Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/paper-2/8/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2008 Paper 2 8 Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
If , then for both cosets equal . For , neither coset intersects : an intersection would imply . Both have elements, because multiplication by is a bijection. They therefore both equal , proving in this case too. This establishes that an index-two subgroup is normal.
For Lagrange's theorem, left cosets partition . Indeed if , then by multiplying by elements of ; otherwise the cosets are disjoint. Every coset has elements, so if there are cosets,The group order of thus divides the group order of . Normality is not needed for this divisibility statement.
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