Math 113, Section 1, Homework Set 1: Solutions

Due Wednesday September 7th, 2011

Sections 0.1, 0.3
1. Let / be the set of 22 matrices with real number entries. Recall that matrix multiplication is dened by

a b
c d

p q
r s

ap + br aq + bs
cp + dr cq + ds

,
and matrix addition is dened by

a b
c d

p q
r s

a + p b + q
c + r d + s

.
Let M =

1 1
0 1

and let B = X /[MX = XM. That is, B is the set of 2 2 matrices with real
number entries that commute with M.
(a) Determine which of the following elements of / lie in B:

1 1
0 1

1 1
1 1

0 0
0 0

1 1
1 0

1 0
0 1

0 1
1 0

.
Answer:

1 1
0 1

0 0
0 0

1 0
0 1

.
(b) Prove that if P, Q B, then P + Q B.
Answer: Since P, Q B, it means PM = MP and QM = MQ. Therefore,
(P + Q)M = PM + QM by the distributive law for matrices,
= MP + MQ
= M(P + Q) by the distributive law for matrices.
Hence P + Q is in B.
(c) Prove that if P, Q B, then P Q B.
Answer: Since P, Q B, it means PM = MP and QM = MQ. Therefore,
(PQ)M = P(QM)by associativity of matrix multiplication
= P(MQ)
= (PM)Q by associativity of matrix multiplication
= (MP)Q
= M(PQ) by associativity of matrix multiplication.
Hence, PQ B.
2. Determine whether the following functions f are well-dened:
(a) f : Q Z dened by f(
a
b
) = a.
Answer: No, its not well-dened. Take for example
1
2
and
2
4
. They represent the same ele-
ment of Q, but f(
1
2
) = 1 is not equal to f(
2
4
) = 2.
(b) f : Q Q dened by f(
a
b
) =
a
2
b
2
.
Answer: Yes, its well-dened. Let
a
b
Q. A fraction
c
d
is a representative of the same ele-
ment of Q if and only if ad = bc. Now, ad = bc = a
2
d
2
= b
2
c
2
. This implies that
a
2
b
2
=
c
2
d
2
, and
therefore that f(
a
b
) = f(
c
d
).
3. Compute the last two digits of 9
1500
.
Answer: 01.
Solution: To nd the last two digits, compute 9
1500
mod 100.
9
2
81 mod 100, 9
3
29 mod 100, 9
4
61 mod 100, 9
5
49 mod 100, 9
10
1 mod 100
9
1500
= (9
10
)
150
(1)
150
mod 100

= 1 mod 100.
Section 1.1
1. Determine which of the following binary operations are associative:
(a) the operation on Z dened by a b = a b.
Answer: Not associative, for instance (2 1) 3 = (2 1) 3 = (2 1) 3 = 2, whereas
2 (1 3) = 2 (1 3) = 4.
(b) the operation on R dened by a b = a + b + ab.
Answer: Associative: (a b) c = (a +b +ab) +c +(a +b +ab)c = a +b +c +ab +ac +bc +abc, and
a (b c) = a + (b + c + bc) + a(b + c + bc) = a + b + c + ab + ac + bc + abc, which is equal.
(c) the operation on Q dened by a b =
a+b
5
.
Answer: Not associative, for instance (2 1) 3 =
2+1
5
+3
5
=
2+1+15
25
=
18
25
, whereas
2 (1 3) =
2+
1+3
5
5
=
14
25
.
(d) the operation on Z Z dened by (a, b) (c, d) = (ad + bc, bd).
Answer: Associative: ((a, b) (c, d)) (e, f) = (ad + bc, bd) (e, f) = ((ad + bc)f + bde, bdf)
and (a, b) ((c, d) (e, f)) = (a, b) (cf + de, df) = (adf + b(cf + de), bdf), and these are equal.
2. Let G = a + b

2 R[a, b Q.
(a) Prove that G is a group under addition.
Proof: We prove that G satises the axioms of a group:
G is closed under addition: let x = a+b

2, y = c+d

2 be elements of G. Then x+y = (a+c) +

(b +d)

2. Since Q is closed under addition, a +c Q and b +d Q, so (a +c) +(b +d)

2 G.
G contains the identity element: 0 Q and 0 = 0 + 0

2, so 0 G.
G is closed under inverses: the additive inverse of a + b

2 is (a) + (b)

2, since a + b

2 +
(a) + (b)

2 = 0. Q is closed under additive inverses, so both (a) and (b) are in Q, so

(a) + (b)

2 G.
(b) Prove that the non-zero elements of G are a group under multiplication. (Hint: rationalize the
denominators to nd multiplicative inverses.)
Proof: We prove that G satises the axioms of a group:
G is closed under multiplication: let x = a + b

2, y = c + d

2 be in G. Then xy = ac + 2bd +
(ad + bc)

