Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2011/ia/paper-3/8d/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ia Paper 3 8D a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
When , there are exactly two left cosets and two right cosets. For , both and are the complement ; for , both equal . This is the index-two subgroup is normal argument: for every , which is equivalent to . Therefore every subgroup of index two is normal.
In the dihedral group , the rotation cyclic subgroup has order and index two, so it is a normal subgroup. It is nontrivial and proper for the usual dihedral convention (polygon symmetries have ). If the degenerate convention were allowed, the claimed nontrivial proper subgroup would not exist; the rotation argument uses .
For any , let and take the stabilizer subgroup of the letter . Its elements freely permute the other letters, soConjugation by sends to the stabilizer of , which is different: for instance belongs to but does not fix . Thusgives a nonnormal subgroup of every prescribed index .
New to topics? Read the docs here!