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

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 $C_2\times C_2$.