Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2005 / Paper 2 / 9 / Solution

A group homomorphism preserves multiplication, $\varphi (ab)=\varphi (a)\varphi (b)$. A group isomorphism is a bijective homomorphism. An isomorphism from a group to itself is a group automorphism.

The automorphism group contains the identity map. Composition is associative, and if $\varphi ,\psi$ are automorphisms, $(\varphi \circ \psi )(ab)=\varphi (\psi (a)\psi (b))=(\varphi \circ \psi )(a)(\varphi \circ \psi )(b)$; composition is also bijective. For $u=\varphi (a)$ and $v=\varphi (b)$, ${\varphi }^{-1}(uv)={\varphi }^{-1}(\varphi (ab))=ab={\varphi }^{-1}(u){\varphi }^{-1}(v)$, proving the inverse bijection is a homomorphism. These facts establish all group axioms.

A finite cyclic group is $G=⟨g⟩=\{e,g,\dots ,g^{n-1}\}$ with $g$ of order $n$. The map $g^k\mapsto e^{2\pi ik/n}$ is well defined modulo $n$, bijective onto the roots of unity, and preserves multiplication. It identifies $G$ with the multiplicative group of $n$th roots of unity.

For prime $n$, Lagrange's theorem leaves only subgroup orders one and $n$: there is no nontrivial proper subgroup. The trivial subgroup $\{e\}$ is nevertheless proper when $n>1$, so that qualification is necessary in the printed claim. The characterization of groups with no proper nontrivial subgroups makes the distinction explicit.

For composite $n$, choose a prime divisor $p$ and take $\boxed{H_0=\{e\},H_1=⟨g^p⟩}$, of orders $1$ and $n/p$. They are distinct proper subgroups, with $H_1$ nontrivial. If the question intended two nontrivial proper subgroups, that demand is not always possible: a cyclic group of order $p^2$ has only the one of order $p$. The subgroups and quotients of a cyclic group are controlled by its divisors. The order-one group is a separate trivial case, with no proper subgroups.