For an oriented smooth surface $S$ with piecewise smooth, consistently oriented boundary, Stokes theorem givesfor a continuously differentiable vector field defined on a neighborhood of $S$. Choose the upward normal vector here. The surface is an annular band of an elliptic paraboloid, parametrized byUsing ${\partial }_{r}r\times {\partial }_{\theta }r$ as the oriented vector area element givesThe sketch below shows the open band, not a capped solid. Its upper circle has radius one and its lower circle radius one third.

Differentiating the given vector field yieldsThe surface integral is thereforeFor the boundary line integral, the upward normal vector induces counterclockwise traversal of the outer circle and clockwise traversal of the inner circle, as viewed from above. On a circle of radius $R$, parametrized counterclockwise, $z$ is constant andSince each fourth power integrates to $3\pi /4$, the two-circle line integral isconfirming Stokes theorem and the Stokes flux through an annular paraboloid. Reversing the chosen orientation changes both integrals to $-40\pi /27$.

Work with $x$ modulo $p-1$ and $u$ modulo $p$. By Fermat's little theorem, $a^{p-1}=1$ in ${\mathbb{F}}_p$, so the factor $a^y$ is independent of the chosen representative of $y$. The proposed multiplication is therefore well defined on the stated Cartesian product. Its two associative bracketings have the same second component:and both have first component $x+y+z$. The identity element is $(0,0)$, and the two-sided inverse element isThus the multiplication defines the twisted cyclic pair group, of order $p(p-1)$.

If $a=1$, multiplication is coordinatewise addition, so the group is abelian. If $a\ne 1$, then $p>2$ and both $(1,0)$ and $(0,1)$ are available; their products in opposite orders are $(1,1)$ and $(1,a)$. They differ. HenceBoth $H$ and $K$ contain the identity element and are closed under the multiplication and inverses: they are the cyclic groups of orders $p-1$ and $p$ respectively. Conjugation gives, with all coordinates reduced in the appropriate modulus,so $K$ is a normal subgroup. For $H$, the corresponding calculation isWhen $a=1$ this lies in $H$. Conversely, for $a\ne 1$, take $x=0$, $u=1$, $y=1$: the second coordinate is $a-1\ne 0$, so $H$ is not normal. Thus $H$ is normal precisely when $a=1$.

Finally, the projectionis a surjective group homomorphism because the first coordinates add. Its kernel of a group homomorphism is exactly $K$. At $p=2$, $a=1$ is the only possibility and the first factor is trivial, consistent with every conclusion. No assumption that $a$ generates the multiplicative group of the finite field is needed.

Use the standard implicit assumption that $p$ is prime, so ${\mathbb{F}}_p$ is a finite field. The matrices in question form $G{L}_2({\mathbb{F}}_p)$, the general linear group over a finite field. Products stay in the set because determinants multiply, the identity has determinant one, andhas entries in the finite field and nonzero determinant. Together with associativity this verifies the group axioms. The multiplication of matrices with column vectors is a group action because $Iv=v$ and $(gh)v=g(hv)$.

Let $C=⟨g⟩$ be the order-$p$ cyclic subgroup. By the orbit-stabilizer theorem, its group orbits on ${\mathbb{F}}_p^2$ have size either one or $p$. If $f$ is the number of fixed vectors, counting all $p^2$ vectors gives $f\equiv p^2\equiv 0(\mathrm{mod}p)$. Since the zero vector is fixed, $f\ge 1$ and hence $f\ge p$. There is a nonzero fixed vector $v$.

Extend $v$ to a basis $(v,w)$. In this basis $g$ has matrix $\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& b\\ 0& d\end{array}\right)$. From $g^p=I$ we get $d^p=1$; in the prime finite field, $d^p=d$, so $d=1$. Since $g$ has order $p>1$, it is not the identity, and $b\ne 0$. Replace $w$ by $b^{-1}w$. Then $g(b^{-1}w)=v+b^{-1}w$, and in the new basisThus all the order-p matrices in GL2 over the prime field form one conjugacy class. This proof also works at $p=2$. Primality is essential to the first assertion: for modulus four, $\mathrm{diag}(2,1)$ has nonzero determinant but no inverse, so the set defined using merely nonzero determinants would not be a group.

Write a member of the special linear group as $g=\left(\begin{array}{cc}a& b\\ c& d\end{array}\right)$ with $ad-bc=1$. Its Möbius transformation is $z\mapsto (az+b)/(cz+d)$, with the usual values at a pole and at infinity. For nonreal $z$,This follows by multiplying numerator and denominator by $c\bar{z}+d$. Thus the sign of the imaginary part is preserved, while the extended real line is preserved as a set.

Fixing zero requires $b=0$. Therefore its stabilizer subgroup and group orbit areTranslations send zero to each finite real point, and $\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& -1\\ 1& 0\end{array}\right)$ sends it to infinity.

For $gi=i$, comparing real and imaginary parts gives $a=d$ and $b=-c$, with $a^2+c^2=1$. Exactly the same conditions follow from $g(-i)=-i$. HenceFor any $x\in \mathbb{R}$ and $y>0$, the upper triangular matrixsends $i$ to $x+iy$ and $-i$ to $x-iy$. Therefore the two group orbits are the open complex upper half-plane and the open lower half-plane respectively. Along with the extended real line they exhaust the Riemann sphere, so there are exactly three orbits, the real determinant-one Möbius orbits.

