Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2009 / Paper 2 / 9

For a subgroup $H$ of a finite group $G$, distinct left cosets are disjoint and partition $G$. Each coset $gH$ has exactly $|H|$ elements because $h\mapsto gh$ is a bijection. Counting the partition proves Lagrange's theorem:A cyclic group is generated by a single element. In a group of order four, an element of order four generates the whole group, giving $C_4$. Otherwise all three nonidentity elements have order two. Choose two of them $a,b$; cancellation makes $ab=c$ the third. Since $c^{-1}=c$, $(ab{)}^{-1}=b^{-1}{a}^{-1}=ba=ab$. The remaining products then give the Klein four-group. This proves that there are precisely two groups of order four up to isomorphism, distinguished by whether an element of order four exists.

For the square, take $r$ to be counterclockwise rotation by $90^{\circ }$ and $s$ reflection in the horizontal axis. They satisfy $r^4=s^2=e$ and $sr=r^{-1}s$. The dihedral group here is $D_4$ of order eight, with elements $e,r,r^2,r^3,s,rs,r^{2}s,r^{3}s$. Both generators are necessary: one generator would give a cyclic, hence abelian, group, while $r$ and $s$ do not commute. In the following Cayley table, the row acts after the column; the formula $(r^a{s}^b)(r^c{s}^d)=r^{a+(-1{)}^{b}c}{s}^{b+d}$, with exponents reduced modulo four and two, computes every entry.The largest cyclic subgroup is $⟨r⟩=\{e,r,r^2,r^3\}$, of order four. Every reflection has order two and there is no element of order eight. The other subgroups of order four areBoth are Klein four-groups, generated by the commuting involutions $r^2$ and one reflection. For completeness, any order-four subgroup containing $r$ or $r^3$ equals $⟨r⟩$. Otherwise it contains a reflection $f$; the product of two distinct reflections is a nonidentity rotation, which must be $r^2$ if odd powers of $r$ are excluded. This forces the subgroup to be $\{e,r^2,f,r^{2}f\}$, giving exactly the two displayed choices. It is the square case of the classification of subgroups of a dihedral group.