Fall 2006

PM3320 “Abstract Algebra”

Sample Final Exam

Please show all your work, not just the final answer!

Problem # 1

Consider the group C∗ of nonzero complex numbers under multiplication.

Let E4 denote the set of all solutions of the equation z 4 in C∗ .

a) Check that E4 is the normal subgroup of C∗ ;

b) Check that the mapping ϕ : C∗ → C∗ given by ϕ(z) = z 4 is a homomor-
phism of groups;
c) Prove that C∗ /E4 ∼
= C∗ .

Problem # 2

Let  group of all bijections of the set {1, 2, 3, 4},

 G = S4 be the
1 2 3 4
a= an element of G. Do the following:
2 3 4 1

a) Find the conjugacy class cl(a) of a in G;

b) Find the centraliser C(a) of a in G.

Problem # 3

Let R = Z16 be the ring of congruence classes mod 16, G = U16 the multi-
plicative group of those elements in R that are invertible under multiplication.
a) List the elements of G;
b) Determine if G is a cyclic group and indicate all a such that G = (a).
c) List all subgroups of G.

Problem # 4

Let σ = (16379)2 (528934)−1 be a permutation, an element of the symmetric

group S9 .
a) Find the cycle decomposition of σ.
b) Determine the order of σ.
c) Decompose σ as the product of transpositions and determine the parity
of σ.

1
 Problem # 5

Let G = {f i g j | i = 0, 1; j = 0, 1, 2, 3; f 2 = g 4 = e; gf = f g 3 } be the dihedral

group of order 8. Let H = (f g 3 ) be the cyclic subgroup generated by f g 3 .
a) Find the left cosets of H.
b) Find the right cosets of H.

c) Write the definition of a normal subgroup and determine, if H is normal.

Problem # 6
  
a 0 
Let A = a, c, d ∈ R be a subset of the ring M2 (R) of 2-by-2
c d    
a 0 
matrices with real entries, I = a, c ∈ R .
c 0 

a) Check that A is a subring of M2 (R);

b) Prove that I is an ideal of A;
c) Use
the mapping
 ϕ : A → R, R the field of real numbers, given by
a 0
ϕ = d to prove that A/I ∼
= R.
c d

Problem # 7

Let H = {a + bi + cj + dk | a, b, c, d ∈ R} be the ring of real quaternions.

a) Find the quaternion x from the equation (1 + i + j + k)x + 1 + i = k ;
i−k
b) Find the order of q = √
2
in the multiplicative group (H, ·).

Problem # 8

Let R = Z3 [x] be the ring of polynomials with coefficients from the field Z3 ,
p(x) = x2 + x + 2 a polynomial in R, I = {p(x)g(x) | g(x) ∈ R}.
a) Check that p(x) is irreducible in R;

b) Check that I is an ideal of R;

c) List the elements of the quotient ring R/I ;
d) Solve [x + 1]t = [2x + 1] for t in R/I.