An extension of by is a short exact sequence . It splits if the quotient map has a homomorphic section. Equivalently the embedded has a subgroup complement isomorphic to , and is the corresponding semidirect product.
For and , both and lie outside , so . It follows that , and gives the claimed conjugation identity. Conjugation is an automorphism of , so inversion is an automorphism there. Comparing the image of with the product of the images gives . Therefore is abelian.
Conversely inversion is an automorphism of any abelian group , of order dividing two. Form the semidirect product with multiplicationFor completeness associativity follows because is an automorphism and these automorphisms compose according to addition modulo two; is the identity and inverses follow from this formula. The subgroup is normal with quotient , and every outside element satisfies . Thus the generalized dihedral group supplies the required extension, including when is infinite or has elements of order two.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 1 18G b i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the conjugation relations to move every occurrence of to the right and the commuting generators into order. Every element has a normal formThe nine are distinct because their restrictions to the disjoint three-letter supports determine and . Also : its restriction to the first three letters is a transposition, whereas every restriction from this subgroup is a three-cycle or the identity. Consequently the two cosets and are disjoint and have nine elements each. Thus .
In structural terms, , where the element of order two inverts both coordinates. This is a generalized dihedral group. The normal-form count also proves that the listed relations are a complete presentation, rather than merely some relations holding in the permutation group.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ia Paper 3 8D c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
For , let be the corresponding rotation. The identityshows thatrespects the multiplication of the generalized dihedral group. The decomposition in part (b) makes it bijective. Hence