Group action

For a group acting on a ring by ring automorphisms, the elements fixed by every group element form a subring containing $1$. For finite $G$ acting on a commutative ring, each $r$ satisfies the monic orbit equation ${\prod }_{g\in G}(T-g(r))$, whose coefficients are fixed. Thus $R$ is integral over its invariant subring. This uses an orbit product, not division by the group order.

A fraction of invariant elements is fixed by every automorphism. If that fraction is integral over $R^G$, its monic equation also makes it integral over $R$. A normal domain therefore places it in $R$, and fixedness places it in $R^G$. This proves integral closedness of the invariant subring in its own fraction field. The proof works for any group and in every characteristic; no averaging or finiteness of the group is needed for normality.

A transitive group action is primitive if the only blocks are singletons and the whole set; a block has every translate either equal to it or disjoint from it. Orbits of a normal subgroup form blocks. Hence a nontrivial normal subgroup in a faithful primitive action is transitive. Two-transitivity implies primitivity. This normal-subgroup observation is a hypothesis engine for Iwasawa's simplicity lemma.

The symmetric group acts on multivariate polynomials by replacing each variable $x_i$ by $x_{\sigma (i)}$. With $(\sigma \tau )(i)=\sigma (\tau (i))$, substitution gives $\sigma \cdot (\tau \cdot f)=(\sigma \tau )\cdot f$. Thus it is a left group action. A polynomial encoding a combinatorial partition has a group orbit encoding all relabelings and a stabiliser subgroup encoding its label symmetries.

A fixed point of a group action is an element fixed by every group element. The set $A^G=\{a:g\cdot a=a\text{ for all }g\in G\}$ is the categorical limit of the action viewed as a functor from the one-object category associated with $G$ to the Category of sets.

The left regular action of a group on its own underlying set is left multiplication. It is faithful, because an element fixing the identity is itself the identity. For a finite group it gives the permutation representation used in Cayley theorem.

A block system for a group action is a partition of the acted-on set such that every group element permutes its parts. For a transitive action, a nontrivial block system has more than one part and more than one element per part. The full symmetric group preserves no such partition: a transposition exchanging one point in each of two parts breaks it.

A group action on a set $X$ is transitive when every two points lie in the same orbit of a group action, equivalently when for all $x,y\in X$ there is a group element $g$ with $gx=y$.

A regular permutation subgroup acts transitively with trivial point stabilizers. Each ordered pair of points is related by exactly one subgroup element. A finite regular subgroup on $n$ points has order $n$. Normality and characteristicity are additional properties; they do not follow from regularity alone.

An action is sharply $t$-transitive if each ordered $t$-tuple of distinct points is carried to any other by exactly one group element. For finite degree $n\ge t$, its order is $n(n-1)\cdots (n-t+1)$ and each ordered-tuple stabilizer is trivial. Sharp one-transitivity is a regular action. Finite sharp two-transitivity gives a regular kernel of a finite sharply two-transitive group.

In a finite sharply two-transitive group, the identity together with all fixed-point-free elements forms a regular normal subgroup. One proof constructs virtual characters from induced point-stabilizer characters and the augmentation character, proves their norms are one, and realizes this set as an intersection of representation kernels. Conjugation by the point stabilizer is transitive on the kernel's nonidentity elements. This forces the kernel to be elementary abelian, so it is a unique Sylow subgroup and is characteristic. Closure of the fixed-point-free set is a theorem, not something supplied merely by counting its size.

Adjoin a new point $\omega$ fixed by a transitive group $G$. A one-point extension is a transitive group on the enlarged set whose stabilizer of $\omega$ is exactly $G$, acting on the remaining points in the prescribed way. Its order is $(n+1)|G|$ in the finite degree-$n$ case. The double-coset criterion for a one-point extension gives a concrete generator test.

If $x$ interchanges the new point and $\alpha$, put $H=G_{\alpha }$. Then $⟨G,x⟩$ is a one-point extension exactly when $x^2\in H$, $xH{x}^{-1}=H$, and $xgx\in GxG$ for every $g\notin H$. These conditions make $G\cup GxG$ multiplication-closed, hence a group in the finite setting, with new-point stabilizer $G$. Necessity comes from the two double cosets in the extended two-transitive action.

A transitive subgroup $G\le S_p$ for prime $p$ that contains a transposition is $S_p$. Form a graph on the $p$ letters with edges given by all conjugates in $G$ of that transposition. The transitive action permutes connected components, so their common size divides $p$. An edge rules out size one, hence the graph is connected. Its edge transpositions generate $S_p$: successive swaps along a path generate the swap of its endpoint with any chosen start. All these edge transpositions belong to $G$.

