SUBJECT : Algebra

Group Theory

PERMUTATION GROUPS

RAJESH SINGH
Department of Mathematics
University of Delhi, Delhi, India
singh_rajesh999@outlook.com
+91-9716618372

1
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Table of Contents

Chapter:PERMUTATION GROUPS

1. Learning Outcomes
2. Prerequisites
3. Preliminaries
4. Permutation Group
5. Cycle Notation of a Permutation
6. Alternating Groups
7. Solved Problems
8. Summary
9. Exercises
10. References

"𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨, 𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔:
𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃. "

𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨, 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏– 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

 PERMUTATION GROUPS 3

1. Learning Outcome
After reading this chapter, the reader will become well equipped with the concept of
permutation on a given set(particularly on a finite set) and the group (called permutation
group) they form. This chapter introduces the reader to the technique of representing a
given permutation defined on a finite set as a cycle or product of cycles and how they
can be used to derive important properties associated with the permutation like order of
a permutation. Also, here the reader is exposed to one of the most important group,
alternating group, which has great historical significance and serves as example and
counter example to large number of concepts in group theory. A section dedicated to
solved examples is included in order to equip the reader with enough tools to tackle the
problems.

2. Prerequisites
To read this chapter the reader should be well versed with the following topics :
 Groups and standard examples of groups.
 Subgroups
 Order of a group and its element

3. PRELIMINARIES
Though this chapter needs some prerequisites but to make the text self-contained we list
some basic definitions and results that we require to study this chapter.

3.1 Function (Mapping)

A function 𝐹𝐹 from a set 𝐴𝐴 (non-empty) to a set𝐵𝐵 (non-empty) is a rulewhich assigns to

each element𝑎𝑎of 𝐴𝐴a unique element𝑏𝑏 in 𝐵𝐵. The set 𝐴𝐴 is the domain of 𝐹𝐹 and the set 𝐵𝐵 is
co-domain of 𝐹𝐹. If 𝑏𝑏 is assigned to 𝑎𝑎 by 𝐹𝐹, then 𝑏𝑏 is the image of 𝒂𝒂 under 𝑭𝑭and is
denoted by 𝐹𝐹(𝑎𝑎) i.e., 𝑏𝑏 = 𝐹𝐹(𝑎𝑎). The set 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 𝐹𝐹 = 𝐹𝐹(𝐴𝐴) = {𝐹𝐹(𝑎𝑎) ∶ 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐴𝐴} is the range of 𝑭𝑭 or
image of 𝑨𝑨 under 𝑭𝑭. To represent that 𝐹𝐹 is a function from 𝐴𝐴 to 𝐵𝐵, we use 𝐹𝐹: 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐵𝐵.

A function 𝐹𝐹 ∶ 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐵𝐵 is said to be a one-one (injective) function if

𝐹𝐹(𝑎𝑎) = 𝐹𝐹(𝑏𝑏) ⇒ 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑏𝑏 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐴𝐴 .

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A function 𝐹𝐹 ∶ 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐵𝐵 is surjective (onto) function if for each 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐵𝐵 there exists 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐴𝐴 such

that 𝐹𝐹(𝑎𝑎) = 𝑏𝑏 i.e.,

𝐵𝐵 = 𝐹𝐹(𝐵𝐵) = {𝐹𝐹(𝑎𝑎): 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐴𝐴 } .

A function 𝐹𝐹: 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐵𝐵 is said to be a bijective function if it is both one-one and onto

function. Also, on a finite set 𝐴𝐴, a function F ∶ 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐴𝐴 is bijective function iff𝐹𝐹 is injective
iff𝐹𝐹 is surjective.

Let 𝑨𝑨 be a finite set and 𝐅𝐅 ∶ 𝑨𝑨 → 𝑨𝑨 be any function. Then

𝐅𝐅 𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊 𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊 ⟺ 𝐅𝐅 𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊 𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔 .

The composition 𝝍𝝍𝝍𝝍 of two functions 𝜙𝜙 ∶ 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐵𝐵 and 𝜓𝜓 ∶ 𝐵𝐵 → 𝐶𝐶 is a function from 𝐴𝐴 to 𝐶𝐶

such that

𝜓𝜓𝜓𝜓(𝑎𝑎) = 𝜓𝜓�ϕ(a)� ∀ 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐴𝐴.

A function 𝜙𝜙 ∶ 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐵𝐵 is an invertible function if there exists a function 𝜓𝜓 ∶ 𝐵𝐵 → 𝐴𝐴 such

that 𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙 = 𝐼𝐼𝐵𝐵 and 𝜓𝜓𝜓𝜓 = 𝐼𝐼𝐴𝐴 , where 𝐼𝐼𝐴𝐴 ∶ 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐴𝐴 and 𝐼𝐼𝐵𝐵 ∶ 𝐵𝐵 → 𝐵𝐵 are identity functions. The
function 𝜓𝜓, if it exists, is unique and is denoted by 𝜙𝜙 −1 . Also, 𝜙𝜙 is an inverse of 𝜓𝜓 i.e.,
𝜙𝜙 = 𝜓𝜓 −1 .

3.2 Group

Definition 3.2.1A non-empty set𝐺𝐺 together with a binary composition ∗on 𝐺𝐺 is said to
form agroup if following conditions are satisfied:

1. Closure. For any 𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐺𝐺, 𝑎𝑎 ∗ 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐺𝐺

2. Associativity. For any 𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏, 𝑐𝑐 ∈ 𝐺𝐺, 𝑎𝑎 ∗ (𝑏𝑏 ∗ 𝑐𝑐) = (𝑎𝑎 ∗ 𝑏𝑏) ∗ 𝑐𝑐 .
3. Identity. There exists an element 𝑒𝑒 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 such that 𝑎𝑎 ∗ 𝑒𝑒 = 𝑒𝑒 ∗ 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑎𝑎∀𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 .
4. Inverses. For each element 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐺𝐺, there exists 𝑏𝑏 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 such that
𝑎𝑎 ∗ 𝑏𝑏 = 𝑏𝑏 ∗ 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑒𝑒 .

Definition 3.2.2The order of a group 𝑮𝑮 is the cardinality of 𝐺𝐺and is denoted by |𝑮𝑮|. If

𝐺𝐺 is finite then order of group𝐺𝐺is finite otherwise infinite order.

Definition 3.2.3Let 𝐺𝐺 be a group and 𝑔𝑔 ∈ 𝐺𝐺 be any element. The order of 𝒈𝒈, denoted by
|𝑔𝑔|, is the least positive integer (if it exists) 𝑛𝑛 such that 𝑔𝑔𝑛𝑛 = �����
𝑔𝑔. 𝑔𝑔 … 𝑔𝑔 = 𝑒𝑒. If such an
𝑛𝑛 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡

integer does not exist then we say that the element 𝑔𝑔 has infinite order.

Definition 3.2.4 A subset 𝑆𝑆 of a group 𝐺𝐺 is said to be a subgroup of 𝑮𝑮 if 𝑆𝑆 itself forms

a group w.r.t the binary operation of 𝐺𝐺. If 𝑆𝑆 is a subgroup of 𝐺𝐺, then we denote it by
𝑺𝑺 ≤ 𝑮𝑮. Further to indicate that 𝑆𝑆 is a proper subgroup of 𝐺𝐺 (proper in the sense of
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 5

containment), we use 𝑺𝑺 < 𝑮𝑮. The singleton set{𝑒𝑒} of 𝐺𝐺 is trivially a subgroup of 𝐺𝐺 and is
called the trivial subgroup of 𝐺𝐺.

