Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2016/ia/paper-3/5d/v/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ia Paper 3 5D v Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
No such finite group exists. Cayley theorem embeds every finite group of order into : the left-regular group action sends to the permutation , and this is faithful because the image of the identity element is .
To make every image permutation even, let , with support disjoint from the first letters. For , let for an even permutation and for an odd permutation, and setThe sign homomorphism gives , and commutes with all permutations of the first letters. Thus is a group homomorphism. It is injective by restriction to those letters, and its sign is . ConsequentlyThis is the alternating-group embedding of a finite group.
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