Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2014/prelims/mathematics-i/6/c/solution

Suppose . Choose a symbol moved by and write . Since , choose a third symbol distinct from . Let , a transposition that fixes . Then
Thus , proving that the conjugacy class of any nonidentity permutation has more than one element. By part (a)(iii), no such permutation lies in the center of a group. The identity always does, so
The restriction on is necessary: is an abelian group and equals its own center.

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