A finitely generated group has only finitely many subgroups of any prescribed index of a subgroup . Every such subgroup is a point stabilizer for a transitive action on points, while a homomorphism from a finitely generated group to the finite symmetric group has only finitely many possible images of the generators.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 4 2 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Apply part (i) with and use multiplicativity of the index of a subgroup along a subgroup chain:Thus the intersection of two finite-index subgroups again has finite index.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 4 2 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 132 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Interpret the printed congruence entrywise in the integer lattice:It then defines the usual level-two principal congruence subgroup of , despite the PDF's ambient . A literal ideal congruence inside would be vacuous because , and would make the asserted conclusion false. The integer-lattice interpretation is essential.
Pass to , which has exactly the same action. Reduction modulo two maps the modular group onto , a group of order six: the reductions of and generate it. Its kernel is , so the index of a subgroup is six. The standard fundamental domain of the modular group has hyperbolic area , and hence the quotient has hyperbolic area .
There are no nonidentity elliptic Möbius transformations in . An integral matrix representing an elliptic Möbius transformation has trace or . Here the trace is even, excluding ; trace zero would give and , impossible. Thus the effective action is a free properly discontinuous group action, and the quotient is a Riemann surface.
A cusp of a modular group is represented by a rational boundary point. Their orbits correspond towhich has elements. They are represented by , or by the three nonzero parity vectors of a primitive numerator-denominator pair. Each width of a cusp is two. A union of six copies of the standard fundamental domain of the modular group gives a fundamental region for this subgroup. Removing small horocycle neighbourhoods of its cusps leaves a compact core. Adding one point at each cusp of a modular group, using the local parameter after moving that cusp to infinity, gives a compact Riemann surface .
For a finite-area hyperbolic surface of genus with cusps, the Gauss-Bonnet theorem gives area . Thus and . A compact genus-zero Riemann surface is the Riemann sphere, by the uniformization theorem. A Möbius transformation sends the three added points to . Restricting it gives
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ib Paper 3 1G Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Write and . The mapis a surjective ring homomorphism: in , the image of is and . Its kernel is exactly . Indeed, both generators lie in the kernel; conversely, if is even, thenand is even. Hence and the index of a subgroup is .
If were a principal ideal, multiplication by would identify its additive lattice with a sublattice of indexThus principality would require . This Diophantine equation has no integer solution: would give , while makes the left side at least . Therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 143 1 a Solution 2026-10-03
The Nielsen–Schreier theorem says that every subgroup of a free group is free. Realize as the fundamental group of the rose , the graph with one vertex and oriented loops. A subgroup of finite index of a subgroup corresponds to a connected -sheeted covering graph . The graph has vertices and unoriented edges. Choosing a spanning tree leavesedges outside the tree, and these freely generate . Thus the Nielsen–Schreier formula is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ib Paper 2 9E Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
A Sylow subgroup of a finite group is a subgroup whose order is the largest power of a prime dividing . The Sylow theorems say that such subgroups exist, that every -subgroup lies in one, that all Sylow -subgroups are conjugate, and that their number divides and obeys .
For the last congruence, let one Sylow -subgroup act by conjugation on the set of all Sylow -subgroups. Every orbit other than a fixed point has size divisible by . If is fixed, then . They are Sylow subgroups of this normalizer, so they are conjugate within ; because every element of fixes under conjugation, this forces . Thus there is exactly one fixed point and .
Now let have index with . The coset action gives a homomorphismIts kernel is a normal subgroup of the simple group . It cannot be all of , since the action is transitive and nontrivial, so it is trivial. This would embed into , contrary to . Hence no such subgroup exists.
Suppose finally that a group of order were simple. The Sylow count satisfiesand simplicity excludes , so . Conjugation on these six subgroups gives a nontrivial homomorphism , which simplicity makes injective. Its image lies in , because the composite with the sign homomorphism must be trivial. It would therefore be a subgroup of of index , contradicting the result just proved. Thus
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 133 2 b Solution Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-03
Let and let generate the other factor of . For ,After abelianization, the image of is thereforeIf is not an eigenvalue of , then . Hence is a full-rank sublattice of with finite index of a subgroup . The displayed quotient, and therefore the image of the factor in , is finite. In fact the abelianization of a semidirect product by the integers gives
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 133 2 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The relation isso is the Klein bottle group. Let it act on byThese are Euclidean isometries and satisfy . Every element has a normal form . The orbit of is discrete, and a rectangle of finite size meets every orbit, so the action is proper and cocompact.