Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/ia/paper-3/6d/solution

For fixed , conjugation preserves multiplication:
and its inverse is . It is therefore a group automorphism. Furthermore,
so is a homomorphism . Its kernel consists of elements commuting with every , hence
For ,
so the inner automorphism group is normal in the automorphism group.
If is cyclic, every automorphism has the form . Two such maps commute because , so is abelian. The conclusion fails for general abelian groups: for , its three nonidentity elements may be permuted arbitrarily, giving
which is nonabelian.

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