\section{Groups} \definition{} A \textit{group} $(G, \ast)$ consists of a set $G$ and an operator $\ast$. \\ A group must have the following properties: \\ \begin{enumerate} \item $G$ is closed under $\ast$. In other words, $a, b \in G \implies a \ast b \in G$. \item $\ast$ is associative: $(a \ast b) \ast c = a \ast (b \ast c)$ \item There is an \textit{identity} $e \in G$, so that $a \ast e = a \ast e = a$ for all $a \in G$. \item For any $a \in G$, there exists a $b \in G$ so that $a \ast b = b \ast a = e$. $b$ is called the \textit{inverse} of $a$. \\ This element is written as $-a$ if our operator is addition and $a^{-1}$ otherwise. \end{enumerate} Any pair $(G, \ast)$ that satisfies these properties is a group. \definition{} Note that our definition of a group does \textbf{not} state that $a \ast b = b \ast a$. \\ Many interesting groups do not have this property. \\ Those that do are called \textit{abelian} groups. \problem{} Is $(\mathbb{Z}/5, +)$ a group? \\ Is $(\mathbb{Z}/5, -)$ a group? \\ \hint{$+$ and $-$ refer to our usual definition of modular arithmetic.} \vfill \problem{} $(\mathbb{R}, \times)$ is not a group. \\ Make it one by modifying $\mathbb{R}$. \\ \begin{solution} $(\mathbb{R}, \times)$ is not a group because $0$ has no inverse. \\ The solution is simple: remove the problem. \vspace{3mm} $(\mathbb{R} - \{0\}, \times)$ is a group. \end{solution} \vfill \problem{} What is the smallest group we can create? \begin{solution} Let $(G, \circledcirc)$ be our group, where $G = \{\star\}$ and $\circledcirc$ is defined by the identity $\star \circledcirc \star = \star$ Verifying that the trivial group is a group is trivial. \end{solution} \vfill \problem{} Let $G$ be the set of all bijections $A \to A$. \\ Let $\circ$ be the usual composition operator. \\ Is $(G, \circ)$ a group? \vfill \pagebreak \problem{} Show that if $G$ has four elements, $(G, \ast)$ is abelian. \vfill \problem{} Show that a group has exactly one identity element. \vfill \problem{} Show that each element in a group has exactly one inverse. \vfill \problem{} Show that... \begin{itemize} \item $e^{-1} = 1$ \item $(a^{-1})^{-1} = a$ \end{itemize} \vfill \problem{} Show that $(a^m)^{-1} = (a^{-1})^m$ for all $a \in G$ and $m \in \mathbb{Z}$. \vfill \problem{} Let $(G, \ast)$ be a group and $a, b, c \in G$. Show that... \begin{itemize} \item $a \ast b$ and $a \ast c \implies b = c$ \item $b \ast a$ and $c \ast a \implies b = c$ \end{itemize} What does this mean intuitively? \vfill \pagebreak \problem{} Let $(G, \ast)$ be a finite group (i.e, $G$ has finitely many elements), and let $g \in G$. \\ Show that $\exists~n \in Z^+$ so that $g^n = e$ \\ \hint{$g^n = g \ast g \ast ... \ast g$ $n$ times.} \vspace{2mm} The smallest such $n$ defines the \textit{order} of $g$. \vfill \problem{} What is the order of 5 in $(\mathbb{Z}/25, +)$? \\ What is the order of 2 in $((\mathbb{Z}/17)^\times, \times)$? \\ \vfill \pagebreak \problem{} Let $e, a, b, c$ be counterclockwise rotations of a square by $0, \frac{\pi}{2}, \pi,$ and $\frac{3\pi}{2}$. \\ Create a multiplication table for this group. \vfill \problem{} Let $d, f, g, h$ correspond to reflections of the square along the following axis. \\ Create a multiplication table for this group. \begin{center} \begin{tikzpicture}[scale=2] \draw (0,0) -- (1,0) -- (1,1) -- (0,1) -- (0,0); \draw[gray] (1.25,1.25) -- (-0.25,-0.25) node[below left]{$d$}; \draw[gray] (1.25,-0.25) -- (-0.25,1.25) node[above left]{$f$}; \draw[gray] (0.5,-0.25) -- (0.5,1.25) node[above]{$g$}; \draw[gray] (-0.25, 0.5) -- (1.25,0.5) node[right]{$h$}; \end{tikzpicture} \end{center} \vfill \problem{} Create a multiplication table for all symmetries of a square. \vfill \pagebreak \problem{} Create a multiplication table for all symmetries of a rhombus. \vfill \pagebreak \problem{} Find the order of each element in... \begin{itemize} \item The group of symmetries of a square \item The group of symmetries of a rhombus \end{itemize} \vfill \pagebreak