4. Permutation Group

Definition 4.1 A bijective function 𝜙𝜙 ∶ 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐴𝐴 is called a permutation on 𝐴𝐴. The set

𝒢𝒢𝐴𝐴 = {𝜙𝜙 | 𝜙𝜙 ∶ 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐴𝐴 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓}

consisting of all permutations on𝐴𝐴is a group w.r.t the composition of functions and is
called the permutation group on 𝑨𝑨.

To see that 𝒢𝒢𝐴𝐴 is indeed a group w.r.t the composition of functions, observe that

1. If 𝜙𝜙 , 𝜓𝜓 ∈ 𝒢𝒢𝐴𝐴 , then obviously the composition function 𝜙𝜙𝜓𝜓 belong to 𝒢𝒢(𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣).

2. Since the composition is associative, thus for any 𝜙𝜙, 𝜓𝜓, 𝜒𝜒 ∈ 𝒢𝒢𝐴𝐴 ,
𝜙𝜙(𝜓𝜓𝜓𝜓) = (𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙)𝜒𝜒 .
3. The function 𝐼𝐼 ∶ 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐴𝐴 defined as 𝐼𝐼(𝑎𝑎) = 𝑎𝑎 ∀ 𝑎𝑎 ∈ 𝐴𝐴 is clearly a bijective function and
thus 𝐼𝐼 ∈ 𝒢𝒢𝐴𝐴 . Further, for any Φ ∈ 𝒢𝒢𝐴𝐴
𝐼𝐼Φ = 𝐼𝐼 = Φ𝐼𝐼. (𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣)
Thus 𝐼𝐼 is the identity.
4. For eachΦ ∈ 𝒢𝒢𝐴𝐴 , ∃ a bijective function Φ−1 ∶ 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐴𝐴 such that
Φ−1 Φ = 𝐼𝐼 = ΦΦ−1 .
Clearly, Φ−1 ∈ 𝒢𝒢𝐴𝐴 and is the inverse of Φ.

Thus all the four conditions of a group is satisfied, hence 𝒢𝒢𝐴𝐴 is a group w.r.t the
composition of functions.

Thus given any non-empty set 𝐴𝐴, there exists a permutation group given by

𝒢𝒢𝐴𝐴 = {Φ | Φ ∶ 𝐴𝐴 → 𝐴𝐴 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓}.

But from now onwards we will consider only non-empty finite sets and hence will be
dealing with permutation group on a finite set. Further for anyfinite set 𝐴𝐴 of cardinality
𝑛𝑛,a one-to-one correspondence exists between the elements of 𝐴𝐴 and the set {1, 2, 3, … , 𝑛𝑛}.
Thus to study permutation group of finite sets it is enough to study the permutation
groups of the sets {1, 2, 3, … , 𝑛𝑛} for any positive integer 𝑛𝑛.

We denote by 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 , the permutation group on {1, 2, 3, … , 𝑛𝑛} i.e.,

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𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 = {Φ | Φ ∶ {1,2,3, … , 𝑛𝑛} ⟶ {1,2,3, … , 𝑛𝑛} 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 }.

The permutation group 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 is also known as the symmetric group of degree 𝒏𝒏.

{𝑺𝑺𝒏𝒏 | 𝒏𝒏 ∈ ℕ }, the set of all non-isomorphic permutation group on

finite sets i.e., any permutation group on any given finite set is
isomorphic to 𝑺𝑺𝒎𝒎 for some 𝒎𝒎 ∈ ℕ and 𝑺𝑺𝒊𝒊 ≇ 𝑺𝑺𝒋𝒋 whenever 𝒊𝒊 ≠ 𝒋𝒋 , 𝒊𝒊, 𝒋𝒋 ∈ ℕ
.

Further, for any Φ ∈ 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 , we use the following notation to represent Φ :

1 2 3 … 𝑛𝑛
� �.
Φ(1) Φ(2) Φ(3) … Φ(𝑛𝑛)

Thus the permutation 𝛼𝛼 defined on {1,2,3,4} as

𝛼𝛼(1) = 3 𝛼𝛼(2) = 2 𝛼𝛼(3) = 4 𝛼𝛼(4) = 1

can be represented as
1 23 4
𝛼𝛼 = � �.
3 24 1

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
If Φ = � � and Ψ = � � are any two elements in 𝑆𝑆5 , then the
2 3 4 5 1 3 5 2 4 1
composition ΦΨ can be calculated under these representations as follows :

Some authors use circular brackets instead of square brackets to represent a

given permutation i.e., in some books a permutation 𝚽𝚽 is represented as
𝟏𝟏 𝟐𝟐 𝟑𝟑 … 𝒏𝒏
� �.
𝚽𝚽(𝟏𝟏) 𝚽𝚽(𝟐𝟐) 𝚽𝚽(𝟑𝟑) … 𝚽𝚽(𝒏𝒏)

With all these backgrounds we are now in a position to discuss symmetric groups.

Example 4.2 (Symmetric Group 𝑺𝑺𝟑𝟑 )

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𝑆𝑆3 = {Φ | Φ: {1, 2, 3} → {1, 2, 3} 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓. }

𝑆𝑆3 is a group with six elements under composition of functions. Now to see that 𝑆𝑆3 indeed
has 6 elements, observe that any element Φ ∈ 𝑆𝑆3 is of the form

1 2 3
Φ=� �.
Φ(1) Φ(2) Φ(3)

There are 3 possibilities for Φ(1) and once Φ(1) is determined there are 2 choices for Φ(2)
and in the end there is one choice for Φ(3). Thus in total there are 3 × 2 × 1 = 3! = 6 ways
a bijective map can be defined on {1, 2, 3} and hence there are 𝟔𝟔 (= 𝟑𝟑!) elements in
symmetric group 𝑺𝑺𝟑𝟑 . The following are the elements of 𝑆𝑆3 :

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
𝐼𝐼 = � �, 𝛼𝛼 = � �, 𝛼𝛼 2 = � �
1 2 3 2 3 1 3 1 2

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
𝛽𝛽 = � �, 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 = � �, 𝛼𝛼 2 𝛽𝛽 = � �.
1 3 2 2 1 3 3 2 1

1 2 3 1 2 3
Note that 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 = � �≠� � = 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽. Thus the symmetric group 𝑆𝑆3 is non abelian.
2 1 3 3 2 1

Example 4.3[Symmetric group 𝑺𝑺𝒏𝒏 (Generalization of 𝑺𝑺𝟑𝟑 ) ]

𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 = {Φ | Φ: {1, 2, … , 𝑛𝑛} → {1, 2, … , 𝑛𝑛} 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓}.

𝑺𝑺𝒏𝒏 is a permutation group with 𝒏𝒏! elements. Now to see that 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 has exactly 𝑛𝑛!
elements, observe that any element Φ ∈ 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 is of the form:

1 2 … 𝑛𝑛
Φ=� �.
Φ(1) Φ(2) … Φ(𝑛𝑛)

The following table represents the no. of choices for each Φ(𝑖𝑖), in the respective order

Image of Φ Φ(1) Φ(2) ... Φ(𝑛𝑛) Total

No of choices 𝑛𝑛 𝑛𝑛 − 1 ... 1 𝑛𝑛!

