The document discusses the simplicity of the alternating group A5 and the generalization to An for n ≥ 5. It first proves that A5 is simple by showing that any non-identity normal subgroup H of A5 must contain a 3-cycle, and thus all 3-cycles and eventually all elements of A5. It then proves the simplicity of An for n ≥ 6 by induction, showing that any normal subgroup N either contains the whole group An or is the trivial subgroup.
The document discusses the simplicity of the alternating group A5 and the generalization to An for n ≥ 5. It first proves that A5 is simple by showing that any non-identity normal subgroup H of A5 must contain a 3-cycle, and thus all 3-cycles and eventually all elements of A5. It then proves the simplicity of An for n ≥ 6 by induction, showing that any normal subgroup N either contains the whole group An or is the trivial subgroup.
The document discusses the simplicity of the alternating group A5 and the generalization to An for n ≥ 5. It first proves that A5 is simple by showing that any non-identity normal subgroup H of A5 must contain a 3-cycle, and thus all 3-cycles and eventually all elements of A5. It then proves the simplicity of An for n ≥ 6 by induction, showing that any normal subgroup N either contains the whole group An or is the trivial subgroup.
The document discusses the simplicity of the alternating group A5 and the generalization to An for n ≥ 5. It first proves that A5 is simple by showing that any non-identity normal subgroup H of A5 must contain a 3-cycle, and thus all 3-cycles and eventually all elements of A5. It then proves the simplicity of An for n ≥ 6 by induction, showing that any normal subgroup N either contains the whole group An or is the trivial subgroup.
Simplicity of An Throughout this talk, group will mean finite group.
Recall : G is simple if no non-trivial normal subgroups . (simple does NOT mean easy). Sn Symmetric Group = Symmetric Group on n letters
{ Bijection maps from {1, 2,..., n} {1, 2,..., n}.
Sn n !
An Alternating Group = {even permutations}.
An
is even ( )( )( ).....( )
n! 2
even #
Sn
Example : S3 is not simple since A3
S3
Even perm. An
Note
Odd perm.
Consider S5 . It is known that in S n for any n,
the conjugacy class of an element is the set of all elements of the same cycle structure. Not Group
This table shows the possible cycle structures
of elements of S5 Cycle structure
Not closed
Representative element
number of elements
5-cycle
(12345)
24
4-cycle
(1234)
30
We are interested in the conjugacy classes of A 5 . If x A 5 , then the
3-cycle
(123)
20
conjugacy class of x is
2-cycle
(12)
10
{gxg 1: g A 5 } while the
1-cycle
conjugacy class of x in S5
3-cycle . 2-cycle
(123) (45)
20
is {gxg 1: g S5 } . So, the
2-cycle . 2-cycle
(12) (34)
15
conjugacy class of x in A 5 could conceivably be smaller than its conjugacy class in S5 .
Also recall: A group G is solvable if there exist normal subgroups 1 G0 G1 G2 ......Gn G , such that for i = 1, 2, . . . , n, the quotient group
Gi
Gi 1
is abelian.
The goal of this talk is to proof simplicity of A n (n 5) and conclude
the non-solvability of Sn (n 5).
Which means that there exist non-solvable groups that are not simple. When we talk about simple groups and their role, one could think of them in a similar point of view that the prime numbers basic building blocks of the natural numbers. The existence of simple groups is rare. To convince our self of that, it is suffice to know that among non-abelian groups of order less than 168 there is only one group, which is An . Among non-abelian groups of order less than 1000 there are only 5 groups. Among non-abelian groups of order less than 1000000 there are only 56 groups. As a result for difficulty of find simple groups, mathematicians have developed tools (criterions) to find non-simple groups rather than simple one. It is useful at this moment to take a look to the Classification of the Finite Simple Groups.
