Let be the given length-two composition series. Thus and are simple groups. Let be any proper nontrivial normal subgroup of , such as the penultimate term of another composition series.
If , its two factors are already the given ones. Suppose . Since is normal in the simple group , it is either or . The latter would mean , but then would be a proper nontrivial normal subgroup of , impossible. Thus .
Also cannot be contained in , since it would then be a nontrivial normal subgroup of distinct from . The product is a normal subgroup of , strictly containing . Simplicity of therefore forces . The second isomorphism theorem for groups givesIn particular is simple. Every other composition series has such an as its last proper term, and no nontrivial refinement inside a simple is possible. Hence every composition series has length two.
The general Jordan–Hölder theorem states that any two composition series of a finite group have the same length and the same composition factors up to group isomorphism and permutation. The argument above proves both assertions in this length-two case: another series either uses itself or has factors isomorphic to the original pair in the opposite order. No general uniqueness theorem was used to prove this special case.
Factor the group order as . The Sylow theorems say that the number of Sylow subgroups for the prime seven divides and is congruent to one modulo seven. Among , only one qualifies. Thus there is a unique normal subgroup of order .
Every group of prime-square order is Abelian. Indeed its center of a group is nontrivial, and a cyclic quotient by the center of a group forces the whole group to be abelian. Consequently is either or , and in either case it has two composition factors, both .
It remains to consider , of order twelve. Its number of Sylow subgroups for the prime three is either one or four:
- If it is one, the normal order-three subgroup has factor , and the remaining quotient has order four. An order-four group is abelian and has two factors .
- If it is four, these order-three subgroups have disjoint nonidentity elements and account for eight elements. Any Sylow subgroup for the prime two, of order four, must consist of the four remaining elements, since its nonidentity elements have power-of-two orders. It is therefore unique and normal. Its two factors are , and the quotient has order three, giving .
Lift the composition series of to using the subgroup correspondence theorem, and join it to a composition series inside . This givesas the multiset of composition factors. The Jordan–Hölder theorem makes this independent of the chosen series. In particular every group of order is a solvable group, with composition length five; that is a statement about composition length, not necessarily its derived length.
Schreier refinement theorem 2026-10-14
Any two finite subnormal series have refinements with the same successive factors up to ordering and group isomorphism. For descending chains and , insert between and and insert in the other chain. The Zassenhaus butterfly lemma identifies the factor indexed by in the first refinement with the factor indexed by in the second. If both chains are composition series, their simple factors admit no nontrivial refinement, giving the Jordan–Hölder theorem.
Suppose the are pairwise nonisomorphic simple modules. Any submodule of their finite direct sum that projects onto every summand is the entire sum. Induct on . Projection onto the first factors is onto by induction. Its kernel is a submodule of , hence zero or all of . If zero, is isomorphic to the first factors but also has quotient , contradicting their distinct composition factors and the Jordan–Hölder theorem. Therefore the kernel is , proving the assertion. Consequently, if , the map is onto and gives as left modules. The annihilators of these vectors need only be left ideals.