For a generator of a group of order and , the function hides the subgroup of . Each fiber is an affine coset . Measuring the function register gives its normalized coset state. Applying the positive-exponent quantum Fourier transform to both input registers gives amplitude
The finite geometric series vanishes off and equals on that line. Thus each allowed output pair has probability , independently of the coset offset. If , a modular inverse recovers .
Every finitely presented group is the fundamental group of a closed connected smooth oriented four-manifold. Build a compact four-dimensional handle decomposition with one zero-handle, a one-handle for each generator of a group and a two-handle for each relator. Turning the handle decomposition upside down shows that its boundary surjects on the fundamental group. Its double of a manifold has the same fundamental group by the Seifert-van Kampen theorem.
For any group , evaluation at a chosen generator of a group of gives a bijection between group homomorphisms and elements satisfying . A group homomorphism must send to . Conversely, this formula is well-defined because exponents differing by a multiple of give equal powers, and it respects multiplication. The displayed correspondence is a bijection of sets; it is not claimed to be a group isomorphism for a nonabelian target. In a symmetric group, the order of a group element is the least common multiple of its disjoint cycle lengths, making this correspondence easy to enumerate.
A cyclic group has one generator of a group: . An abelian group has for every pair of elements. Powers of one element commute because , so every cyclic group is Abelian. The Klein four-group is Abelian but is not a cyclic group: every nonidentity element has order two, whereas a generator of a group for a four-element cyclic group would have order four.
Fix a generator of a group of . A group homomorphism is determined by because , and the relation forces . Conversely, such a defines : exponents differing by a multiple of give the same value, and addition of exponents verifies the group homomorphism law. Thus the homomorphism from a finite cyclic group correspondence is
For , the order of a permutation is the least common multiple of its disjoint cycle lengths. The condition allows identity, transpositions, two disjoint transpositions, and four-cycles. The sixteen homomorphisms are , with the full list of possible generator images
The remaining eight elements of the symmetric group are three-cycles and do not qualify.
For a nontrivial finite p-group of order with , partition into conjugacy classes. A noncentral class has size , a positive power of larger than one by Lagrange's theorem. The class equation therefore says
The center of a group contains the identity, so , proving its nontriviality. The positive-exponent qualification matters: the one-element group has no nonidentity central element.
If , its center of a group has order or . In the first case, the quotient group has prime order and is cyclic. Whenever a central quotient group is cyclic, writing all elements as with central shows that they commute: . Thus that case would already make Abelian and its center of a group all of , a contradiction. Hence every group of order is Abelian.
If there is an element of order , it is a generator of a group for , giving . Otherwise every nonidentity element has order . Pick and . Their cyclic subgroups have trivial intersection, and they commute; the distinct products exhaust . Hence the classification of groups of order p squared is
Both groups exist and are nonisomorphic, since only the first has an element of order .
First require . A discrete logarithm to a generator of a group of exists only for nonzero ; the printed membership inadvertently also permits zero, for which is undefined. Zero can be rejected before any quantum circuit.
Put and write . Since is a generator of a group of order , the map is a bijection from to the multiplicative group of a finite field. Hence every nonzero has a unique with . Equality of powers of is equality of their exponents modulo , giving
The fiber over is an affine coset of the subgroup , and contains exactly pairs. This identifies the hidden subgroup problem underlying discrete-logarithm Fourier sampling; knowing numerically is not needed to construct the coset state.
The order of a group element is the least positive integer such that , where is the identity element; its order is infinite if no such exists.
Let have finite order . A group homomorphism preserves the group operation and the identity, so
The order of an element divides every positive exponent that gives the identity. Hence
If is a surjective function and has order , choose with . The first result gives , where . The element
then has order , because the order of is .
A group homomorphism is determined by the image of a generator of the cyclic group , and that image must have order dividing . In the symmetric group , the only such elements are the identity and the three-cycles. There are
three-cycles. Therefore the number of homomorphisms is
A group is abelian when for every . It is cyclic when some generator of a group satisfies
If and belong to a cyclic group, then
so every cyclic group is abelian.
The Klein four-group is abelian, but every nonidentity element has order two, so no element generates all four elements. Thus an abelian group need not be cyclic.
The condition on proper subgroups does not force to be abelian. The quaternion group
is nonabelian because whereas . Its proper subgroups are the trivial subgroup, , and the three cyclic subgroups
each of order four. They are all cyclic, so
The Snake lemma associates to a commutative diagram with exact rows an exact sequence
For , apply it degree by degree to the short exact sequence of chain complexes
The resulting connecting maps splice the kernels modulo boundaries into the Mayer--Vietoris sequence
Now let satisfy the stated simplicial pseudomanifold conditions. In an -cycle, cancellation at a common -face determines the coefficient of either incident -simplex from the other, up to the orientation sign. Connectivity through such faces therefore determines every top-simplex coefficient from one integer. If the signs are globally compatible, their oriented sum is a cycle and generates ; if they are inconsistent, that integer must be zero and .
Let be the resulting fundamental class, represented by . Since the intersection has dimension below , split uniquely
into top chains in and . Then
and the Mayer--Vietoris boundary is
It is nonzero exactly when both and contain top-dimensional simplices; if one side contains none, the fundamental cycle already lies in the other side, while if both do, connectedness forces a nonempty interface and its oriented boundary represents a nonzero class.
Finally take , , and
. The preceding boundary
is a nonzero map between copies of and sends the fundamental class to the oriented boundary torus, hence is an isomorphism. Exactness then gives
The next part of the sequence is
Since , it follows that
. The degree-zero sequence makes connected. Therefore