Chapter 1

Groups

The central goal of group theory is to classify groups up to isomorphism. This has be done
for some restricted classes of groups, such as cyclic groups and finitely generated abelian
groups, groups satisfying chain conditions and finite groups of small order. Groups, like some
other algebraic structures, have important functions called homomorphisms, which play an
important role in studying the structures of groups.

1.1 Semigroups, monoids and groups

A binary operation on a nonempty set G is a function G G G. It is usually written as
a product: (a, b) 7 ab. Sometimes it is written as a sum: (a, b) 7 a + b if it is commutative.

Def. A semigroup is a nonempty set G together with a binary operation on G which is

1. associative: a(bc) = (ab)c for a, b, c G;
a monoid is a semigroup G which contains a
2. identity element e G such that ae = ea = a for a G;
a group is a monoid G such that
3. for every a G there exists an inverse element a1 G such that a1 a = aa1 = e.
A semigroup is said to be abelian or commutative if it is
4. commutative: ab = ba for all a, b G.

In a group G, the identity e is unique, and the inverse a1 for a given a G is unique.

Ex (semigroup). The set 2Z together with is a semigroup.

Ex (monoid). Let Mn (C) = Cnn be the set of all n n matrices. Then Mn (C) together with
matrix multiplication is a monoid.

Ex (group). The following are examples of groups:

9
10 CHAPTER 1. GROUPS

1. Each of Z, Q, R, C together with + is an abelian group.

2. The set Mn (C) together with + is an abelian group.

3. The set GLn (C) of all complex invertible n n matrices with matrix multiplication is a
non-abelian group.

4. The group of symmetries of a square, denoted D4 , is a non-abelian group under the map
composition operation.

5. The permutations of n letters {1, 2, , n} form a group Sn under the map composition
operation, called the symmetric group on n letters.

Prop 1.1. A semigroup G is a group if and only if both of the following hold:

1. For any a, b G, there exists x G such that ax = b;

2. for any a, b G, there exists x G such that xa = b.

The product G H of two semigroups G and H is a semigroup under the operation:

(g1 , h1 )(g2 , h2 ) := (g1 g2 , h1 h2 ), for g1 , g2 G, h1 , h2 H.

This is the direct product of G and H. If the operation on G and H is +, then we write
G H instead of G H.

Thm 1.2. Let be an equivalence relation on a monoid G such that a1 a2 and b1 b2

imply a1 bl a2 b2 for all ai , bi G. Then the set G/ of all equivalence classes of G under
is a monoid under the binary operation defined by (a)(b) = ab, where x denotes the equivalence
class of x G. If G is an [abelian] group, then so is G/ .

An equivalent relation on G that satisfies the hypothesis of the theorem is called a con-
gruence relation on G.

Ex. Fix m Z+ . Define a b in Z if a b modulo m.

1. (Z, ) is a monoid. (Z/ , ) is also a monoid.

2. (Z, +) is a group. (Z/ , +) is again a group, denoted Zm .

In group theory, the congruence relation is often defined by modulo a normal subgroup
of G. In ring theory, it is often defined by moduling an ideal. In module theory, it is often
defined by moduling a submodule.