Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2011/ia/paper-3/5d/a/solution

The order of a group element is the least positive integer for which , if one exists. In a finite group, two terms of must agree. If with , cancellation gives . Thus such positive integers exist and have a least member: every element of a finite group has finite order.
If , repeated cancellation shows for every positive integer . Consequently exactly when . The least positive exponents are therefore equal:
This proof also shows that conjugation preserves infinite order when the ambient group is not finite.

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