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For the symmetric group $S_3$, take the transpositions $x=(12)$ and $y=(23)$. Products of permutations apply the rightmost factor first. ThenThe last permutation sends $1\mapsto 3$, $3\mapsto 2$, and $2\mapsto 1$: two swaps fail to commute by an entire three-cycle.

Every group commutator has sign of a permutation $+1$, so $S_3^{\prime }\subseteq A_3$, the alternating group of even permutations. Conversely, the displayed group commutator generates $A_3=\{e,(123),(132)\}$. Therefore $S_3^{\prime }=A_3$. The two cosets are the even permutations and the odd permutations, and their multiplication is just multiplication of signs:This is the first isomorphism theorem applied to the sign of a permutation. Once commutativity is forced, all three transpositions become indistinguishable, and both three-cycles become the identity element. The surviving information is exactly whether the permutation is even or odd. Compare the very different center of a group $Z(S_3)=\{e\}$.

Let $G=S_3$, the symmetric group on three letters, and take the normal subgroup $N=A_3=\{e,(123),(132)\}$, the alternating group of even permutations. Its two left cosets areProducts of permutations apply the rightmost factor first. Left multiplication by an even permutation preserves both cosets, while left multiplication by an odd permutation exchanges them. For example,Consequently all six group elements give only two distinct permutations of $\{E,O\}$. Both stabilizer subgroups equal $A_3$, so their intersection, the group kernel, is $A_3$. This is a transitive group action because $(12)$ reaches the other coset, but it is not a faithful group action because $(123)$ fixes both.

The orbit-stabilizer theorem still works perfectly: $6=2\cdot 3$. It counts reachable labels, without asserting that the induced group homomorphism is injective. The quotient group $S_3/A_3\cong C_2$ captures exactly the two visible operations, identity and exchange. This is the same group homomorphism as the sign of a permutation, with $+1$ represented by fixing both labels and $-1$ by exchanging them. Contrast the three-label example in faithful coset action of the symmetric group on three letters.

For a permutation $\sigma \in S_n$, let $P_{\sigma }$ be its permutation matrix, defined by $P_{\sigma }{e}_j=e_{\sigma (j)}$. Define the signature of a permutation by $ϵ(\sigma )=\det P_{\sigma }$. A permutation matrix is orthogonal, so $(\det P_{\sigma }{)}^2=1$ and its permutation sign lies in $\{1,-1\}$. A transposition exchanges two columns of the identity and therefore has determinant $-1$. Every permutation is a product of transpositions, by decomposing each permutation cycle asHence $ϵ(\sigma )=(-1{)}^m$ for any expression as $m$ transpositions; the determinant definition proves that this parity of a permutation is independent of the expression. Equivalently the permutation sign is positive for an even permutation and negative for an odd permutation.

Composition is taken rightmost first. Since $P_{\sigma \tau }{e}_j=e_{\sigma (\tau (j))}=P_{\sigma }{P}_{\tau }{e}_j$, we have $P_{\sigma \tau }=P_{\sigma }{P}_{\tau }$. Multiplicativity of the determinant therefore proves the sign homomorphism identityThe alternating group consists of the even permutations:It contains the identity. If $\sigma ,\tau \in A_n$, their product has permutation sign $1$, and $ϵ({\sigma }^{-1})=ϵ(\sigma {)}^{-1}=1$, so their inverses also belong to $A_n$. This proves it is a subgroup. Finally, for every $g\in S_n$ and $a\in A_n$,Thus $A_n$ is a normal subgroup of $S_n$. This also exhibits directly why a kernel of a group homomorphism is normal.

No such finite group exists. Cayley theorem embeds every finite group $G$ of order $n$ into $S_n$: the left-regular group action sends $g$ to the permutation $x\mapsto gx$, and this is faithful because the image of the identity element is $g$.

To make every image permutation even, let $t=(n+1n+2)$, with support disjoint from the first $n$ letters. For $\sigma \in S_n$, let $e(\sigma )=0$ for an even permutation and $e(\sigma )=1$ for an odd permutation, and setThe sign homomorphism gives $e(\sigma \tau )\equiv e(\sigma )+e(\tau )(\mathrm{mod}2)$, and $t$ commutes with all permutations of the first $n$ letters. Thus $\iota$ is a group homomorphism. It is injective by restriction to those letters, and its sign is $(-1{)}^{e(\sigma )}(-1{)}^{e(\sigma )}=1$. ConsequentlyThis is the alternating-group embedding of a finite group.

Conjugating a cycle merely relabels its entries:Thus conjugate permutations have the same cycle type. Conversely, if $\sigma$ and $\tau$ have the same cycle type, match the entries of each cycle of $\sigma$ bijectively and in cyclic order with those of a cycle of $\tau$ of the same length. Extending these matches to a permutation $g$ gives $g\sigma g^{-1}=\tau$.

Let $C_{S_n}(\sigma )$ be the centralizer of $\sigma$. Its $S_n$-conjugacy class remains one $A_n$-conjugacy class exactly when $C_{S_n}(\sigma )$ contains an odd permutation. Indeed, in that case $C_{A_n}(\sigma )$ has index two in $C_{S_n}(\sigma )$, so the orbit-stabilizer theorem givesIf the centralizer contains only even permutations, the $A_n$ class has half the size and the $S_n$ class splits into two $A_n$ classes.

The even cycle types in $S_5$ areThe classes of the identity, a three-cycle, and a double transposition do not split: their centralizers contain an odd permutation. The centralizer of a five-cycle is its cyclic subgroup of order five, which lies in $A_5$, so that class splits in two. Therefore