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Place the cube's vertices at $(\pm 1,\pm 1,\pm 1)$. Its full symmetry group of a cube consists of signed permutation matrices. To see completeness, a cube symmetry fixes its center of a group and permutes the six face normals, so it sends coordinate axes to signed coordinate axes; conversely every such matrix preserves the cube. Coordinate permutations and sign changes take any edge to any other edge, so this is a transitive group action on edges.

Choose the edge $e=\{(1,1,z):-1\le z\le 1\}$. A symmetry stabilizing it must preserve its axis direction and its midpoint $(1,1,0)$. It can swap the first two coordinates and independently reverse the third coordinate, but cannot change the signs of the two fixed coordinates. HenceThere are twelve edges and four elements of the stabilizer subgroup. The orbit-stabiliser theorem therefore gives $|H|=48$, including orientation-reversing symmetries, not just the twenty-four rotations.

The action defines a group homomorphism $H\to S_{12}$. If an element fixes every edge as a set, it fixes every vertex, since each vertex is the unique common point of its three incident edges. A cube isometry fixing all vertices is the identity. Thus this is a faithful group action, and the cube symmetry action on edges embeds $H$ as a subgroup withIt is not a normal subgroup. Central inversion $\mathbf{x}\mapsto -\mathbf{x}$ belongs to $H$ and swaps the twelve edges in six opposite pairs. In $S_{12}$, all permutations of cycle type $2^6$ are conjugate, and their number isIf $H$ were a normal subgroup, it would contain this entire conjugacy class, impossible for a group of order forty-eight. This avoids relying on a classification of normal subgroups of the symmetric group.

For a nontrivial finite p-group $G$ of order $p^m$ with $m\ge 1$, partition into conjugacy classes. A noncentral class has size $[G:C_G(x)]$, a positive power of $p$ larger than one by Lagrange's theorem. The class equation therefore saysThe center of a group contains the identity, so $|Z(G)|\ge p$, proving its nontriviality. The positive-exponent qualification matters: the one-element group has no nonidentity central element.

If $|G|=p^2$, its center of a group has order $p$ or $p^2$. In the first case, the quotient group $G/Z(G)$ has prime order and is cyclic. Whenever a central quotient group is cyclic, writing all elements as $g^{i}z$ with $z$ central shows that they commute: $(g^{i}z)(g^{j}w)=g^{i+j}zw=(g^{j}w)(g^{i}z)$. Thus that case would already make $G$ Abelian and its center of a group all of $G$, a contradiction. Hence every group of order $p^2$ is Abelian.

If there is an element of order $p^2$, it is a generator of a group for $G$, giving $C_{p^2}$. Otherwise every nonidentity element has order $p$. Pick $a\ne 1$ and $b\notin ⟨a⟩$. Their cyclic subgroups have trivial intersection, and they commute; the $p^2$ distinct products $a^i{b}^j$ exhaust $G$. Hence the classification of groups of order p squared isBoth groups exist and are nonisomorphic, since only the first has an element of order $p^2$.

The conjugacy class of $x$ is its orbit under the conjugation action, and its stabilizer is the centralizer $C_G(x)$. The orbit-stabilizer theorem givesBy Lagrange's theorem, the order of the centralizer divides $p^n=|G|$, so the index is a power of $p$. A conjugacy class has size one exactly when its element belongs to the center of a group.

Separate these singleton classes in the class equation:where the sum takes one representative of each nonsingleton conjugacy class. Every summand is divisible by $p$. Thus $p\mid |Z(G)|$, and the identity ensures $|Z(G)|>0$. Consequently $|Z(G)|\ge p$. This is the nontrivial center of a finite p-group property.

A soluble group, also called a solvable group, has a terminating derived series:For a subgroup $S\le G$, induction gives $S^{(j)}\le G^{(j)}$, so subgroups of soluble groups are soluble. For a surjective group homomorphism $q:G\to Q$, $q(G^{(j)})=Q^{(j)}$, so quotients of soluble groups are soluble. Finally, in a group extension $1\to K\to E\to Q\to 1$, suppose $K^{(r)}=1$ and $Q^{(s)}=1$. Then $E^{(s)}\le K$ and $E^{(s+r)}=1$. Soluble groups are closed under subgroups, quotients and group extensions.

