- #1
Barre
- 34
- 0
I am doing exercises from Hungerford's text 'Algebra', and would appreciate if someone took the time to verify my write-up for me, and possibly provide me with tips how this could be done more efficiently (using less mathematical machinery)
If a normal subgroup N of order p ( p prime) is contained in a group G of order [itex]p^n[/itex], then N is in the center of G.
Orbit-Stabilizer Theorem: http://www.proofwiki.org/wiki/Orbit-Stabilizer_Theorem
I construct the group action [itex]f: G \times H \rightarrow H[/itex] by this following rule: [itex]f((g,h)) = ghg^{-1}[/itex]. This is well-defined by normality of H of course.
By Orbit-Stabilizer Theorem I know that the size of orbit of any [itex]h \in H[/itex] must have cardinality dividing [itex]|G| = p^n[/itex]. So cardinality of orbits is 1 or p (since anything bigger
would imply more elements in an orbit than there are in H) and H is the disjoint union of orbits of it's elements, so all orbits cardinalities add up to p. But we see that the orbit of the identity in H must be of size 1 (itself), since for any [itex]g \in G[/itex] , [itex]geg^{-1} = e[/itex]. This means we have p-1 other elements in orbits, but orbit cardinalities have to divide p, so they are all of size 1.
This means that for any [itex] h \in H[/itex] and all [itex] g \in G[/itex] we have [itex] ghg^{-1} = h[/itex], so all elements of H are in the center of G.
Homework Statement
If a normal subgroup N of order p ( p prime) is contained in a group G of order [itex]p^n[/itex], then N is in the center of G.
Homework Equations
Orbit-Stabilizer Theorem: http://www.proofwiki.org/wiki/Orbit-Stabilizer_Theorem
The Attempt at a Solution
I construct the group action [itex]f: G \times H \rightarrow H[/itex] by this following rule: [itex]f((g,h)) = ghg^{-1}[/itex]. This is well-defined by normality of H of course.
By Orbit-Stabilizer Theorem I know that the size of orbit of any [itex]h \in H[/itex] must have cardinality dividing [itex]|G| = p^n[/itex]. So cardinality of orbits is 1 or p (since anything bigger
would imply more elements in an orbit than there are in H) and H is the disjoint union of orbits of it's elements, so all orbits cardinalities add up to p. But we see that the orbit of the identity in H must be of size 1 (itself), since for any [itex]g \in G[/itex] , [itex]geg^{-1} = e[/itex]. This means we have p-1 other elements in orbits, but orbit cardinalities have to divide p, so they are all of size 1.
This means that for any [itex] h \in H[/itex] and all [itex] g \in G[/itex] we have [itex] ghg^{-1} = h[/itex], so all elements of H are in the center of G.
Last edited: