Past exam of the algebra course of the University of Oxford / 2010 / B / 5 / a / i / Solution

First establish the two general claims about polycyclic groups. Intersect a subnormal cyclic-factor series $(G_i)$ with $H\le G$. Then $H\cap G_i⊴H\cap G_{i+1}$, and the inclusion induces an injective homomorphismA subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic, so this is a cyclic-factor subnormal series for $H$, after omitting repetitions. This proves subgroups of polycyclic groups are polycyclic.

To prove the generator bound, choose $g_i\in G_i$ whose coset generates $G_i/G_{i-1}$ whenever that factor is nontrivial. Inductively $G_i=⟨G_{i-1},g_i⟩$, so $G=⟨g_1,\dots ,g_n⟩$. This is the generator bound from a cyclic-factor series: at most $n$ generators suffice.

For the first example, take $G=C_2^m$ with its coordinate flagIt has length exactly $m$ and each factor is $C_2$, so all factors are cyclic.