Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2010/iii/paper-4/1/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 4 1 i Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A nilpotent group has a finite central seriesEquivalently the upper central series, defined by , reaches .
We first prove the normalizer condition for nilpotent groups. If , choose the least with . Then , and an element satisfies . Thus normalizes , giving .
Let be a Sylow subgroup of a finite nilpotent , and write . If , the normalizer condition gives some . The subgroups and are both Sylow subgroups of , so Sylow theorem supplies with . But then , forcing , a contradiction. Therefore every Sylow subgroup is a normal subgroup of .
For normal Sylow subgroups at different primes, . They commute, have coprime orders, and their product has order . Multiplication consequently gives an isomorphism from their external direct product of groups onto .
Conversely, a nontrivial finite p-group has nontrivial center of a group: its class equation has every noncentral conjugacy-class size divisible by , so is a positive multiple of . Induction on order, applied to , gives a central series for . Finite direct products of these central series give a central series for the product, padding shorter series by the full factor. Thus the finite nilpotent group decomposition is
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