Further 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 (𝑛𝑛 ≥ 3) is a non-abelian group. For example the

1 2 34 … 𝑛𝑛 1 2 34 … 𝑛𝑛
permutations𝛼𝛼 = � � and 𝛽𝛽 = � � in 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 (𝑛𝑛 ≥ 3). Then
2 3 14 … 𝑛𝑛 1 3 24 … 𝑛𝑛

1 2 34 … 𝑛𝑛 1 2 34 … 𝑛𝑛
𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 = � �≠� � = 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽.
2 1 34 … 𝑛𝑛 3 2 14 … 𝑛𝑛

For ∈ ℕ , the permutation group 𝑺𝑺𝒏𝒏 has exactly 𝒏𝒏!elements i.e., |𝑺𝑺𝒏𝒏 | = 𝒏𝒏!.
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Example 4.4Consider the dihedral group of order 𝟖𝟖,

𝐷𝐷4 = {𝑅𝑅0 , 𝑅𝑅90 , 𝑅𝑅180 , 𝑅𝑅270 , 𝐻𝐻, 𝑉𝑉, 𝐷𝐷1 , 𝐷𝐷2 }.

Figure 1 depicts the elements of dihedral group both diagrammatically as well as

through permutation.Since 𝐷𝐷4 is in itself a group with respect to composition and 𝐷𝐷4 ⊆ 𝑆𝑆4
under the permutation representation, therefore𝐷𝐷4 is a subgroup of 𝑆𝑆4 . It is worthwhile to
note that 𝐷𝐷4 is generated by{𝑅𝑅90 , 𝐻𝐻} i.e., 𝐷𝐷4 = 〈𝑅𝑅90 , 𝐻𝐻〉. In fact,

𝑅𝑅0 = 𝐻𝐻2 , 𝑅𝑅180 = (𝑅𝑅90 )2 , 𝑅𝑅270 = (𝑅𝑅90 )3 ,

𝑉𝑉 = 𝑅𝑅90 𝐻𝐻𝑅𝑅90 , 𝐷𝐷1 = 𝐻𝐻𝑅𝑅90 , 𝐷𝐷2 = (𝑅𝑅90 )2 𝐻𝐻𝑅𝑅90 .

Figure 1
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 9

5. CYCLE NOTATION OF A PERMUTATION

In addition to the above notation for representing a permutation on a finite set, there is
another notation commonly known as cycle notation of permutation.The French
mathematician Cauchyfirst introduced this notation way back in 1815. Cycle notation
has its own advantage, certain important properties of permutation are readily obtained
using cycle notation.

Definition 5.1A cycle of length 𝑚𝑚 or an 𝑚𝑚-cycle, denoted by (𝑎𝑎1 , 𝑎𝑎2 , 𝑎𝑎3 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 ), is a
permutation on a set 𝑆𝑆 which takes 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 (𝑖𝑖 = 1,2, … , 𝑚𝑚) to 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖+1 with the assumption that
𝑚𝑚 + 1 = 1 and fixes every element of 𝑆𝑆\{𝑎𝑎1 , 𝑎𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 } i.e., takes 𝑎𝑎 to itself whenever
𝑎𝑎 ∉ {𝑎𝑎1 , 𝑎𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 }.
Thus
𝑎𝑎 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑖 (1 ≤ 𝑖𝑖 ≤ 𝑚𝑚)
𝛼𝛼 = (𝑎𝑎1 , 𝑎𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 ) ⇒ 𝛼𝛼(𝑎𝑎) = � 𝑖𝑖+1
𝑎𝑎 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎 ≠ 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑖𝑖
where addition in the indices is addition modulo 𝑚𝑚 .
Now let us take an illustration of how multiplication is done in cycles. Let 𝛼𝛼 = (1,3,5) and
𝛽𝛽 = (2, 5, 6, 1) be two permutation on {1,2,3,4,5,6,7}. Now to calculate 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼, let us first see how
it acts on 1. Now observe that 𝛽𝛽 takes 1 to 2 and then as 2 is not there in 𝛼𝛼, therefore 𝛼𝛼
fixes 2. Thus we have
𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼(1) = 𝛼𝛼�𝛽𝛽(1)� = 𝛼𝛼(2) = 2.
Similarly, we can find other values. The following table describes the action of 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼.
Argument 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Action 1→2→2 2→5→1 3→3→5 4→4→4 5→6→6 6→1→3 7→7→7
Value 2 1 5 4 6 3 7

Now in the next table we describe the action of 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽.

Argument 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Action 1→3→3 2→2→5 3→5→6 4→4→4 5→1→2 6→6→1 7→7→7
Value 3 5 6 4 2 1 7

Note: If there is no ambiguity in distinguishing elements in a given cycle, then generally

we avoid the use of commas i.e., for simplicity we write the cycle (𝑎𝑎1 , 𝑎𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 ) as
(𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎2 … 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 ) (i.e, we avoid the use of commas). Thus if we are working on a symmetric
group 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 with 𝑛𝑛 ≤ 10, then we avoid using commas. But if we are working on a symmetric
group 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 with 𝑛𝑛 ≥ 11, then it is mandatory to use commas because in that case (2,13,7,5)
and (2,1,3,7,5) will have same notation if commas are not used.
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 10

Now having equipped ourselves with multiplication of two cycles, it is easy to see that
the identity permutation is the multiplicative identity. Further, to see inverse of a cycle
under this operation, consider any cycle 𝛼𝛼 = (𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎2 … 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘−1 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 ). Let 𝛽𝛽 = (𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 −1 … 𝑎𝑎2 𝑎𝑎1 ), then it
can be readily shown that 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 = 1. Thus

(𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎2 … 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘−1 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 )−1 = (𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘−1 … 𝑎𝑎2 𝑎𝑎1 ) .

Now again consider the example of cycles 𝛼𝛼 = (1,3,5) and 𝛽𝛽 = (2, 5, 6, 1), clearly,𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 ≠ 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽.
Can we have some condition under which two cycles commute? The next theorem
answer this question.

Theorem 5.2 (Disjoint Cycles Commute)

If 𝛼𝛼 = (𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎2 𝑎𝑎3 … 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 ) and 𝛽𝛽 = (𝑏𝑏1 𝑏𝑏2 𝑏𝑏3 … 𝑏𝑏𝑛𝑛 ) are two cycles having no entries in common, then
𝛼𝛼 and 𝛽𝛽 commutes i.e., 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 = 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽.
Proof: Let 𝛼𝛼 and 𝛽𝛽 be permutations on set 𝑆𝑆 given by
𝑆𝑆 = {𝑎𝑎1 , 𝑎𝑎2 , 𝑎𝑎3 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 , 𝑏𝑏1 , 𝑏𝑏2 , 𝑏𝑏3 , … , 𝑏𝑏𝑛𝑛 , 𝑐𝑐1 , 𝑐𝑐2 , 𝑐𝑐3 , … , 𝑐𝑐𝑘𝑘 }
where 𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑖′ 𝑠𝑠 are elements in 𝑆𝑆 which are left fixed by both 𝛼𝛼 and 𝛽𝛽. Let
𝐴𝐴 = {𝑎𝑎1 , 𝑎𝑎2 , 𝑎𝑎3 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 }, 𝐵𝐵 = {𝑏𝑏1 , 𝑏𝑏2 , 𝑏𝑏3 , … , 𝑏𝑏𝑛𝑛 } and 𝐶𝐶 = {𝑐𝑐1 , 𝑐𝑐2 , 𝑐𝑐3 , … , 𝑐𝑐𝑘𝑘 }. By definition, 𝛼𝛼 fixes every
element of 𝐵𝐵 ∪ 𝐶𝐶 and 𝛽𝛽 fixes every element of 𝐴𝐴 ∪ 𝐶𝐶. Also, 𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥) ∈ 𝐴𝐴 for all 𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝐴𝐴and
𝛽𝛽(𝑦𝑦) ∈ 𝐵𝐵 for all 𝑦𝑦 ∈ 𝐵𝐵.

Now to show that 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 = 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽, consider any element𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝑆𝑆. Then we have three possibilities:
Case I𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝐴𝐴
Then
𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥) = 𝛼𝛼�𝛽𝛽(𝑥𝑥)�
= 𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥)[ 𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝐴𝐴 ⇒ 𝛽𝛽(𝑥𝑥) = 𝑥𝑥 ( 𝛽𝛽 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝐴𝐴)]
= 𝛽𝛽�𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥)�� 𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝐴𝐴 ⇒ 𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥) ∈ 𝐴𝐴 ⇒ 𝛽𝛽�𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥)� = 𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥)�
= 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽(𝑥𝑥).
Case II𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝐵𝐵
Then
𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽(𝑥𝑥) = 𝛽𝛽�𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥)�
= 𝛽𝛽(𝑥𝑥)[ 𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝐵𝐵 ⇒ 𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥) = 𝑥𝑥 ( 𝛼𝛼 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝐵𝐵)]
= 𝛼𝛼�𝛽𝛽(𝑥𝑥)�� 𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝐵𝐵 ⇒ 𝛽𝛽(𝑥𝑥) ∈ 𝐵𝐵 ⇒ 𝛼𝛼�𝛽𝛽(𝑥𝑥)� = 𝛽𝛽(𝑥𝑥)�
= 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥).
Case III𝑥𝑥 ∈ 𝐶𝐶
Then 𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥) = 𝑥𝑥 = 𝛽𝛽(𝑥𝑥) and hence we have
𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥) = 𝛼𝛼�𝛽𝛽(𝑥𝑥)� = 𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥) = 𝑥𝑥 = 𝛽𝛽(𝑥𝑥) = 𝛽𝛽�𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥)� = 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽(𝑥𝑥).
Thus 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 and 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽 agrees on every element of 𝑆𝑆, whence 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 = 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽. Hence the two
permutations 𝛼𝛼 and 𝛽𝛽 commutes. █
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 11

In the next theorem we give order of a cycle which we will be using later to find the
order of a given permutation.

Theorem 5.3(𝑶𝑶𝑶𝑶𝑶𝑶𝑶𝑶𝑶𝑶 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝒂𝒂 𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪)A cycle of length 𝑛𝑛 has order 𝑛𝑛.

Proof: Let 𝛼𝛼 = (𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎2 … 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 ) be a cycle of length 𝑛𝑛 defined on set 𝑆𝑆. For any 𝑖𝑖 (1 ≤ 𝑖𝑖 ≤ 𝑛𝑛) and
any 𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℕ,
𝛼𝛼 𝑘𝑘 (𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 ) = 𝛼𝛼 𝑘𝑘−1 �𝛼𝛼(𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 )�
= 𝛼𝛼 𝑘𝑘−1 (𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖+1 )
= 𝛼𝛼 𝑘𝑘−2 �𝛼𝛼(𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖+1 )�
= 𝛼𝛼 𝑘𝑘−2 (𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖+2 )
⋮
= 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖+𝑘𝑘
(with the assumption that 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 = 𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑛𝑛) for all 𝑘𝑘).
It follows that𝛼𝛼 𝑘𝑘 (𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 ) = 𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 if and only if 𝑘𝑘 is a multiple of 𝑛𝑛. Hence𝑛𝑛 is the smallest
positiveinteger such that 𝛼𝛼 𝑛𝑛 fixes every member of 𝐴𝐴 = {𝑎𝑎1 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 }. Also, since 𝛼𝛼 fixes
every element of 𝑆𝑆 − 𝐴𝐴, therefore 𝛼𝛼 𝑛𝑛 fixes every element of 𝑆𝑆 − 𝐴𝐴. Thus 𝑛𝑛 is the
smallestpositive integer such that 𝛼𝛼 𝑛𝑛 fixes every element of 𝑆𝑆 i.e., 𝛼𝛼 𝑛𝑛 = 𝐼𝐼𝑆𝑆 . Consequently,
|𝛼𝛼| = 𝑛𝑛 and the theorem follows.
█

Now having defined a cycle, given the formula for the order of a cycle andintroduced
multiplication between two cycles, the next natural question that comes to our mind is
how to apply these ? In other words, if we have been given a permutation in array form,
how we can represent it in the cycle form ? Is it always possible to do so ? We will have
answer to these questions shortly.
Before answering these questions let us consider a permutation given in array form
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
𝛼𝛼 = � �.
2 1 5 3 6 4 7
Observe that here 1 → 2 → 1 , 3→ 5 → 6 → 4 → 3, 7 → 7.

One can easily verify that we can write 𝛼𝛼 as follows :

𝛼𝛼 = (12)(3564)(7)
Thus we are able to express the given permutation 𝛼𝛼into product of cycles (disjoint). Can
we express every permutation defined on a finite set into cycles or product of cycles?
Indeed in the next theorem we prove that every permutation is either a cycle or is
expressible as a product of disjoint cycles. The technique used in the proving the
theorem is implicit in the way we decomposed the permutation 𝛼𝛼 in above example.
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 12

Theorem 5.4(Product of Disjoint Cycles)

Any permutation on a finite set is either a cycle or is expressible as a product of disjoint
cycles.
Proof: Let𝑆𝑆 be any finite and𝛼𝛼 be any permutation on 𝑆𝑆. Consider any element 𝑥𝑥1 ∈ 𝑆𝑆,
then 𝑎𝑎1 = 𝑥𝑥1 , 𝑎𝑎2 = 𝛼𝛼(𝑥𝑥1 ), 𝑎𝑎3 = 𝛼𝛼 2 (𝑥𝑥1 ), … are elements of 𝑆𝑆. Since 𝑆𝑆 is finite and {𝑎𝑎1 , 𝑎𝑎2 , … } ⊆ 𝑆𝑆,
therefore we can choose the least positive integer𝑚𝑚1 such that 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 1 +1 = 𝑎𝑎1 . If 𝑆𝑆 =
�𝑎𝑎1 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 1 �, then 𝛼𝛼 = �𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎2 … 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 1 � and we are through.

