Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-algebra-2-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2014/3/c/solution
Past exam of the algebra 2 course of the University of Oxford 2014 3 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
We prove the unique-subgroup criterion for a finite abelian group to be cyclic using the invariant-factor classification from part (a). If is nontrivial, writewhere denotes a cyclic group of order . If , choose a prime number dividing ; then also divides . In the first cyclic factor, the element represented by has order of a group element , and the corresponding element in the second factor has order as well.
The two elements supported in their separate coordinates generate distinct subgroups of order : one has zero second coordinate, and the other has zero first coordinate. Both are subgroups of , and . This contradicts the assumed uniqueness for that divisor. Hence , andIf is the trivial group, it is already cyclic, generated by its identity. Thus the argument covers every finite order.
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