Quotient group ($G/N$)

For a group $G$ and a normal subgroup $N$, the quotient group $G/N$ is the set of cosets $gN$, with operationIts identity element is the coset $N$, and the inverse element of $gN$ is $g^{-1}N$. A quotient group treats all elements within one coset as the same input while retaining a consistent operation on the classes. The normal subgroup condition is what makes this operation independent of which representatives are chosen. ^[ref].

Take the additive group $G=\mathbb{Z}/6\mathbb{Z}$ and $N=\{0,3\}$. Since $G$ is an abelian group, $N$ is a normal subgroup. There are three elements in the quotient group:Adding two copies of $2+N$ gives $4+N=1+N$; adding $1+N$ and $2+N$ gives $3+N=N$. Hence the quotient group has the addition table of $\mathbb{Z}/3\mathbb{Z}$. It does not select one representative and discard the others: its elements are the entire cosets.

This is useful whenever distinctions within a normal subgroup should be ignored. For example, the sign of a permutation retains only even or odd parity of a permutation in $S_3$. Its group kernel is the alternating group $A_3$, and the quotient group $S_3/A_3$ has two elements. The first isomorphism theorem explains why a group homomorphism's image is a quotient group of its domain.

For a normal subgroup $N$ of $G$, projection to the quotient group gives a bijection between subgroups of $G$ containing $N$ and subgroups of $G/N$. The maps are $H\mapsto H/N$ and inverse image under projection. Their two composites are identities because each relevant subgroup is a union of cosets of $N$. They preserve inclusions and normality; consequently a composition series in a quotient lifts to a subnormal chain above $N$ with the same composition factors.

The quotient map of groups sends each group element to its coset modulo a normal subgroup. It is a surjective group homomorphism, with group kernel exactly $N$. In the additive six-element example, it sends $0,3$ to $N$, $1,4$ to $1+N$, and $2,5$ to $2+N$. The quotient map of groups records the identification that produces the new group.

If $N$ is a normal subgroup, changing representatives to $gn$ and $hm$, where $n,m\in N$, givesThe chosen representatives therefore give the same coset. Conversely, suppose the rule defines an operation on left cosets. Since $nN=N$ for $n\in N$, multiplying by $gN$ gives $ngN=gN$, hence $g^{-1}ng\in N$. Applying this inclusion for every $g$ and $g^{-1}$ proves $g^{-1}Ng=N$, so $N$ is a normal subgroup. This makes normality exactly the condition needed to carry group operation to these classes.

Let $N$ be a normal subgroup of $G$, and let $\pi :G\to G/N$ be the quotient map of groups. If a group homomorphism $\phi :G\to H$ has group kernel containing $N$, there is exactly one group homomorphism $\bar{\phi }:G/N\to H$ with $\phi =\bar{\phi }\circ \pi$. Its value is forced: $\bar{\phi }(gN)=\phi (g)$. Every measurement by a group homomorphism that ignores $N$ can thus be performed on the quotient group directly. This is the universal property of the construction.

For a surjection $\theta :G\to H$ with kernel $K$, inverse image and image give inverse order-preserving bijections between subgroups of $H$ and subgroups of $G$ containing $K$. They preserve index. For an arbitrary subgroup $A$, ${\theta }^{-1}(\theta (A))=AK$, so $[H:\theta (A)]=[G:AK]$.

// Target: algebra.bigb

A finite quotient is the image of a group under a surjective group homomorphism to a finite group. A group has no nontrivial finite quotients exactly when every homomorphism from it to a finite group is trivial. This property does not prohibit finite or finite-quotient-bearing subgroups.

An abelian quotient is a quotient group $G/N$ that is an abelian group. It exists only for a normal subgroup $N$, and it is abelian exactly when $N$ contains the commutator subgroup. Thus every abelian quotient factors through the abelianization $G/[G,G]$.