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A group representation is a homomorphism $D:G\to \mathrm{GL}(V)$. It is a reducible representation if there is a nonzero proper invariant subspace of $V$ preserved by every $D(g)$, and an irreducible representation otherwise. With $S$ invertible,so changing basis gives another representation. Its character of a representation is $\chi (g)=\mathrm{tr}D(g)$, and cyclicity of the trace gives $\tilde{\chi }(g)=\mathrm{tr}(SD(g)S^{-1})=\chi (g)$.

A conjugacy class consists of $hg{h}^{-1}$ as $h$ varies. Since $(hg{h}^{-1}{)}^k=h{g}^k{h}^{-1}$, a power equals the identity exactly when $g^k$ does. Thus conjugation preserves element order, including infinite order.

For the square, let $r$ be rotation by $\pi /2$ and $s$ reflection in a horizontal symmetry axis. The dihedral group has the eight elementsThe conjugacy classes of a finite dihedral group specialize toThe two central rotations are singletons. Reflection conjugation reverses rotations, while conjugation by $r$ shifts a reflection exponent by two, giving the two reflection classes.

For finite groups over $\mathbb{C}$, character orthogonality and completeness make the irreducible characters a basis of the class functions. The latter space has one independent value per conjugacy class. Hence the square group has five inequivalent irreducible complex representations. The sum of squares of irreducible representation dimensions is eight, forcing four one-dimensional representations and one two-dimensional representation. The four scalar choices $r\mapsto \pm 1$, $s\mapsto \pm 1$ supply the former; the ordinary action on the plane supplies the latter.

The conjugacy class of $g$ is $\{hg{h}^{-1}:h\in G\}$. Rotations commute with one another, while conjugation by a reflection changes $R^j$ to $R^{-j}$. Thus the rotation classes are $\{I\}$, $\{R,R^4\}$ and $\{R^2,R^3\}$.

For reflections,Because multiplication by two permutes the residues modulo five, these conjugates exhaust all five reflections. Consequently the complete class partition isTheir sizes $1+2+2+5=10$ account for every element, as in the conjugacy classes of a finite dihedral group.

A normal subgroup is a union of complete conjugacy classes. The trivial subgroup is normal, and the rotation subgroup is normal because conjugation preserves it; equivalently it has index two. None of the five order-two subgroups is normal, because it contains just one member of the five-element reflection class. Thus the proper normal subgroups are exactly

Rotations commute with one another, while reflection conjugation sends $R^j$ to $R^{-j}$. Thus the rotational conjugacy classes are pairs $\{R^j,R^{-j}\}$, except when the two entries coincide. For reflections, direct use of the relations givesIf $n$ is odd, multiplication by two permutes residues modulo $n$, so all reflections are conjugate. The complete class list isTheir sizes are $1$, then $(n-1)/2$ classes of size two, then one class of size $n$, giving $(n+3)/2$ classes and $2n$ elements in total.

If $n$ is even, the half-turn $R^{n/2}$ is central and forms its own singleton. Conjugation changes a reflection exponent by an even amount or negates it, so it preserves parity and reaches every exponent of that parity. The list isThere are $n/2+3$ classes; their sizes are $1,1$, then $n/2-1$ pairs, then two classes of size $n/2$. Geometrically the two reflection classes correspond to vertex-axis and edge-axis reflections, in either order depending on the choice of $m$. These are the conjugacy classes of a finite dihedral group.