Otherwise we choose any element 𝑥𝑥2 ∈ 𝑆𝑆\�𝑎𝑎1 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 1 � and as before we can show the
existence of a least positive integer 𝑚𝑚2 such that 𝑏𝑏𝑚𝑚 2 +1 = 𝑏𝑏1 , where 𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑖 = 𝛼𝛼 𝑖𝑖−1 (𝑥𝑥2 ). Further
𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑖 ≠ 𝑎𝑎𝑗𝑗 for any 𝑖𝑖, 𝑗𝑗. For if, 𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑖 = 𝑎𝑎𝑗𝑗 for some𝑖𝑖, 𝑗𝑗, then
𝛼𝛼 𝑖𝑖−1 (𝑏𝑏) = 𝛼𝛼 𝑗𝑗 −1 (𝑎𝑎)
⇒ 𝑏𝑏 = 𝛼𝛼 𝑗𝑗 −𝑖𝑖 (𝑎𝑎) ∈ �𝑎𝑎1 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 1 �
which contradicts the choice of 𝑏𝑏. Hence 𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑖 ≠ 𝑎𝑎𝑗𝑗 for any 𝑖𝑖, 𝑗𝑗. Again, if
𝑆𝑆 = �𝑎𝑎1 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 1 , 𝑏𝑏1 , 𝑏𝑏2 , … , 𝑏𝑏𝑚𝑚 2 �,
then 𝛼𝛼 = �𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎2 … 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 1 ��𝑏𝑏1 𝑏𝑏2 … 𝑏𝑏𝑚𝑚 2 �and we are done.
Otherwise, proceeding inductively after finite number of steps say 𝑘𝑘 (since 𝑆𝑆 is finite) we
get
𝑆𝑆 = �𝑎𝑎1 , 𝑎𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 1 , 𝑏𝑏1 , 𝑏𝑏2 , … , 𝑏𝑏𝑚𝑚 2 , … … , 𝑐𝑐1 , 𝑐𝑐2 , … , 𝑐𝑐𝑚𝑚 𝑘𝑘 � 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎

𝛼𝛼 = �𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎2 … 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 1 ��𝑏𝑏1 𝑏𝑏2 … 𝑏𝑏𝑚𝑚 2 � … … �𝑐𝑐1 𝑐𝑐2 … 𝑐𝑐𝑚𝑚 𝑘𝑘 �

where the cycles are disjoint. Hence the theorem. █

We earlier mentioned that expressing permutations into cycles have many advantages.
One such advantage is that we can easily calculate the order of a given permutation by
looking at its cycle decomposition. This indeed is an enormous advantage, as it really
gives us a lot of depth into the study of permutations.

Theorem 5.5 (Order of a Permutation on a finite set)

The order of a permutation defined on a finite set is the least common multiple of the
lengths of the cycles in a decomposition of permutation into product of disjoint cycles.
Proof: Let 𝛼𝛼 be any permutation on any finite set 𝑆𝑆 and 𝛼𝛼 = 𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 be decomposition
of 𝛼𝛼 into product of disjoint cycles, where 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 is a cycle of length 𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑖 .
Claim:|𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 | = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚 (𝑚𝑚1 , 𝑚𝑚2 , … , 𝑚𝑚𝑛𝑛 )
We shall prove the claim using induction on 𝑛𝑛. For𝑛𝑛 = 1, 𝛼𝛼 = 𝛼𝛼1 and hence by Theorem 5.3
|𝛼𝛼1 | = 𝑚𝑚1 . Suppose the claim holds for 𝑛𝑛 = 𝑘𝑘 i.e., |𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 | = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚 (𝑚𝑚1 , 𝑚𝑚2 , … , 𝑚𝑚𝑘𝑘 ). We need
to show that |𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 | = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚 (𝑚𝑚1 , 𝑚𝑚2 , … , 𝑚𝑚𝑘𝑘 , 𝑚𝑚𝑘𝑘+1 ). Let 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚 (𝑚𝑚1 , 𝑚𝑚2 , … , 𝑚𝑚𝑘𝑘 ) = 𝑝𝑝,
𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚 (𝑚𝑚1 , 𝑚𝑚2 , … , 𝑚𝑚𝑘𝑘+1 ) = 𝑞𝑞 and |𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 | = 𝑟𝑟.
Now since 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 commutes with each 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 (1 ≤ 𝑖𝑖 ≤ 𝑘𝑘), therefore 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 commutes with
𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 . Thus
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 13

𝐼𝐼𝑆𝑆 = {𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 }𝑟𝑟

= {𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 }𝑟𝑟 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 𝑟𝑟 [∵ {𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎}𝑟𝑟 = 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 𝑏𝑏 𝑟𝑟 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐]
⇒ {𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 }𝑟𝑟 = 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 −𝑟𝑟 .
Let 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 = �𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎2 … 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 𝑘𝑘 +1 �. Then for each 𝑖𝑖 (1 ≤ 𝑖𝑖 ≤ 𝑘𝑘) and each 𝑗𝑗 (1 ≤ 𝑗𝑗 ≤ 𝑚𝑚𝑘𝑘+1 ), 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 fixes 𝑎𝑎𝑗𝑗 .
Hence for each 𝑗𝑗 (1 ≤ 𝑗𝑗 ≤ 𝑚𝑚𝑘𝑘+1 ), 𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 fixes 𝑎𝑎𝑗𝑗 and consequently, {𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 }𝑟𝑟 fixes 𝑎𝑎𝑗𝑗 .
Thus 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 −𝑟𝑟 fixes 𝑎𝑎𝑗𝑗 for each 𝑗𝑗 (1 ≤ 𝑗𝑗 ≤ 𝑚𝑚𝑘𝑘+1 ). Also, since 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 fixes every element of 𝑆𝑆
which is not in 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 , therefore 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 −𝑟𝑟 fixes every element of 𝑆𝑆 which is not in 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 . Hence
𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 −𝑟𝑟 fixes every element in 𝑆𝑆 and therefore
{𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 }𝑟𝑟 = 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 −𝑟𝑟 = 𝐼𝐼𝑆𝑆 .
It follows that |𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 | divides 𝑟𝑟 and |𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 | divides 𝑟𝑟 i.e., 𝑝𝑝 | 𝑟𝑟 and 𝑚𝑚𝑘𝑘+1 | 𝑟𝑟, which further
implies that 𝑞𝑞 | 𝑟𝑟. Now consider
{𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 }𝑞𝑞 = {𝛼𝛼1 }𝑞𝑞 {𝛼𝛼2 }𝑞𝑞 … {𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 }𝑞𝑞
= 𝐼𝐼𝑆𝑆 𝐼𝐼𝑆𝑆 … 𝐼𝐼𝑆𝑆 = 𝐼𝐼𝑆𝑆 [|𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 | = 𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑖 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑞𝑞]
Thus |𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 | = 𝑟𝑟 divides 𝑞𝑞 and therefore it follows that 𝑞𝑞 = 𝑟𝑟. Hence by induction
our claim holds i.e., |𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 | = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚 (𝑚𝑚1 , 𝑚𝑚2 , … , 𝑚𝑚𝑛𝑛 ).

