Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2013 / Paper 2 / 9 / iii / Solution

Label the triangle vertices $1,2,3$ counterclockwise. Let $R$ rotate by $2\pi /3$ counterclockwise and let $m$ reflect across the line through vertex 1 and the midpoint of the opposite side. The dihedral group has elements $I,R,R^2,m,Rm,R^{2}m$, with $R^3=m^2=I$ and $mRm=R^{-1}$.

The action on vertices identifies them with these permutations, with the rightmost operation applied first:The minimal number of generators is two, and $\{R,m\}$ is one minimal generating set. They produce every displayed element. A one-element generating set would make the group cyclic, but every nonidentity element has order two or three, never six.

The vertex-action map preserves composition, hence is a group homomorphism from $D_3$ to the symmetric group $S_3={\Sigma }_3$. The displayed actions are all six distinct permutations of three vertices, so the map is both injective and surjective. ThereforeThis identification uses the convention $|D_3|=6$, with the subscript counting polygon vertices.