Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2007/ia/paper-3/5d/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 ia Paper 3 5D Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The order of a group element is the least positive integer with , or infinity if none exists. In a finite group, some two powers among coincide; cancellation then gives a positive power equal to , so exists. The generated cyclic group consists of the distinct elements and has size .
We now prove the needed divisibility directly by cosets. Multiplication by bijects with the left coset , so every left coset has elements. If and intersect, write with . Then , which implies . Thus distinct left cosets are disjoint, and every element of belongs to its own left coset. The finite set is partitioned into, say, such cosets. Hence andThis supplies the counting argument underlying Lagrange's theorem, rather than appealing to it or to an unproved orbit formula.
A divisor of need not occur as an element order. Use , of order eight, and . Every element has square equal to the identity, so there is no element of order four. Thus the proposed converse is false, even for an abelian group.
For the direct product of groups , let generate the factors. The least for which is the least common multiple of . If are coprime, this is , the size of the whole product, so generates every element. Conversely, for any pair its order is and divides . If , that bound is , so no element can generate the product. ThereforeThis is the cyclicity of a product of two finite cyclic groups; the general pair-order criterion is the order of a direct-product element.
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