A virtually soluble group contains a soluble group as a finite-index subgroup. The finite-index facts proved in parts (i)–(iii) imply closure under subgroups and quotients: intersect a finite-index soluble subgroup with the chosen subgroup, or take its image under the quotient map.

For group extensions, no finite-generation hypothesis may be inserted. We first establish the finite-index characteristic soluble subgroup lemma. If $K$ is a virtually soluble group, the kernel of its action on the cosets of a finite-index soluble subgroup is a soluble normal subgroup $K_0$ of finite index. Among soluble normal subgroups containing $K_0$, choose $R$ with maximal $|R/K_0|$, possible because $K/K_0$ is finite. If $S$ is any soluble normal subgroup of $K$, then $RS$ is soluble: it is an extension of $R$ by $S/(R\cap S)$. Maximality forces $S\le R$. Thus $R$ is the unique largest soluble normal subgroup of $K$, making it a characteristic subgroup, and it has finite index.

Now suppose $1\to K\to G\stackrel{\pi }{\to }Q\to 1$ has both $K$ and $Q$ virtually soluble. Replace $G$ by the preimage $G_0$ of a finite-index soluble subgroup of $Q$. The subgroup $R$ just constructed is characteristic in $K$ and therefore normal in $G_0$. In $E=G_0/R$, the subgroup $A=K/R$ is a finite normal subgroup, and $E/A$ is a soluble group. The centralizer $C_E(A)$ has finite index in $E$, since conjugation gives a map $E\to \mathrm{Aut}(A)$ with finite image. Its intersection with $A$ is the center of a group $Z(A)$, an abelian group, while its quotient by $Z(A)$ embeds in the soluble group $E/A$. Thus $C_E(A)$ is a soluble group. Its preimage in $G_0$ is an extension by $R$, so it too is soluble and has finite index in $G$. Virtually soluble groups are closed under group extensions.

For the final example take the restricted direct sum of groupswhere $A_5$ is the nonabelian simple group of even permutations on five letters. Every finite collection of elements lies in a product of finitely many finite factors, so $D$ is a locally finite group and hence a torsion group. It cannot contain a nonabelian free group, which is a torsion-free group.

To show that $D$ is not a virtually soluble group, let $H$ be any finite-index subgroup and let $N\le H$ be the kernel of the finite coset action. Each coordinate $A_5$ maps either injectively or trivially into the finite quotient $D/N$, by Simplicity of the alternating group A5. The nontrivial images of distinct factors commute, and each has trivial centre, so any $k$ of them generate a direct product of groups of order $60^k$. Only finitely many such images can occur in a finite quotient. Therefore $N$, and hence $H$, contains a whole coordinate copy of $A_5$, which is not soluble: its nontrivial commutator subgroup is normal and therefore equals $A_5$. No finite-index subgroup of $D$ is soluble.

False. Any supposed kernel of a group homomorphism of order two would have a nonidentity central element by the introductory proof. Every element of order two in $S_3$ is a transposition, and none is central: conjugating $(ij)$ by a suitable three-cycle gives a different transposition. Thus the center of a group for $S_3$ is trivial, and such a kernel is impossible. This argument does not assume that an arbitrary order-two subgroup is normal.

The identity belongs to the center of a group. If $z,w$ commute with every $g$, then $zw$ does too; rearranging $gz=zg$ also shows that $z^{-1}$ commutes with $g$. Hence $Z(G)$ is a subgroup. Moreover $gz{g}^{-1}=z$ for $z\in Z(G)$, so it is a normal subgroup.