Every $h\in H$ has the form $\left(\begin{array}{cc}a& b\\ 0& a^{-1}\end{array}\right)$ and acts by $z\mapsto a^{2}z+ab$. Thus $Hi$ is the entire complex upper half-plane, by the same explicit matrices $h_{x,y}$. Given $g\in G$, choose $h\in H$ such that $hi=gi$. Then $k=h^{-1}g$ fixes $i$, so $k\in SO(2)$ and $g=hk$. This proves the triangular-rotation factorization of real determinant-one matrices.

For uniqueness, if $h_1{k}_1=h_2{k}_2$, then $h_2^{-1}{h}_1=k_2{k}_1^{-1}\in H\cap SO(2)$. An upper triangular rotation matrix must have $\sin \theta =0$, soThere are consequently exactly two matrix factorizations, $(h,k)$ and $(-h,-k)$. Restricting the first diagonal entry of $h$ to be positive makes the factorization unique. For example, if $g=\left(\begin{array}{cc}a& b\\ c& d\end{array}\right)$ and $q=\sqrt{c^2+d^2}$, that unique branch isAngles are understood modulo $2\pi$ when counting matrices; allowing unrestricted real angle representatives gives infinitely many labels for those same two factorizations.

A Cartesian second-rank tensor is an isotropic tensor if its components are unchanged under every proper rotation matrix $R$:The Kronecker delta is isotropic because $R_{ik}{R}_{jk}={\delta }_{ij}$, the orthogonality relation $R{R}^T=I$.

No symmetry of $T$ needs to be assumed. A half-turn about the first axis has matrix $\mathrm{diag}(1,-1,-1)$; invariance under it forces $T_{12},T_{13},T_{21},T_{31}$ to vanish. A half-turn about the second axis additionally kills $T_{23}$ and $T_{32}$. Thus $T=\mathrm{diag}(d_1,d_2,d_3)$. Each half-turn is the square of an allowed quarter-turn. A quarter-turn about the third axis interchanges $d_1,d_2$, so they are equal. A quarter-turn about the second axis interchanges $d_1,d_3$, so all three are equal. Consequently the complete family of isotropic second-rank tensors isConversely, every member of this family is invariant because $R(\lambda I)R^T=\lambda I$.

A differential one-form $Pdx+Qdy$ is an exact differential if there is a differentiable function $F$ with $P=F_x$ and $Q=F_y$, so the form equals $dF$. For continuously differentiable $P,Q$, equality of mixed partial derivatives gives the necessary conditionA local differential condition need not by itself give a global potential on a domain with holes; no such issue arises for the explicit primitives here.

For the first form, $P_y=2y=Q_x$ and direct differentiation givesFor the second, $P_y=2y$ but $Q_x=y^2$. These are not equal on any nonempty open subset of the plane, so that form is not an exact differential. Nevertheless,Thus one suitable pair is $f(x,y)=x{e}^y$, $g(y)=y^2{e}^{-y}$. This factorization is smooth even at $y=0$. On regions where $y\ne 0$, its reciprocal factor $e^y/y^2$ is an integrating factor which turns the original form into $df$.

A permutation cycle $(a_1{a}_2\cdots a_p)$ sends $a_1$ to $a_2$, each successive listed point to the next, and $a_p$ to $a_1$, fixing every unlisted point. Its length is $p$. For any permutation $h$,Thus conjugate group elements in the symmetric group have the same cycle length. Conversely, two cycles of the same length are conjugate: send their entries, in cyclic order, to one another and extend this bijection arbitrarily to the unused points. Length-one cycles represent the identity and cause no exception to this conclusion.

An odd-length permutation cycle is an even permutation, since its sign is $(-1{)}^{p-1}$. Let $c,d$ be such cycles on $p+2$ points and choose $h\in S_{p+2}$ with $hc{h}^{-1}=d$. If $h$ is odd, let $t$ be the transposition of the two points unused by the listed cycle $c$. Then $tc=ct$, and $ht$ is even withHence all the $p$-cycles are conjugate within $A_{p+2}$. The two spare letters supply the parity correction; they are the reason the same argument need not work with only one spare letter.

In $A_4$ the answer is no. For example, $(123)$ and $(132)$ are conjugated by the odd transposition $(23)$ in $S_4$. The centralizer of $(123)$ in $S_4$ is exactly its order-three cyclic subgroup: a commuting permutation fixes the unique fixed point $4$ and acts as a power of the cycle on the other three points. All these centralizing elements are even. Every other conjugating element differs from $(23)$ by a centralizing element, so it is also odd. There is no conjugator in $A_4$. Equivalently, the eight three-cycles split into two conjugacy classes of size $12/3=4$, illustrating the alternating conjugacy class splitting criterion.

For a finite group $G$ and a subgroup $H$, Lagrange's theorem statesIn particular $|H|$ divides $|G|$: the left cosets partition $G$, and multiplication by a representative is a bijection from $H$ to each coset. Apply this to the cyclic subgroup $⟨g⟩$. Its size is the order of a group element $g$, so every element order divides $|G|$.

Under the square condition, every group element is its own inverse element. Consequentlyfor all $g,h$. This proves that a group of exponent two is abelian, including the trivial group.

For the fourth-power condition a counterexample to commutativity is the quaternion groupHere $i^2=j^2=k^2=-1$ and $ij=k=-ji$. Thus its six elements outside $\{\pm 1\}$ have order of a group element four, while $1$ and $-1$ have orders one and two. All fourth powers are the identity, yet $ij\ne ji$.