A group action on a set is two-transitive when it acts transitively on ordered pairs of distinct points. Equivalently, a point stabilizer acts transitively on the remaining points.

For a group $G$ acting on a set $X$ and a point $x\in X$, the orbit map is $G\to X$, $g\mapsto gx$. Its image is the orbit of a group action of $x$, and its fibres are cosets of the stabilizer subgroup of $x$.

For $G$-sets $X$ and $Y$, a map $f:X\to Y$ is equivariant when $f(gx)=gf(x)$ for every $g\in G$ and $x\in X$.

A group acts on itself and on its subgroups by conjugation: $g\cdot x=gx{g}^{-1}$ and $g\cdot H=gH{g}^{-1}$.

Conjugation by $g$ is the group automorphism $x\mapsto gx{g}^{-1}$. Its orbits are the conjugacy classes.

For a subset $S$ of a group and an element $g$, its conjugate subset isConjugation is a bijection and a group automorphism, so it preserves cardinality and every property expressed using the group operation.

Two group elements $x$ and $y$ are conjugate when $y=gx{g}^{-1}$ for some group element $g$, equivalently when they belong to the same conjugacy class. Conjugate elements have the same order of a group element.

The conjugacy class of $x\in G$ is its orbit under the conjugation action:

If an infinite group has a single nonidentity conjugacy class, it is a torsion-free group. Otherwise every nonidentity element has the same finite order $n$. Powers show $n$ is prime. For $n\ge 3$, choose $xg{x}^{-1}=g^2$; then $x^n=1$ gives $g=g^{2^n}$, impossible by Fermat's little theorem. For $n=2$, the group has exponent two and is abelian, so every conjugacy class is a singleton and the hypothesis would force the group to have only two elements. Infinitude excludes this final case.

A shortest conjugacy representative is a word having the fewest written letters among all words representing elements of a fixed conjugacy class. This minimum equals the least group word length of an element in the class; a longer spelling of that element is not itself a shortest representative. Such a word exists because lengths are nonnegative integers. It is freely and cyclically reduced: free cancellation shortens the same representative, while removing mutually inverse first and last letters shortens a conjugate. Every cyclic rotation has the same minimal length.

A nonempty shortest conjugacy representative is a cyclically reduced word. If $w=sv{s}^{-1}$ with first and last letters inverse, $v$ is a shorter word representing a conjugate. Consequently $w^n$ has length exactly $n|w|$ as a freely reduced word, and any segment of the periodic word of length at most $|w|$ fits in a cyclic rotation of $w$. This observation turns a Dehn shortening segment crossing copy boundaries into a shortening of a conjugacy representative.

If $N⊴G$ has prime index $p$, a conjugacy class of $G$ lying in $N$ splits into one or $p$ conjugacy classes of $N$. Conjugation by $G$ acts transitively on these smaller classes, while $N$ fixes every one. This factors through $G/N$, and the orbit-stabilizer theorem makes the number of classes a divisor of $p$.

For an even permutation $g$, its symmetric group class splits into two equal alternating group classes exactly when its symmetric-group centralizer contains no odd permutation. If an odd commuting element exists, an odd conjugator can be multiplied by it to become even; otherwise the index-two subgroup has two conjugation orbits. In cycle notation the splitting types are precisely distinct odd cycle lengths, counting fixed points as length-one cycles: rotating odd cycles is even, whereas an even cycle or the exchange of two equal odd cycles supplies an odd centralizer element.

For a finite group,where the $x_i$ represent the noncentral conjugacy classes.

For a finite group with trivial centre of a group and a prime divisor $p$ of its order, some nonidentity conjugacy class has size coprime to $p$. Otherwise the class equation would give $|G|\equiv 1(\mathrm{mod}p)$. Primality is essential: in the symmetric group $S_3$, neither nonidentity class size is coprime to the composite divisor $6$.

The centralizer of $x\in G$ is the stabilizer of $x$ under the conjugation action:

Commutation with a fixed-point-free involution preserves its partner relation. A commuting permutation can permute the $m$ pairs and independently swap each pair. This gives the permutation wreath product with order $2^{m}m!$.

A permutation commutes with a transposition exactly when it preserves its two-element support as a set. It may swap those two points and independently permute the remaining points. Thus this centraliser has order $2(n-2)!$.

The normalizer $N_G(H)=\{g\in G:gH{g}^{-1}=H\}$ is the stabilizer of a subgroup $H$ under the conjugation action.