Suppose $|G|=p^n>1$. The conjugation action partitions $G$ into conjugacy classes. The orbit-stabilizer theorem gives class size $[G:C_G(x)]$, where $C_G(x)$ is the centralizer of $x$. By Lagrange's theorem, this size is a power of $p$; it is one exactly when $x$ is central. Thus the class equation has the formIt follows that $p\mid |Z(G)|$. Since the identity is central, $|Z(G)|\ge 1$, and thereforeThis is the nontrivial-centre property of a finite p-group.

Lagrange's theorem states that, for a finite group $G$ and a subgroup $H$,To prove it, define an equivalence relation by $x\sim y$ when $x^{-1}y\in H$. Its classes are the left cosets $xH$, which therefore partition $G$. Left multiplication by $x$ gives a bijection $H\to xH$, so every coset has $|H|$ elements. Counting this partition gives the formula; in particular $|H|$ divides $|G|$. Applying the theorem to the cyclic subgroup generated by an element shows that its order of a group element divides $|G|$.

Write the given order-two normal subgroup as $N=\{1,z\}$. Conjugation must preserve $N$ and cannot send its nonidentity element to the identity, so $gz{g}^{-1}=z$ for all $g\in G$. Thus $z$ is in the center of a group: a normal subgroup of order two is central.

Choose $g\notin N$. By Lagrange's theorem, its order of a group element is $2$, $p$ or $2p$. It cannot have order two: since $z$ is central, the four distinct elements $1,z,g,zg$ would form a subgroup of order four, whereas $4$ does not divide $2p$ for odd $p$. If $g$ has order $2p$, it already generates $G$. Otherwise $g$ has order $p$, commutes with $z$, and $(gz{)}^k=1$ implies $g^k=z^{-k}\in ⟨g⟩\cap N=\{1\}$. Hence both $p$ and $2$ divide $k$, so $gz$ has order $2p$. In either case

Use the class equation for the action of $G$ on itself by conjugation:where the sum runs over noncentral conjugacy classes. By Lagrange's theorem, each noncentral class has size a positive power of $p$ greater than one. Thus $|Z(G)|\equiv |G|\equiv 0(\mathrm{mod}p)$. Since the identity element belongs to the center of a group,For $|G|=p^3$, the possible orders of the center of a group are $p,p^2,p^3$. Order $p^3$ would make $G$ an abelian group. Order $p^2$ would make the quotient group $G/Z(G)$ have prime order and hence be a cyclic group. But a cyclic quotient by the center forces $G$ to be Abelian: if $gZ(G)$ generates the quotient, any two elements are $g^{a}z$ and $g^{b}w$ with $z,w\in Z(G)$, and their products commute. Both larger orders contradict the hypothesis. Consequently

In an irreducible complex group representation $\rho$, every $\rho (z)$ for $z$ in the center of a group commutes with the entire representation. Schur lemma therefore gives $\rho (z)={\lambda }_{z}I$. Faithfulness makes $z\mapsto {\lambda }_z$ an injective homomorphism $Z(G)\to {\mathbb{C}}^{\times }$.

Its image is a finite subgroup. If its order is $m$, Lagrange's theorem for finite groups shows that every element is an $m$th root of unity. These roots form a cyclic group, and every subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic. HenceBoth irreducibility over the algebraically closed field and faithfulness are used: scalar action alone would not embed the centre.

Use the presentation $D_6=⟨r,s:r^3=s^2=1,srs=r^{-1}⟩$. Its subgroup $⟨r⟩$ is the unique subgroup of order $3$, hence is a characteristic subgroup. An automorphism must send $r$ to $r$ or $r^{-1}$ and $s$ to one of the three reflections $r^{j}s$. Thus there are at most six automorphisms.

The center of a group of $D_6$ is trivial, so conjugation embeds $D_6$ as a group of six inner automorphisms. These exhaust the possibilities. Hence every automorphism of $D_6$ is inner.

Fix $\epsilon >0$ and set $d=2/\epsilon$. Suppose, towards a contradiction, thatwhere $\lambda$ will absorb constants depending only on $\epsilon$. Put $n=\lfloor |G{|}^{\epsilon }\rfloor$. Once $\lambda$ is large enough, $n\ge N(d)$, $n<D$, andPart (a) yields $H⊴C<G$ with $[G:C]=O_{\epsilon }(1)$, $H\subseteq S^{\lfloor n/2\rfloor }$, and $C/H$ nilpotent of class $O_{\epsilon }(1)$.