Alternate Proof of theClaim:|𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 | = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚 (𝑚𝑚1 , 𝑚𝑚2 , … , 𝑚𝑚𝑛𝑛 ) = 𝑞𝑞 (𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠)
Consider,
{𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 }𝑞𝑞 = {𝛼𝛼1 }𝑞𝑞 {𝛼𝛼2 }𝑞𝑞 … {𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘+1 }𝑞𝑞 [∵ 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖′ 𝑠𝑠 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤ℎ 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒ℎ 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒]
= 𝐼𝐼𝑆𝑆 𝐼𝐼𝑆𝑆 … 𝐼𝐼𝑆𝑆 = 𝐼𝐼𝑆𝑆 [∵ |𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 | 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑞𝑞]
⇒ |𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 | 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑞𝑞 .
Now let |𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 | = 𝑡𝑡, then
𝐼𝐼𝑠𝑠 = (𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 )𝑡𝑡 = (𝛼𝛼1 )𝑡𝑡 (𝛼𝛼2 )𝑡𝑡 … (𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 )𝑡𝑡
We will show that (𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 )𝑡𝑡 = 𝐼𝐼𝑠𝑠 for each 𝑖𝑖 ∈ {1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛}. Suppose on the contrary, there exists
𝑘𝑘 ∈ {1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛} such that (𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 )𝑡𝑡 ≠ 𝐼𝐼𝑠𝑠 . Then ∃ 𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏 (𝑎𝑎 ≠ 𝑏𝑏) ∈ 𝑆𝑆 such that
(𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 )𝑡𝑡 (𝑎𝑎) = 𝑏𝑏
⇒ 𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 (𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 )𝑡𝑡 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘
𝑡𝑡
⇒ 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑎 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 𝑏𝑏 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝛼𝛼𝑗𝑗 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 �𝛼𝛼𝑗𝑗 � , 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒ℎ 𝑗𝑗 ≠ 𝑘𝑘
𝑡𝑡 𝑡𝑡
⇒ �𝛼𝛼𝑗𝑗 � (𝑎𝑎) = 𝑎𝑎 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 �𝛼𝛼𝑗𝑗 � (𝑏𝑏) = 𝑏𝑏 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒ℎ 𝑗𝑗 ≠ 𝑘𝑘
⇒ (𝛼𝛼1 )𝑡𝑡 (𝛼𝛼2 )𝑡𝑡 … (𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 )𝑡𝑡 (𝑎𝑎) = 𝑏𝑏
contradicting the fact that 𝐼𝐼𝑠𝑠 = (𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 )𝑡𝑡 = (𝛼𝛼1 )𝑡𝑡 (𝛼𝛼2 )𝑡𝑡 … (𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 )𝑡𝑡 . Thus (𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 )𝑡𝑡 = 𝐼𝐼𝑠𝑠 for each
𝑖𝑖 ∈ {1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛}, which further implies that
𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑖 = |𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 | 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑡𝑡 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒ℎ 𝑖𝑖 ∈ {1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛}
⇒ 𝑞𝑞 = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚 (𝑚𝑚1 , 𝑚𝑚2 , … , 𝑚𝑚𝑛𝑛 ) 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑡𝑡 = |𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 |
⇒ |𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 | = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚 (𝑚𝑚1 , 𝑚𝑚2 , … , 𝑚𝑚𝑛𝑛 ) . ■

If 𝚽𝚽 = 𝜶𝜶𝟏𝟏 𝜶𝜶𝟐𝟐 … 𝜶𝜶𝒏𝒏 is any permutation and 𝜶𝜶′𝒊𝒊 𝒔𝒔 are mutually disjoint cycles, then
|𝚽𝚽| = 𝒍𝒍. 𝒄𝒄. 𝒎𝒎 {|𝜶𝜶𝟏𝟏 |, |𝜶𝜶𝟐𝟐 |, … , |𝜶𝜶𝒏𝒏 |}
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 14

Thus given a permutation we can decompose it into disjoint cycles and then can easily
obtain its order. Having seen that every permutation can be decomposed into cycles, can
we put some restriction on the length of cycles in the decomposition. Indeed we can, in
fact we shall show that every permutation is expressible as a product of cycles of length
2 (cycles may not be disjoint) i.e., permutation of the form (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎). Since the action of (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)
is to transpose (interchange) 𝑎𝑎 and 𝑏𝑏, in many books these permutations (cycles of
length 2) are referred to as transpositions.

Theorem 5.6(Permutation asProduct of 2-cycles)

Every permutation in 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 (𝑛𝑛 ≥ 2) is expressible as a product of 2-cycles.
Proof: Let 𝛼𝛼 be any permutation in 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 . Then by Theorem 5.4, 𝛼𝛼is expressible as a
product of disjoint cycles i.e.,
𝛼𝛼 = 𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑘𝑘 .
Thus to express 𝛼𝛼 as a product of 2-cycles it is enough to show that each 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 is
expressible as a product of 2-cycles. Now for any 𝑗𝑗 ∈ {1,2, … , 𝑘𝑘}, consider the cycle 𝛼𝛼𝑗𝑗 . If
𝛼𝛼𝑗𝑗 = (𝑟𝑟) 𝑓𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑟𝑟 ∈ {1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛} , then we can write
𝛼𝛼𝑗𝑗 = (𝑟𝑟) = (𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟)(𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟) 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑡𝑡 ∈ {1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛} − {𝑟𝑟}
and we are through in this case. Therefore let 𝛼𝛼𝑗𝑗 = �𝑟𝑟1 𝑟𝑟2 … 𝑟𝑟𝑝𝑝 �(𝑝𝑝 ≥ 2), then it can be easily
verified that
𝛼𝛼𝑗𝑗 = �𝑟𝑟1 𝑟𝑟𝑝𝑝 ��𝑟𝑟1 𝑟𝑟𝑝𝑝−1 � … (𝑟𝑟1 𝑟𝑟2 ).
Since for any 𝑗𝑗 ∈ {1,2, … , 𝑘𝑘}, the cycle 𝛼𝛼𝑗𝑗 is expressible as a product of 2-cycles, therefore
permutation 𝛼𝛼 is expressible as a product of 2-cycles. Hence the theorem follows . ■

Remark 5.7 In the proof of the above theorem, we saw that we could express a cycle of
length 1 into many ways. Thus a permutation can be expressed into product of 2-cycles
in many ways i.e., the decomposition is not unique. In fact, consider the identity
permutation 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 in 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 . Clearly,
𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 = (𝑖𝑖) 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑖𝑖 ∈ {1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛}
= (𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖)(𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖) 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑗𝑗 ∈ {1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛}, 𝑗𝑗 ≠ 𝑖𝑖 .

Example 5.8 Consider the permutation given in array form

1 2 34 5 67
𝛼𝛼 = � �.
3 4 65 2 17
Then 𝛼𝛼 can be expressed into product of disjoint cycles
𝛼𝛼 = (136)(245)(7) .
Thus as a product of 2-cycles
𝛼𝛼 = (16)(13)(25)(24)(71)(71)
= (13)(45)(15)(16)(56)(45)(25)(24)(27)(27) .
The first decomposition of 𝛼𝛼 into product of 2-cycles is obtained using the technique of
the proof, while the second decomposition is an arbitrary decomposition. The two
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 15

decomposition also shows that the no of 2-cycles may be different in different

decompositions.

In our next theorem we will show that although the number of 2-cycles varies from
decomposition to decomposition, but if a decomposition of the given permutation into
product of 2-cycles consists of even number of 2-cycles then every decomposition of the
permutation into product of 2-cycles consists of an even number of 2-cycles. Before
proving this theorem on the whole, we first prove its special case for identity
permutation.

Lemma 5.9 Every decomposition of the identity permutation into product of 2-cycles
consists of an even number of 2-cycles.

Proof:Let 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 = 𝛽𝛽1 𝛽𝛽2 … 𝛽𝛽𝑟𝑟 be any decomposition into product of 2-cycles, where 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 is the
identity permutation in 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 . Since a 2-cycle is never identity, therefore 𝑟𝑟 ≠ 1. If 𝑟𝑟 = 2, then
we are through. So we suppose 𝑟𝑟 > 2 and using induction on 𝑟𝑟 we will prove the
theorem.

𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰 𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯𝑯 ∶ If any decomposition of 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 into product of 2-cycles consists of at

most 𝑟𝑟 − 2 cycles, then decomposition must have an even number of cycles.

