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 .
Lagrange's theorem states that for a subgroup of a finite group ,
where is the index of a subgroup, the number of its left cosets. In particular, divides .
The cyclic subgroup consists of the distinct elements , where . Every power reduces to one of these by the Euclidean division, and a repetition among them would contradict minimality of . Thus . Applying Lagrange's theorem gives
By Lagrange's theorem, the index of a subgroup is . Thus the set of left cosets has three elements, and the preceding group action yields a group homomorphism after labelling them.
Its image is a subgroup of , so its order divides . By the first isomorphism theorem, also divides . Hence its order divides , giving possibilities and . The action on cosets is transitive: sends to . It cannot be the trivial action on a three-element set, so the image does not have order . Therefore
It follows that . Part (b)(i) gives , and ; equal finite orders force equality. A kernel of a group homomorphism is a normal subgroup, so
This is an instance of the fact that a subgroup of index the smallest prime divisor is normal.
Lagrange's theorem states that if is a subgroup of a finite group , then
where the index of a subgroup is the number of distinct left cosets.
Every lies in , since . By i, distinct left cosets are disjoint, so these sets form a partition of a set . Each has cardinality : the function from to is a bijection, with inverse , by cancellation in a group. Counting the elements in this finite partition of a set gives , proving the theorem.
The complete classification up to group isomorphism is
Here is the trivial group. The prime number cases follow from i. For four elements, an element of order of a group element four generates . If there is none, Lagrange's theorem makes every nonidentity element have order of a group element two. Then iv produces a four-element subgroup, which must be all of , giving the Klein four-group.
For six elements, an element of order of a group element six gives . Suppose there is none. If there were no element of order of a group element three either, all nonidentity elements would have order of a group element two. Part iv would then produce a subgroup of cardinality four, contradicting Lagrange's theorem. Thus choose of order of a group element three. There is also an involution : otherwise the five nonidentity elements could be paired into distinct pairs , impossible for an odd number of elements.
The subgroup has index of a subgroup two, so it is a normal subgroup. Indeed, for , both and are the complement of , and for both equal . Consequently is either or . The first possibility makes commute, and then has order of a group element six: forces , so both and divide . This contradicts our assumption. Therefore
Every element is uniquely or , with , and the relation determines all their products. Sending to and to gives a group isomorphism with the symmetric group . This completes the classification of groups of order at most six.
Of these groups, exactly embed in . Concrete subgroups are
There is no subgroup, since does not divide . There is no subgroup either: the order of a group element in a symmetric group is the least common multiple of the lengths in its disjoint cycle decomposition, and on four letters the only possibilities are .
Every left coset with is also a left coset of in . Moreover equality of two such cosets means the same thing in and in :
Thus the map from the set of left cosets of in to the set of left cosets of in , taking to itself, is injective. Consequently the index of a subgroup satisfies
These are sets of cosets; no normal subgroup assumption is needed.
Quadratic residue Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-18
For an odd prime , a nonzero congruence class is a quadratic residue when for some integer . Here "quadratic residue" excludes zero: zero is a square of a number, but is neither a quadratic residue nor a quadratic nonresidue under this convention. Some treatments include zero among quadratic residues; the distinction matters when counting them or discussing their subgroup.[ref]
Modulo seven, squaring the six nonzero congruence classes gives
Thus the set of quadratic residues is , and the quadratic nonresidues are . In particular, has exactly the two solutions : and . Modulo eleven the quadratic residues are instead . Two is therefore a quadratic residue modulo seven and a quadratic nonresidue modulo eleven: being a quadratic residue depends on the modulus.
Figure 1.
The square map modulo seven and eleven: two inputs in every nonzero square fiber
. Each pair maps to one quadratic residue. The six nonzero inputs modulo seven give three outputs; the ten modulo eleven give five. The zero fiber is the single input zero, and each quadratic nonresidue has an empty fiber. Details.
Why do the square roots come in pairs? If , the prime number divides , so it divides one factor: or . For nonzero these are distinct, because is an odd prime. Every nonempty nonzero fiber of a function of therefore contains exactly two inputs. Pairing the nonzero congruence classes gives exactly quadratic residues and quadratic nonresidues. Including zero gives different squares, with one rather than two square roots for zero.
The quadratic residues form a subgroup of the multiplicative group of a finite field , with index of a subgroup two. Indeed, one is a square, , and ; the inverses exist because the inputs are nonzero in the prime field. Equivalently, the squaring group homomorphism has kernel of a group homomorphism and image of a function . The apparent loss of a sign in squaring becomes a precise division of the nonzero arithmetic into two equal parts.
This structure turns a search for square roots into a yes-or-no test: Euler's criterion detects quadratic residues through modular exponentiation, and the Legendre symbol records the result as a sign. For a general integer modulus, the modular congruence still makes sense, but the two-root count and the prime field argument need not survive. For example, has four solutions ; the Chinese remainder theorem separates the sign choices modulo three and five.
Subgroup Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A subgroup is a subset of a group that is itself a group under the same group operation. It must contain the identity element of and be closed under products and inverse elements. Associativity is inherited from , so it needs no new proof. The whole group and the trivial group are always subgroups. A proper subgroup satisfies .
A useful single-condition test is
To see why it works, choose ; then . Taking gives every inverse element . Applying the test to and then gives . Conversely, every subgroup satisfies the test by closure under products and inverse elements. This also makes the additive version memorable: a nonempty subset of an additive group is a subgroup exactly when it is closed under differences. See McKernan's MIT lecture 2, Proposition 2.3, for the equivalent closure criterion.
For the square dihedral group above, is a cyclic subgroup: products add exponents modulo four, and . The smaller collections and are subgroups of group order two. But is not a subgroup, since lies outside it. A plausible-looking list of symmetries therefore need not constitute a complete collection of reversible operations.
Inside , the even numbers form a subgroup: is an even number. Its two cosets consist of the even numbers and the odd numbers, so its index of a subgroup is two. The parity group homomorphism has as its kernel of a group homomorphism. A subgroup can thus identify exactly which information a composition-preserving map forgets.
Subgroups also describe residual symmetry. In the group action of on the four vertices, the stabilizer subgroup of is : the diagonal reflection fixes that vertex, and the other six motions move it. Requiring a feature to stay fixed still leaves a group, because both composition and reversal preserve that requirement. This is why subgroups are useful for studying a group action one feature at a time.