Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2019 / ia / Paper 3 / 5D / ii

Cauchy's theorem for finite groups states that if a prime number $p$ divides the order of a finite group $G$, then $G$ contains an element of order $p$.

ConsiderThe first $p-1$ entries determine the last, so $|X|=|G{|}^{p-1}$ is divisible by $p$. The cyclic group $C_p$ acts on $X$ by cyclically shifting the coordinates; the shifted tuple remains in $X$ because $x_2\cdots x_p{x}_1=x_1^{-1}(x_1\cdots x_p)x_1=e$. Every orbit has size one or $p$. The fixed points are exactly $(x,\dots ,x)$ with $x^p=e$. Their number is therefore divisible by $p$. Since the identity is one fixed point, another exists; its order is $p$.

Now let the abelian group $G$ have order $pq$ for distinct primes $p,q$. Cauchy's theorem supplies $x,y$ of orders $p,q$. Their cyclic subgroups intersect trivially, and commutativity shows that $xy$ has order $pq$. Thus $G$ is cyclic andThe corresponding assertion for order $p^2$ is false: $C_{p^2}$ is not isomorphic to $C_p\times C_p$, since the former has an element of order $p^2$ while every nonidentity element of the latter has order $p$.