Over the reals or a finite field with more than two elements, the normalizer of all invertible diagonal matrices in $G{L}_2$ consists of monomial matrices and has quotient $C_2$ over that diagonal subgroup. Over ${\mathbb{F}}_p$ its size is $2(p-1{)}^2$ for $p>2$. For $p=2$ the diagonal subgroup is trivial, so its normalizer is all of $G{L}_2({\mathbb{F}}_2)$, of order six.

For a finite group acting on a set and any point $x$,Indeed, $g{G}_x\mapsto gx$ is a well-defined bijection from the left cosets of the stabilizer to the orbit.

For an algebraic group action, the orbit dimension is the dimension of the group minus that of its stabilizer. For a finite-dimensional representation, the stabilizer is an automorphism group, open in its endomorphism ring, so their dimensions agree. In a quiver representation space, the Ringel form turns the orbit codimension into the dimension of the self-extension group.

The full isometry group of a cube has order $48$. Its transitive actions on the $8$ vertices, $12$ edges, and $4$ main diagonals have stabilizers isomorphic respectively toThe action on main diagonals has kernel $\{I,-I\}$.

The full symmetry group of a cube acts transitively and faithfully on its twelve edges. For vertices $(\pm 1,\pm 1,\pm 1)$, its signed permutation matrices act transitively on the edges. The stabilizer subgroup of $\{(1,1,z):-1\le z\le 1\}$ consists of independently swapping $x,y$ and reversing $z$, and is a Klein four-group. The orbit-stabilizer theorem gives order $12\cdot 4=48$. Fixing every edge fixes every vertex, as each vertex is the unique intersection of its three incident edges, so the group action is faithful. The resulting subgroup of $S_{12}$ has index $12!/48$ and is not normal: central inversion has cycle type $2^6$, whose conjugacy class in $S_{12}$ has $12!/(2^{6}6!)=10395>48$ elements.

The symmetry group of a cube splits into its central inversion and its rotational symmetry group of a cube. Inversion has determinant $-1$, the rotation subgroup has determinant $1$, and together they generate the full group with trivial intersection. The rotation subgroup acts faithfully on the four body diagonals and is isomorphic to $S_4$. Consequently the full group is this direct product of groups.

The orientation-preserving symmetries of a cube are the $3\times 3$ signed permutation matrices with determinant one. There are $3!2^2=24$ of them. Their group action on the four body diagonals identifies this group with the symmetric group $S_4$. Indeed choose diagonal directions $(1,1,1),(1,-1,-1),(-1,1,-1),(-1,-1,1)$, whose sum is zero and whose only linear relation has all coefficients equal. A rotation fixing every diagonal sends each direction to itself or its negative; the relation forces all four signs equal. All negative would give $-I$, which has determinant $-1$, so the kernel of a group homomorphism is trivial. Both groups have order 24, giving the identification. Its face permutations have cycle types $1^6$, $1^{2}4$, $1^2{2}^2$, $2^3$ and $3^2$, occurring $1,6,3,6,8$ times respectively.

A group action is faithful when only the identity acts as the identity on every point.

If a group acts transitively on a set of prime size and $N$ is normal, then the $N$-orbits form a $G$-invariant block system of equal size. They are therefore either singletons or the whole set. In a faithful action the singleton case forces $N=1$, so every nontrivial normal subgroup is transitive.

The orbit of $x$ is $Gx=\{gx:g\in G\}$.

For $z=x+iy\in {\mathbb{C}}^3$ satisfying $z^{T}z=1$, the real and imaginary parts obey $|x{|}^2-|y{|}^2=1$ and $x\cdot y=0$. Simultaneous real rotations preserve $r=|y|$. At $r=0$ the group orbit is the unit sphere, with stabilizer subgroup $SO(2)$. At each $r>0$, the normalized pair $(x,y)$ is an oriented two-frame, giving a free transitive SO(3) group action. The group orbit space is $[0,\infty )$, and the whole quadric is diffeomorphic to the tangent bundle of $S^2$. Its varying Hermitian norm prevents it from being a single SU(3) group orbit.

The general linear group over a finite field acting diagonally on projective triples has five orbits of a group action: all equal, three different positions for the repeated coordinate when exactly two are equal, and all distinct. The corresponding representative stabilizer subgroups are upper triangular, diagonal, and scalar matrices. Their orders are $p(p-1{)}^2$, $(p-1{)}^2$, and $p-1$, respectively; the orbit sizes are $p+1$, $p(p+1)$, and $p(p+1)(p-1)$. Transitivity follows from the action being sharply three-transitive on a projective line.

The stabilizer of $x$ is the subgroup $\{g:gx=x\}$.

The symmetric group acts on $k$-element subsets by applying a permutation to every member.

A group acts on the left cosets of a subgroup by left multiplication; its kernel is the core of that subgroup.