Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/paper-2/9/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2024 Paper 2 9 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
In additive notation every element obeys . Its order of a group element therefore divides four, whereas has order eight. A group isomorphism preserves element orders, soFor the second product, define the group homomorphismIt is well-defined because multiples of six are divisible by both two and three. Its kernel contains only zero: simultaneous divisibility by two and three implies divisibility by six. Thus is injective, and equal finite group orders make it surjective. Explicitly the six images areThereforeFor general positive integers , the order of a direct-product element is the least common multiple of its component orders. Hence every element order divides , while attains this order. It generates the whole product precisely when are coprime:This is the cyclicity of a product of two finite cyclic groups, with the explicit isomorphism furnished by the Chinese remainder theorem.
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