Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/prelims/mathematics-i/7/b/iii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Oxford 2017 Prelims Mathematics I 7 b iii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For any integer , let in the stabilizer subgroup from i. Since and exactly when , this rotation matrix has order exactly . Thereforeis a subgroup of of order , including the trivial case .
For infinitely many non-Abelian examples, let , retain , and take the half-turnDirect multiplication gives and . Every word in therefore reduces to or , . The are distinct, as are the , and no element from the first family equals one from the second: they send to and , respectively. Hence has exactly elements and is a dihedral group.
It is non-Abelian because for , so . Different values of give different group orders, and therefore different subgroups. Thus has infinitely many non-Abelian subgroups, already among its finite subgroups.
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