Nonfaithful coset action of the symmetric group on three letters

ID: nonfaithful-coset-action-of-the-symmetric-group-on-three-letters

Let , the symmetric group on three letters, and take the normal subgroup , the alternating group of even permutations. Its two left cosets are
Products of permutations apply the rightmost factor first. Left multiplication by an even permutation preserves both cosets, while left multiplication by an odd permutation exchanges them. For example,
Consequently all six group elements give only two distinct permutations of . Both stabilizer subgroups equal , so their intersection, the group kernel, is . This is a transitive group action because reaches the other coset, but it is not a faithful group action because fixes both.
Figure 1.
A transitive group action of on two cosets detects only the sign of a permutation
. This computed example groups the six permutations by their induced permutations of the two cosets. All three even permutations fix both labels; all three odd permutations exchange them. The group kernel has three elements. Details.
The orbit-stabilizer theorem still works perfectly: . It counts reachable labels, without asserting that the induced group homomorphism is injective. The quotient group captures exactly the two visible operations, identity and exchange. This is the same group homomorphism as the sign of a permutation, with represented by fixing both labels and by exchanging them. Contrast the three-label example in faithful coset action of the symmetric group on three letters.

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