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.
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.
The map between left-coset sets
is well defined and injective: equality of the images is equivalent to , and this element already lies in . These are coset sets, not asserted quotient groups, since need not be normal. Thus the index of a subgroup satisfies
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 to
which 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
Write and . The map
is 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, then
and 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 index
Thus principality would require . This Diophantine equation has no integer solution: would give , while makes the left side at least . Therefore
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 leaves
edges outside the tree, and these freely generate . Thus the Nielsen–Schreier formula is
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 homomorphism
Its 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 satisfies
and 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
Let and let generate the other factor of . For ,
After abelianization, the image of is therefore
If 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
The relation is
so is the Klein bottle group. Let it act on by
These 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.
The square
is a vertical translation, while is a horizontal translation. They commute, and
as an isometry only when . Hence . The normal form shows that every element lies in either or , so this subgroup has index two in .