2. Since Q is closed under multiplication and addition, we see that ac + 2bd Q and
ad + bc Q. We need to check that they are not both zero. So, for the sake of contradiction,
suppose that both ac + 2bd = 0 and ad + bc = 0. By assumption, a and b are not both zero, and
c and d can not both be zero. So suppose rst that a = 0, so that b ,= 0. Then from the rst
equation 2bd = 0 = d = 0, and from the second equation bc = 0 = c = 0, but this yields the
contradictiont hat both c and d are zero. On the other hand if a ,= 0, then we can divide by a,
and the rst equation tells us that c = 2bd/a, and the second tells us that d = bc/a. Putting
these together we get that d = 2b
2
d/a
2
. This is only possible if d = 0 or 2b
2
= a
2
. If d = 0, then
the equation for c tells us that c = 0, a contradiction. If d ,= 0, then 2b
2
= a
2
. But this means
that a = b

2, which is not in Q, also a contradiction. Therefore, ac + 2bd and ad + bc can not

both be zero, so xy G.
G contains the identity: 1 = 1 + 0

2 G.
G is closed under inverses: Let x = a + b

2 G. Then
x
1
=
1
a + b

2
=
a b

2
(a + b

2)(a b

2)
=
a b

2
a
2
2b
2
=
a
a
2
2b
2

b
a
2
2b
2

2.
Notice that the denominator a
2
2b
2
,= 0, since if a
2
2b
2
= 0 it would mean that a = b

2,
which is irrational, and we are assuming that a is rational. Furthermore, since x G it means a
and b are not both zero, therefore
a
a
2
2b
2
and
b
a
2
2b
2
are not both zero either, so x
1
G.
3. If x and g are elements of the group G, prove that [x[ = [g
1
xg[. Use this to prove that [ab[ = [ba[.
Proof: First, we will prove by induction on n 1 that (g
1
xg)
n
= g
1
x
n
g.
Base case: n = 1 This case is obviously true, g
1
xg = g
1
xg.
Inductive hypothesis: Suppose that the statement is true for n = k.
Inductive step: Now consider n = k + 1. We have
(g
1
xg)
k+1
= (g
1
xg)
k
(g
1
xg)
= g
1
x
k
gg
1
xg using the inductive hypothesis
= g
1
x
k
xg since gg
1
= 1
= g
1
x
k+1
g,
so the statement is true for n = k + 1 as well. Hence by the principle of mathematical induction,
(g
1
xg)
n
= g
1
x
n
g for all n 1.
Using this, we see that
(g
1
xg)
n
= 1 g
1
x
n
g = 1
x
n
g = g multiplying on the left by g
x
n
= 1 multiplying on the right by g
1
.
Therefore the minimum positive integer n such that (g
1
xg)
n
= 1 is equal to the minimum positive integer
n such that x
n
= 1. Thus [x[ = [g
1
xg[.
Putting x = ab and g = a, we see that [ab[ = [ba[.
4. If x is an element of innite order in G, prove that the elements x
n
, n Z are all distinct.
Proof: If x has innite order in G, it means that there is no positive integer n such that x
n
= 1.
Suppose, for the sake of contradiction, that the elements were not all distinct. Then we would have
x
i
= x
j
for some pair of integers i ,= j. Without loss of generality, let us assume that i < j, so that j i
is a positive integer. We will use the fact that the inverse of x
i
is x
i
. We get
x
i
= x
j
1 = x
j
x
i
= x
ji
.
But this contradicts our assumption that x has innite order. Therefore, the elements x
n
, n Z must all
be distinct.
Section 1.2
1. Let D
8
= r, s[r
4
= s
2
= 1, rs = sr
1
be the dihedral group of order 8.
(a) Compute the order of the element r
2
s.
Answer: 2.
(b) Find all elements of D
8
that have order 2.
Answer: s, rs, r
2
s, r
3
s, r
2
. Geometrically, s, rs, r
2
s, r
3
s are all the reections of the square,
while r
2
is rotation by 180 degrees.
2. Let Y = u, v[u
4
= v
3
= 1, uv = v
2
u
2
. See Problem 18 Section 1.2 in the textbook for detailed hints.
(a) Show that v
2
= v
1
.
Proof: v
3
= 1 = v
2
= v
1
.
(b) Show that v commutes with u
3
.
Proof: v
1
u
3
v = v
2
u
3
v = (v
2
u
2
)(uv) = (uv)(uv) = (uv)(v
2
u
2
) = uv
3
u
2
= u 1 u
2
= u
3
,
and so multiplying both sides of v
1
u
3
v = u
3
on the left by v, we get u
3
v = vu
3
.
(c) Show that v commutes with u.
Proof: u
4
= 1 = u
3
= u
1
. So from the previous step we get u
1
v = vu
1
. Multiplying
both sides of the equation on the left and right by u we get vu = uv.
(d) Show that uv = 1.
Proof: From the relation uv = v
2
u
2
and knowing that u and v commute, we can write uv = (uv)(uv),
so multiplying both sides of the equation by (uv)
1
we get 1 = uv.
(e) Show that u = 1, deduce that v = 1, and conclude that Y = 1.
Proof: 1 = (uv)
3
= u
3
v
3
= u
3
= u
1
which implies that u = 1. Combining this with
uv = 1 shows that v = 1. Therefore, u = u
1
= v = v
1
= 1, so all words in u, u
1
, v and v
1
are
also equal to 1. Hence there is only one element (the identity element) in the group generated by u
and v, i.e., Y = 1.
Section 1.3
1. Let be the permutation 1 3, 2 4, 3 5, 4 2, 5 1, and let be the permutation 1
5, 2 3, 3 2, 4 4, 5 1. Find the cycle decompositions of each of the following permutations:
, ,
2
, , and
2
.
2. Find the order of (1 12 8 10 4)(2 13)(5 11 7)(6 9).
Answer: Since these cycles are disjoint, the order of the permutation is the lowest common mul-
tiple of the orders of the individual cycles. So lcm(5, 2, 3, 2) = 30.
3. Let p be a prime. Show that an element has order p in S
n
if and only if its cycle decomposition is a
product of commuting p-cycles. Show by explicit example that this need not be the case if p is not prime.
Proof: We rst prove a fact that will be useful:
(FACT): g
k
= 1 for some k 1 k = n [g[ for some integer n 1. (i.e. the powers of g for which
g
k
= 1 are multiples of the order of g.)
Proof of (FACT): The direction = is clear, since if k = n[g[ then g
k
= (g
|g|
)
n
= 1
n
= 1. For the direction
=: By the Division Algorithm for natural numbers, we can write k = n[g[ +r where n 0 is an integer,
and 0 r < [g[ is also an integer (the remainder). So
g
k
= 1 (g
|g|
)
n
g
r
= 1 1
n
g
r
= 1 g
r
= 1.
If r ,= 0, then 1 r < [g[ satises g
r
= 1, which contradicts the assumption that [g[ is the minimum power
of g that is 1. Therefore r = 0, and so k = n[g[.
Proof of the statement: = : Suppose that S
n
has order p, where p is a prime. Let
1
, . . . ,
k
be the
disjoint cycles in the cycle decomposition of , i.e.,
=
1