Claim:𝑟𝑟 is even.
Consider the product 𝛽𝛽1 𝛽𝛽2 and let 𝛽𝛽1 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎). Then we have following four possibilities:

𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪 𝑰𝑰𝛽𝛽2 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)

In this case 𝛽𝛽1 𝛽𝛽2 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) = 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 and hence 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 = 𝛽𝛽3 𝛽𝛽4 … 𝛽𝛽𝑟𝑟 is a product of 𝑟𝑟 − 2 cycles.
Therefore by 𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊 𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝑟𝑟 − 2 is even. It follows that𝑟𝑟 is even.

𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝛽𝛽2 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)

Then 𝛽𝛽1 𝛽𝛽2 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) = (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) and therefore 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 = (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)𝛽𝛽3 𝛽𝛽4 … 𝛽𝛽𝑟𝑟 , with the first
occurrence of 𝑎𝑎 in the second cycle.

𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝛽𝛽3 = (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)

Then 𝛽𝛽1 𝛽𝛽2 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏) = (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) and therefore 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 = (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)𝛽𝛽3 𝛽𝛽4 … 𝛽𝛽𝑟𝑟 , with the first
occurrence of 𝑎𝑎 in the second cycle.

𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝛽𝛽3 = (𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐)

Then 𝛽𝛽1 𝛽𝛽2 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐) = (𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) and therefore𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 = (𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)𝛽𝛽3 𝛽𝛽4 … 𝛽𝛽𝑟𝑟 , with the first
occurrence of 𝑎𝑎 in the second cycle.

Thus we see that either 𝑟𝑟 is even or we can shift the first occurrence of 𝑎𝑎 in the second
cycle. Now if 𝑟𝑟 is even then we are through, otherwise proceeding as above with the new
expression of 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 and considering the second and third cycle instead of first and
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 16

secondthis time. We obtain that 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 is expressible either as a product of (𝑟𝑟 − 2) 2-cycles or
a new product consisting of r 2-cycles with the first occurrence of 𝑎𝑎 in the third 2-
cycle.Again if 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 is expressible as a product of (𝑟𝑟 − 2) 2-cycles, then by induction
hypothesis 𝑟𝑟 − 2 is even and we are through. Otherwise, continuing like this after finite
number of steps we must obtain𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 as a product of (𝑟𝑟 − 2) 2-cycles, for otherwise, 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 can
be expressed as product of r 2-cycles with the first occurrence of 𝑎𝑎 in the 𝑟𝑟 𝑡𝑡ℎ 2-cycle and
obviously, such a product will not fix 𝑎𝑎, a contradiction to the fact that identity fixes
every element. Hence by 𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊 𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝑟𝑟 − 2 is even and therefore 𝑟𝑟 is even.

Alternate Proof: We know that 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 = (12)(12), therefore there exists a decomposition into
product of even number of 2-cycles. Suppose there exists a decomposition of 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 =
(𝑎𝑎1 𝑏𝑏1 )(𝑎𝑎2 𝑏𝑏2 ) … (𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 𝑏𝑏𝑟𝑟 ),. where 𝑟𝑟 is odd. Then using the fact that (𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑖 ) = (1𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 )(1𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑖 )(1𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖 ), we
can express identity as follows
𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 = (1𝑎𝑎1 )(1𝑏𝑏1 )(1𝑎𝑎1 )(1𝑎𝑎2 )(1𝑏𝑏2 )(1𝑎𝑎2 ) … (1𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 )(1𝑏𝑏𝑟𝑟 )(1𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 )
which again consists of odd number of 2-cycles. Now since 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 fixes every element, thus
for each 𝑢𝑢 ∈ {𝑎𝑎1 , … , 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 , 𝑏𝑏1 , … 𝑏𝑏𝑟𝑟 } the 2-cycle (1𝑢𝑢) must occur even number of times in . 𝐻𝐻. 𝑆𝑆 .
Consequently, 𝑅𝑅. 𝐻𝐻. 𝑆𝑆 must consists of even number of 2-cycles. Hence 𝑟𝑟 must be even, a
contradiction to the fact that 𝑟𝑟 is odd. Thus our assumption is wrong and the theorem
follows. ■

Theorem 5.10(𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 𝑶𝑶𝑶𝑶𝑶𝑶 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬)

If a permutation 𝛼𝛼 is expressible as a product of even number of 2-cycles, then every
expression of 𝛼𝛼 into product of 2-cycles must have an even number of 2-cycles.

Proof: Let 𝛼𝛼 = 𝛽𝛽1 𝛽𝛽2 … 𝛽𝛽𝑛𝑛 (𝑛𝑛 is even) be decomposition of 𝛼𝛼 into 2-cycles. Let 𝛼𝛼 = 𝛾𝛾1 𝛾𝛾2 … 𝛾𝛾𝑚𝑚
be any decomposition of 𝛼𝛼 into 2-cycles. Consider,

𝐼𝐼 = 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 −1

= (𝛽𝛽1 𝛽𝛽2 … 𝛽𝛽𝑛𝑛 )(𝛾𝛾1 𝛾𝛾2 … 𝛾𝛾𝑚𝑚 )−1

= 𝛽𝛽1 𝛽𝛽2 … 𝛽𝛽𝑛𝑛 𝛾𝛾𝑚𝑚−1 𝛾𝛾𝑚𝑚−1−1 … 𝛾𝛾1−1

= 𝛽𝛽1 𝛽𝛽2 … 𝛽𝛽𝑛𝑛 𝛾𝛾𝑚𝑚 𝛾𝛾𝑚𝑚 −1 … 𝛾𝛾1 [∵ 𝛾𝛾𝑖𝑖−1 = 𝛾𝛾𝑖𝑖 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒ℎ 𝑖𝑖]

From Lemma 5.9, it follows that 𝑛𝑛 + 𝑚𝑚 is even. Since 𝑛𝑛 is even, it follows that 𝑚𝑚 is even.
Hence the theorem follows. ■

6. ALTERNATING GROUPS

In the previous section we observed that we can partition the symmetric group 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 into
two sets on the basis that a given element in the symmetric group 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 is expressible as a
product of even 2-cycles or not. At this point, it is natural to ask is there any significance
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 17

about this partition? In this section we will get an answer to it. In fact, we will show that
the set in the partition consisting of permutations which are expressible as a product of
even 2-cycles forms a group, famously known as, Alternating Group.

Definition 6.1 (𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬 𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷) : A permutation is an even permutation if it can be

expressed as a product of an even number of 2-cycles.

Definition 6.2 (𝑶𝑶𝑶𝑶𝑶𝑶 𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷) : A permutation is an odd permutation if it can be

expressed as a product of an odd number of 2-cycles.

Observations6.3

I. A cycle is an even permutation if and only if it is of odd length.

𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷 ∶ Let 𝛼𝛼 = (𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎2 … 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 ) be any cycle. Then
𝛼𝛼 = (𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎2 … 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 )[𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿ℎ 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝛼𝛼 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑟𝑟]

= (𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟 )(𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑟−1 ) … (𝑎𝑎1 𝑎𝑎2 )[𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁. 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 2 − 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑟𝑟 − 1]

Thus it follows that 𝛼𝛼 is even permutation if and only if its length is odd. ■

II. The product of even permutations is always even.

𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷 ∶Let 𝛼𝛼 and 𝛽𝛽 be even permutations. Then
𝛼𝛼 = 𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝛽𝛽 = 𝛽𝛽1 𝛽𝛽2 … 𝛽𝛽𝑚𝑚
where 𝑛𝑛 and 𝑚𝑚 are both even and 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖′ 𝑠𝑠 and 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖′ 𝑠𝑠 are 2-cycles. Clearly,
𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 = 𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 𝛽𝛽1 𝛽𝛽2 … 𝛽𝛽𝑚𝑚 [𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 (𝑛𝑛 + 𝑚𝑚) 2 − 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐].
Thus 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 is an even permutation. ■

III. The product of even number of odd permutations is again even.

IV. The product consisting of odd number of odd permutation is an odd permutation.

V. Identity is always an even permutation (Lemma 5.9).

VI. Inverse of an even permutation is an evenpermutation.

𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷 ∶ Let 𝛼𝛼 be an even permutation. Then
𝛼𝛼 = 𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛
where 𝑛𝑛 is even and 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖′ 𝑠𝑠 is a 2-cycle. Consider,
𝛼𝛼 −1 = (𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 )−1
= 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛−1 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛−1
−1
… 𝛼𝛼1−1
= 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛 𝛼𝛼𝑛𝑛−1 … 𝛼𝛼1 [∵ 𝐴𝐴 2 − 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖]
Thus 𝛼𝛼 −1
is an even permutation.
VII. Inverse of an odd permutation is an odd permutation.

