Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 151 3 c i Solution 2026-09-28
If , choose with by the Bezout identity. The Lagrange theorem gives for every , so and . Thus is bijective, even though it need not be a homomorphism.
Conversely, if a prime divides both and , the Cauchy theorem for groups gives with . Then , so the power map sends both and the identity to the identity and is not injective. This proves the power-map criterion for a finite group.