Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 2 11E b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Since , the number of Sylow subgroups for divides and is modulo , hence is or . In the first case the unique subgroup is a nontrivial proper normal subgroup.
In the second case the subgroups of order have pairwise trivial intersection: two such subgroups sharing a nonidentity element would both be generated by it. They account for nonidentity elements of order . Exactly elements, including the identity, remain. Every Sylow subgroup for has order , and all its elements lie among these remaining elements, by Lagrange's theorem. It must therefore be precisely that set. The Sylow subgroup for is unique and hence normal. In either case is not a simple group.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 1 10E b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
A finite nonabelian simple group cannot be a p-group: a nontrivial finite p-group has nontrivial centre of a group, since its class equation makes every noncentral conjugacy class size divisible by , and hence makes the centre size a positive multiple of . That centre is a normal subgroup, so must be the whole group if is a simple group, making it abelian; an abelian simple group has prime order. Therefore every Sylow subgroup here is nontrivial and proper. It cannot be normal, so .
To obtain a simple group embedding from Sylow conjugation, the conjugation action on Sylow subgroups gives a group homomorphism . This group action is transitive by the Sylow theorems and is nontrivial since . Its kernel of a group homomorphism is a normal subgroup, so the defining property of a simple group makes the kernel of a group homomorphism trivial: is an embedding. Now compose with the sign of a permutation . A nontrivial composite would again be injective because is a simple group, embedding in a group of order two, impossible for a nonabelian group. Thus lies in the alternating group . By Lagrange's theorem,The argument only invokes the factorial formula once ; the impossible case itself is also excluded by the embedding.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 4 2E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the class equation for the action of on itself by conjugation:where the sum runs over noncentral conjugacy classes. By Lagrange's theorem, each noncentral class has size a positive power of greater than one. Thus . Since the identity element belongs to the center of a group,For , the possible orders of the center of a group are . Order would make an abelian group. Order would make the quotient group have prime order and hence be a cyclic group. But a cyclic quotient by the center forces to be Abelian: if generates the quotient, any two elements are and with , and their products commute. Both larger orders contradict the hypothesis. Consequently
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ib Paper 3 1G Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let act by left multiplication on the set of left cosets. This gives a group action homomorphismIts kernelis a normal subgroup of , and the first isomorphism theorem gives . By Lagrange's theorem, divides . The image acts transitively on the cosets, so the orbit-stabilizer theorem shows that divides ; in particular,
Now suppose is nonabelian and simple. Since is proper, the coset action is nontrivial, so . Simplicity gives , and embeds into . Composing with the sign homomorphism givesIts kernel is normal. A nontrivial map would embed the simple group into the abelian group of order two, which is impossible because is nonabelian. The sign is therefore always , so
A finite nonabelian simple group embeds in , where is its number of Sylow subgroups for a prime dividing its order. It is not a p-group by the nontrivial-centre property. Thus its Sylow subgroups are proper and cannot be normal, so . The conjugation action is nontrivial, and its normal kernel of a group homomorphism must therefore be trivial. The sign of this faithful permutation action must be trivial, since a nontrivial sign homomorphism would inject the group into a group of order two. Lagrange's theorem consequently gives .