The subgroup core ${\bigcap }_{g\in G}gC{g}^{-1}$ is normal in $G$ and has index at most $[G:C]!$. Since $G$ is a simple group, the core is either $\{1\}$ or $G$. In the first case $|G|\le [G:C]!=O_{\epsilon }(1)$, which is excluded by increasing $\lambda$. Hence the core is $G$, so $C=G$.

Now $H⊴G$. Since $n/2<D$, the ball $S^{\lfloor n/2\rfloor }$ is not all of $G$, so $H\ne G$. Simplicity gives $H=\{1\}$, and therefore $G=C/H$ is a nilpotent group. A nontrivial finite nilpotent group has nontrivial center of a group; simplicity would force that center to be all of $G$, making $G$ Abelian. This contradicts the assumption that $G$ is non-abelian. Consequently

Take $X=S^1\vee S^1$, the wedge of two circles, and label its oriented loops $a$ and $b$. For a fixed $n\ge 3$, letbe permutations of the fibre $\{1,\dots ,n\}$. Construct a labelled graph ${\hat{X}}_n$ with these $n$ vertices, an oriented $a$-edge from $i$ to $\alpha (i)$, and an oriented $b$-edge from $i$ to $\beta (i)$. Map every vertex to the wedge point and each labelled edge homeomorphically onto its corresponding loop. Every vertex has exactly one incoming and one outgoing edge of each label, so this is an $n$-sheeted permutation covering of a wedge of circlesIt is connected because the $n$-cycle $\alpha$ acts transitively on the fibre.

A deck transformation induces a permutation $\gamma$ of the vertices that commutes with both monodromy permutations $\alpha$ and $\beta$. Conversely, such a permutation determines a deck transformation, by the deck transformation group as a monodromy centralizer. The permutations $\alpha$ and $\beta$ generate $S_n$: the conjugates ${\alpha }^j\beta {\alpha }^{-j}$ include the adjacent transpositions, which generate the symmetric group. Hence $\gamma$ centralizes $S_n$ and lies in its center of a group. For $n\ge 3$, the center of $S_n$ is trivial, so $\gamma =1$. A deck transformation fixing one point is the identity by part (a), and therefore

No. The center of a group satisfiesbecause $Z(D_8)=\{1,r^2\}\cong C_2$. This centre is not cyclic. The cyclic-center obstruction to a faithful irreducible representation therefore rules out a faithful irreducible complex representation of $C_2\times D_8$.

A group action of $G$ on $X$ is a map $(g,x)\mapsto gx$ such that $ex=x$ and $(gh)x=g(hx)$. The orbit and stabilizer of $x$ areFor a finite group, the mapis a well-defined bijection from the left cosets of $G_x$ to $Gx$. Each coset has $|G_x|$ elements, so the orbit-stabilizer theorem is

The Cauchy theorem for groups says that if a prime number $p$ divides $|G|$, then $G$ has an element of order $p$. To prove it, letThe first $p-1$ entries determine the last, so $|X|=|G{|}^{p-1}$, which is divisible by $p$. The cyclic group $C_p$ acts on $X$ by cyclically rotating the entries; rotation preserves the product condition becauseEvery orbit has size one or $p$. The fixed points are exactly the tuples $(g,\dots ,g)$ with $g^p=e$. Their number is therefore divisible by $p$. Since the identity gives one fixed point, there is another, and its entry has order $p$.

Now let $|G|=33$. Cauchy's theorem gives a subgroup $H$ of order $11$. Let $H$ act by the conjugation action on the set $\mathcal{X}$ of subgroups of order $11$. It fixes $H$. If it also fixed $K\ne H$, then $H$ would normalize $K$; since $H\cap K=\{e\}$, the product $HK$ would be a subgroup of order $121$, which is impossible. Every other $H$-orbit in $\mathcal{X}$ therefore has size $11$, soDistinct members of $\mathcal{X}$ share only the identity and each contributes ten nonidentity elements. Hence $1+10|\mathcal{X}|\le 33$, forcing $|\mathcal{X}|=1$. Thus $H$ is a normal subgroup.

