Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2011 / ia / Paper 3 / 5D / d / Solution

Extend $\sigma \in S_n$ to a permutation $\hat{\sigma }$ of $n+2$ letters that fixes the last two letters. Let $t=(n+1n+2)$, and let $ϵ(\sigma )$ be $0$ or $1$ according as $\sigma$ is even or odd. DefineThe two factors have disjoint supports and commute. Their signs cancel, so $\iota (\sigma )\in A_{n+2}$. Additivity of parity of a permutation modulo two givesThus $\iota$ is a group homomorphism. Its restriction to the first $n$ letters recovers $\sigma$, making it injective. Its image is therefore a subgroup isomorphic to $S_n$:This group embedding works for every positive $n$, including the trivial case $n=1$.