphism : Let (A, *) and (B, Δ) be two algebraic

systems. Let f be a function from A onto B such that for any
a1 , a2 Є A , f(a1*a2) = f(a1) Δ f (a2), then f is called as a homomorphism from (A, *) to (B, Δ) and (B,
Δ) is called a homomorphic image of (A, *)
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Isomorphism, Automorphism and Homomorphism :
Homomorphism contd … :
For Example, consider following two algebraic systems.
(A, *) (B, Δ)
* a b c d e f Δ 1 0 -1
a a b c a c d 1 1 1 0
b b a c b c e 0 1 0 -1
c a c a b c e -1 0 -1 -1
d a b b d e f The function f s. t.
e c c c e e f f(a) = 1, f(b) = 1
f d e e f f f f(c) = 1, f(d) = 0
Homomorphism from (A, *) to (B, Δ ) f(e) = 0, f(f) = -1
f(a*b) = f(b) = 1 and
f(a) Δ f(b) = 1 Δ 1 = 1 Therefore f(a*b) = f(a) Δ f(b)
b =
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Exercise :
1.Let Z = {0, 1, 2, …, n-1}. Let * be a binary operation such
that a*b = remainder of a.b divided by n. Construct a table
for n = 4. Is (Z4 , *) a groupoid, monoid, semigroup and abelian group?

2. What is homomorphism and automorphism in an algebraic system? Explain by giving example of

each.

3. A central groupoid is an algebraic system (A, *) where * is a binary operation such that :

(a*b) *(b*c) = b for all a,b,c Є A, show that:

i. a*((a*b)*c) = a*b
ii.(a*(b*c))*c = b*c
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Rings, Integral Domains and Fields :
• So far we have studied algebraic systems with one binary
operation. Now we shall study briefly several classes of
algebraic systems with two binary operations.
• Given two algebraic systems (A, *) and (A, Δ), we can always
“combine” them to yield an algebraic system with two binary
operations (A, *, Δ). Generally two binary operations are related
in some way like both the relations are either commutative or
not commutative.
• Rings, Integral domains and Fields are the classes of algebraic
systems with two operations
• Distributive Property : The most natural and important way in
which two binary operations can be related is the distributive
property i.e. a*(bΔc) = (a*b) Δ (a*c) and (b Δc)*a
= (b*a) Δ (c*a).
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Rings, Integral Domains and Fields :
• Distributive Property contd … :
Consider the example of algebraic system ({a, b}, *, Δ):
* a b Δ a b
a a b a a a
b b a b a b
b*(a Δ b) = b*a = b
(b*a) Δ (b*b) = b Δ a = a Thus * is not distributive over Δ

a Δ (a*b) = a Δ a = a
(a Δ a) * (a Δ b) = a*a = a Thus Δ is distributive over *
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Rings, Integral Domains and Fields :
Rings : An algebraic system (A, +, .) is called a ring if the
following conditions are satisfied:
1.(A, +) is an abelian group
2.(A, .) is a semigroup
3.The operation . is distributive over the operation +
Integral domains : An algebraic system (A, +, .) is called a
integral domain if the following conditions are satisfied:
4.(A, +) is an abelian group
5.The operation . is commutative, furthermore if c != 0 and c.a
= c.b then a = b, where 0 denotes the additive identity
6.The operation . is distributive over the operation +
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Rings, Integral Domains and Fields :
Fields : An algebraic system (A, +, .) is called a field if
the following conditions are satisfied:
1.(A, +) is an abelian group
2.(A-{0}, .) is an abelian group
3.The operation . is distributive over the operation +

Examples :
1.Example on Rings – page 16
2.Example on Integral domains – page 16
3.Example on Fields – page 17
All from lecture notes of unit II
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Rings, Integral Domains and Fields :
Ring Homomorphism
Polynomial Rings
Cyclic codes
Refer lecture notes – pages 17 & 19 of Unit II
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Exercise :
1.Let Z = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}. Let R is a relation under the
operations addition modulo 7 and multiplication modulo 7.
Does this system form a ring?

2.Define with an example of each:

i. Integral Domain
ii.Field
iii.Group codes

3. What is hamming distance? Find hamming distance between

codewords of C = {(0,0,0,0), (0,1,0,1), (1,0,1,1), (0,1,1,1) }.
rewrite the message by adding even parity check bit.
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Unit IV at a Glance:
l Introduction : Why we need to study Groups and Rings
l Basic Terminology: Closed operation, Operator symbols,
Associative operation
l Semigroup : Closed, associative
l Sub-semigroup: B is subset of A, (B,+) is sub-semigroup
l Monoid : Closed, associative, identity element exists
l Sub-monoid : B is subset of A, (B,+) is sub-monoid.
l Group : Closed, associative, identity element exists, left
inverse for every element in set A
• Subgroup : Set B subset of A is a Group like (A, *)
• Permutation Group : S is a set of n elements and set A is
set of n! permutations (n- tuples) of elements in S and
o is a binary operation (one to one onto)
 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Unit V at a Glance contd…:

• Codes and group codes : binary alphabet, word, code,

block code, group codes, hamming distance, parity check
code
• Isomorphism : function f is isomorhism from (A, *) to
(B, Δ) and (B, Δ) is isomorphic image of (A, *).
f(a1*a2) = f(a1) Δ f (a2).
• Automorphism : Isomorphism on the same algebraic system

• Homomorphism : Combining two algebraic systems by function f. f(a1*a2) = f(a1) Δ f (a2).

 Unit II : Groups and Rings
Unit V at a Glance contd…:
• Rings : (A,+) Abelian group, (A, .) semigroup and
. is distributive over the operation +

• Internal Domains : (A,+) Abelian group, The operation .

is commutative, furthermore if c != 0 and c.a = c.b then
a = b, where 0 denotes the additive identity and . is
distributive over the operation +

• Fields : (A, +) is an abelian group, (A-{0}, .) is an

abelian group and the operation . is distributive over the
operation +