Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2017 / Paper 2 / 8

Direct matrix multiplication gives $P^2=P-I$ and hence $P^3=-I$. It follows thatand $P^6=I$. These six matrices are distinct; consequently no smaller positive power is the identity element. ThusProducts add exponents modulo six and $P^{-1}=P^5$. This verifies the cyclic group structure explicitly.

Observe that $A=-I$, $B^2=I$ and $C=-B$. Thus $A^2=B^2=C^2=I$, while $AB=BA=C$, $AC=CA=B$ and $BC=CB=A$. The multiplication table, with the left factor labeling the row, isIt proves closure of the set. Associativity is inherited from matrix multiplication, $I$ is the identity element, and every element is its own inverse element. Therefore this set is a group. The table is symmetric, so it is an Abelian group; its three nonidentity elements have order two, identifying it as the Klein four-group $C_2\times C_2$.

Let $T$ be the set of torsion elements of the given Abelian group. It contains the identity element, which has order one. If $g,h\in T$ have orders $m,n$, set $\ell =\mathrm{lcm}(m,n)$. Commutativity permits powers of the product to split:Hence $g{h}^{-1}$ has finite order, dividing $\ell$, and lies in $T$. The nonempty set $T$ therefore satisfies the subgroup test and is a subgroup:This is the torsion subgroup. The proof uses commutativity exactly when rearranging the factors in $(g{h}^{-1}{)}^{\ell }$; one cannot use that step in an arbitrary noncommutative group. The subgroup need not itself be a finite set.