The Classification of the Finite Simple Groups
There is no a precise date in which the Classification of the Finite Simple Groups (shortly, the CFSG) began. Despite this, some highlighting facts happened (especially around 1955-1958). However, In February 1981 the classification of finite simple groups was completed. Here is the statement of this theorem Let G be a finite simple group. Then G is isomorphic to one group of the following: (1) A cyclic group of prime order. (2) An alternating group of degree at least five. (3) A twisted Lie-type group. (4) An untwisted Lie-type group (5) A sporadic group.
Cyclic Groups C p
Alternating Groups An (n 5) Simple group of Lie types
26 Sporadic simple groups
Danger Area Groups of huge orders
The important consequence of the CFSG theorem is worth to be mentioned ,the cyclic groups of prime order are the only abelian simple groups and There are no non-abelian simple groups of odd order.
Theorem: The alternating group A5 is simple.
Proof: Suppose {e} H
A 5 . We will prove that H = A5 . Our First goal
is to prove the following:
H must contain a 3-cycle.
Let A 5 . When we write in disjoint cycle notation it is either
a 5-ycle, a 3-cycle or a product of two 2-cycles. (since the other possible cycle types are odd permutations.) Suppose H contains a 5-cycle = (abcde). Since (ace) A 5 and H A 5 we have: (ace) (ace) 1 = (acbed) H But H is a subgroup so (abcde)(acbed) = (adb) H. Now suppose H contains a product of two disjoint transpositions: = (ab)(cd) H. Then (ae)(cd) A5 so (ae)(cd) (ae)(cd) 1 = (be)(cd) H since H A 5 . Thus (ab)(cd)(be)(cd) = (abe) H. Thus H {e} implies H contains a 3-cycle. Now pick a 3-cycle (abc) H. Consider the following two permutations: a b c d x y z s
e a b c d e ' ,
t x y z t s Notice that (abc) 1 ( xyz ) and ' (abc) '1 ( xyz ).
Exactly one of or ' is in A 5 since they differ by a transposition (s t). Thus (xyz) H. But (xyz) was arbitrary so H contains all possible 3-cycles. Finally notice that: (ab)(cd) = (dac)(abd)and (ab)(bc) = (abc): Thus any even permutation can be written as a product of 3-cycles. But all possible 3-cycles are in H, so H must be all of A 5 , and A 5 is simple.
Theorem: If n 5 then An is a simple group. Proof. We prove this by induction on n; the case n = 5 is already done. So, suppose that n 6, and that A n 1 is simple. For each i n, let G i = { An : (i) i}. Then G i is a subgroup of A n isomorphic to A n 1. So, G i is simple by induction. Moreover, if
i A n is any element with i ( j ) i (possible since A n is a transitive subgroup of Sn ), then
G i i G i i 1. Thus, any two of the G i are conjugate in A n . Let N be a normal subgroup of A n . Then N G i = {e} or N G i = G i . If N G i = G i for some i, then in fact N G i = G j for all , since G i is conjugate to G i for each j. So since N is normal, if N contains G i for some i, it contains all of them. But, since n 6, any product of two transpositions is in G i for some i, and any element of A n is a product of such permutations. So, N = A n . On the other hand, if N Gi = {e} for each i, then each element of N fixes no integer. Consequently, if , N with (i) = (i) for some i, then 1 (i ) = i , so 1 N Gi ={e}. This forces . So, distinct elements of N never agree at any integer. Consider some N, and write as a product of disjoint cycles, say = c1...ct with ci an ri -cycle (and r1 r2 .... rt ). if r1 3, say c1 = (i1....ir ). Let = (i3 jk ), with j , k ={i1 ,i2 ,i3}; i2; it is possible to do this since n 6. Let = 1 N. Both and send i1 to i2 but since ( i2 ) = i3 and ( i2 ) = j, a contradiction. So, any N is a product of transpositions. Now suppose = (ij )(kl ).... N. Let = (lpq ) with p, q { f , j , k}, again, this is possible since n 6. Then if = 1 , both and send i to j , but (k ) = l while ( k ) p, a contradiction. So, in this case we must have N = {e}. Thus, we have proven that either N = A n or N = {e}. That is, A n is simple.