2
. . .
k
.
Then
n
= (
1
. . .
k
)
n
=
n
1

n
2
. . .
n
k
, since the
i
s commute with each other because they are disjoint.
Also, since the cycles
i
are disjoint, it means that
n
= 1 if and only if
n
i
= 1 for all i = 1, . . . , k.
Therefore, if
p
= 1, it means that
p
i
= 1 for all i, and therefore p is a multiple of [
i
[ for all i
(by (FACT) above). But since p is prime, this means either that [
i
[ = 1 or [
i
[ = p. If [
i
[ = 1,
then
i
must be a 1-cycle, which is not included in the cycle decomposition, so this is impossible.
Therefore [
i
[ = p. The order of a cycle is equal to its length, so each
i
must be a p-cycle. Thus,
the cycle decomposition of is
1
. . .
k
where each
i
is a p-cycle, and they are all disjoint so they commute.
=: Suppose that S
n
has a cycle decomposition =
1

2
. . .
k
consisting only of p-cycles
(note that the cycles in a cycle decomposition are always disjoint, so they always commute, so the extra
condition about them commuting is really redundant). Then
p
=
p
1

p
2
. . .
p
k
= 1 1 . . . 1 = 1. By
(FACT), p must be a multiple of the order [[, which so the order of can only be one or p. However it
cant be one since the cycles
i
are p-cycles, which are not the identity permutation. Hence, [[ = p.
A counter example for when p is not prime: take p = 6, and consider (12)(345). Then this ele-
ment has order 6, but its cycle decomposition is clearly not a product of 6 cycles.
4. Show that the order of an element in S
n
is equal to the lowest common multiple of the lengths of the
cycles in its cycle decomposition.
Proof: Let S
n
, and suppose its cycle decomposition is =
1

2
. . .
k
, where
i
is a cy-
cle of length n
i
. The order of a cycle is equal to its length, so each
i
has order n
i
Then

n
= 1
n
1
. . .
n
k
= 1
n
i
= 1 for all i = 1, . . . , k, as the cycles are disjoint. By
(FACT), this means n has to be a multiple of each n
i
, i.e., n is a common multiple of n
1
, . . . , n
k
.
The smallest such n is the order of , and the smallest such n has to be the lowest common multiple
of n
1
, . . . , n
k
. Therefore, [[ is the lowest common multiple of the lengths of the cycles in its cycle
decomposition.