Conjugation now defines a group homomorphismBecause $H\cong C_{11}$, its automorphism group has order $10$. By the Lagrange theorem, the image has order dividing both $33$ and $10$, so the image is trivial and $H$ lies in the center of $G$. Cauchy's theorem also supplies $x$ of order $3$. If $h$ generates $H$, then $h$ and $x$ commute and $hx$ has order $\mathrm{lcm}(11,3)=33$. Therefore

Schur lemma says that an intertwining linear map between irreducible finite-dimensional complex representations is either zero or an isomorphism. In particular, every endomorphism of an irreducible complex representation is a scalar multiple of the identity.

A continuous representation of a topological group is a continuous homomorphismfor a finite-dimensional complex vector space $V$. It is a unitary representation if $V$ has a positive-definite Hermitian inner product for whichfor every $g\in G$ and $v,w\in V$.

For $G=S^1$, start with any positive-definite Hermitian form and average it using normalized Haar measure:Translation invariance makes this form $S^1$-invariant, and positivity is preserved, proving unitarity. Since $S^1$ is abelian, the operators $\rho (z)$ commute; since they are unitary, they are normal. Simultaneous diagonalization therefore decomposes $V$ into common one-dimensional eigenspaces. Thus every representation of the circle group is a direct sum of one-dimensional representations.

WriteThe group law and inverse areA calculation givesEvery element of the centre $Z$ occurs by taking, for example, $x^{\prime }=y=0$ and $y^{\prime }=1$. Hence the commutator subgroup is exactly $Z$. The image of a one-dimensional representation is abelian, so the one-dimensional representation kills the commutator subgroup and its kernel contains $Z$.

Now let $(\rho ,V)$ be a complex representation of $G/Z_0$. Its restriction to the central subgroupis a representation of the circle group. Decompose it into its distinct weight spaces:Because $Z/Z_0$ is central, every $\rho (g)$ commutes with its action and preserves every common eigenspace. Thus the $V_i$ are $G/Z_0$-subrepresentations, as asserted by the central circle weight-space decomposition.

Let $n_i=\dim V_i$. The mapis a one-dimensional representation of $G/Z_0$; after composition with $G\to G/Z_0$, its kernel contains $Z$. On $z\in Z/Z_0$ its value isso ${\theta }_i^{n_i}=1$. A continuous character of $S^1$ has the form $z\mapsto z^m$; the displayed identity forces $m=0$. Therefore every ${\theta }_i$ is trivial. Since the ${\theta }_i$ were distinct, $d=1$ and ${\theta }_1=1$.

It follows that every finite-dimensional complex representation of $G/Z_0$ kills the entire nontrivial central circle $Z/Z_0$. Its kernel is therefore nontrivial, so no such representation is faithful. This is the real Heisenberg quotient has no faithful finite-dimensional representation.

The equality $x=a^2$ and the relator $[b,x]=1$ show that $x$ commutes with both $a$ and $b$. Since $c=(ab{)}^{-1}$, it also commutes with $c$, and then with $y=b^3$. Hence $x\in Z(G)$. Similarly, $y=b^3$ commutes with $b$ and, by $[a,y]=1$, with $a$; it therefore commutes with $c$ and $x$. Thus

Quotienting by $⟨x,y⟩$ givesA non-elementary Fuchsian group has trivial center: two hyperbolic elements with different pairs of boundary fixed points have only the identity in their common centralizer in ${\mathrm{PSL}}_2(\mathbb{R})$. Therefore the image in the quotient of every element of $Z(G)$ is trivial. It follows that

A group $G$ is two-step nilpotent whenEquivalently, its commutator subgroup is contained in the center of a group of $G$. This allows every word to be collected into powers of generators followed by powers of their pairwise commutators.