Theorem 6.4(𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬 𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷𝑷 𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂 𝒂𝒂 𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮)

The set of even permutations in the symmetric group𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 is a subgroup of 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 .
Proof: Immediate consequence of Observation 6.3. ■
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 18

Definition 6.5(𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈 𝒏𝒏)

The group of even permutation in the symmetric group𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 is called an alternating group
of degree 𝑛𝑛 and is denoted by 𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 .

Next we will show that exactly half of the permutations inthe symmetric group 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 are
even permutations.

Theorem 6.6 The order of the group 𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 (𝑛𝑛 ≥ 2) is 𝑛𝑛!⁄2 i.e.,

𝑛𝑛! |𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 |
|𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 | = = .
2 2

Proof: Let 𝑂𝑂𝑛𝑛 be the set of all odd permutations. Define Φ ∶ 𝑂𝑂𝑛𝑛 → 𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 as

Φ(𝛼𝛼) = (12)𝛼𝛼 ∀ 𝛼𝛼 ∈ 𝑂𝑂𝑛𝑛

Then we claim that Φ is well defined bijective map.

𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 ∶ Given any odd permutation 𝛼𝛼, the permutation (12)𝛼𝛼 is an even
U

permutation. Thus Φ is well defined.

𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰 (𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 − 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐) ∶ Let 𝛼𝛼, 𝛽𝛽 ∈ 𝑂𝑂𝑛𝑛 such that

U

Φ(𝛼𝛼) = Φ(𝛽𝛽)

⇒ (12)𝛼𝛼 = (12)𝛽𝛽

⇒ (12)(12)𝛼𝛼 = (12)(12)𝛽𝛽

⇒ 𝛼𝛼 = 𝛽𝛽

𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺 ∶ Let 𝛼𝛼 ∈ 𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 , then (12)𝛼𝛼 ∈ 𝑂𝑂𝑛𝑛 and

U

Φ�(12)𝛼𝛼� = (12)(12)𝛼𝛼 = 𝛼𝛼 [∵ (12)(12) = 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 , 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖]

Thus Φ is a bijective map and hence |𝑂𝑂𝑛𝑛 | = |𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 |. Hence it follows that half of the
permutations in 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 are even permutations i.e.,

|𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 | 𝑛𝑛!
|𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 | = = . ■
2 2

Theorem 6.7For 𝑛𝑛 ≥ 3, every element in 𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 is either a 3-cycle or expressible as product

of 3-cycles.

Proof:For any 𝛼𝛼 ∈ 𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 ,

𝛼𝛼 = 𝛽𝛽1 𝛽𝛽2 … 𝛽𝛽𝑘𝑘−1 𝛽𝛽𝑘𝑘 = � 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖+1

𝑖𝑖∈{1,3,…,𝑘𝑘−1}
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 19

where each 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖′ 𝑠𝑠 is 2-cycle and 𝑘𝑘 is an even number. Now consider the product 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖+1 for
any 𝑖𝑖 ∈ {1,3, 5, … , 𝑘𝑘 − 1}. Now we have four possibilities :

𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪 𝑰𝑰𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) = 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖+1 . Then

𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖+1 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)
= (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)[∵ (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑐𝑐 ≠ 𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏]
= (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) .

𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖+1 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) .

Then𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖+1 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏) = (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏).

𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝛽𝛽3 = (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)

Then 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖+1 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏) = (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏) = (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎).

𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝛽𝛽3 = (𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐)

Then 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖+1 = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐) = (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) = (𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) .

Thusfor any 𝑖𝑖 ∈ {1,3, 5, … , 𝑘𝑘 − 1}, the product 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖+1 is either a 3-cycle or product of 3-
cycles. Hence the permutation 𝛼𝛼 is either a 3-cycle or product of 3-cycles . ■

An even permutation on a finite set of cardinality at least 3

is a 𝟑𝟑-cycle or expressible as a product of 𝟑𝟑-cycles.

Theorem 6.8Let𝐻𝐻be a subgroup of the symmetric group 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 . Then either every
permutationin𝐻𝐻 is an even permutation or exactly half of the permutationsin𝐻𝐻 are even.

Proof: Let 𝐻𝐻 ≤ 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 , then 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 ∈ 𝐻𝐻. Thus 𝐻𝐻 contains at least one even permutation. Now if
every permutationin𝐻𝐻 is an even permutation, then we are done. Therefore let 𝐻𝐻
contains an odd permutation 𝛼𝛼 (say).

Now let 𝐸𝐸𝐻𝐻 be the set of all even permutations in 𝐻𝐻 and 𝑂𝑂𝐻𝐻 be the set of all odd
permutations in 𝐻𝐻. Clearly, 𝐸𝐸𝐻𝐻 ≠ 𝜙𝜙 and 𝑂𝑂𝐻𝐻 ≠ 𝜙𝜙. Define Φ ∶ 𝐸𝐸𝐻𝐻 → 𝑂𝑂𝐻𝐻 as follows :

Φ(𝛽𝛽) = 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 ∀ 𝛽𝛽 ∈ 𝐸𝐸𝐻𝐻 .

Claim:Φ is bijective.

𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰 ∶ Consider for 𝛽𝛽1 , 𝛽𝛽2 ∈ 𝐸𝐸𝐻𝐻 such that

Φ(𝛽𝛽1 ) = Φ(𝛽𝛽2 )

⇒ 𝛼𝛼𝛽𝛽1 = 𝛼𝛼𝛽𝛽2

⇒ 𝛼𝛼 |𝛼𝛼 |−1 𝛼𝛼𝛽𝛽1 = 𝛼𝛼 |𝛼𝛼 |−1 𝛼𝛼𝛽𝛽2 �𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏ℎ 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝛼𝛼 |𝛼𝛼 |−1 �

⇒ 𝛼𝛼 |𝛼𝛼 | 𝛽𝛽1 = 𝛼𝛼 |𝛼𝛼 | 𝛽𝛽2

⇒ 𝛽𝛽1 = 𝛽𝛽2

Thus Φ is injective.
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 20

𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺 ∶ Let 𝛾𝛾 ∈ 𝑂𝑂𝐻𝐻 be any arbitrary element. Since inverse of an odd permutation is
odd, therefore 𝛼𝛼 −1 is an odd permutation and consequently, 𝛼𝛼 −1 𝛾𝛾 ∈ 𝐸𝐸𝐻𝐻 . Now

Φ(𝛼𝛼 −1 𝛾𝛾) = 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 −1 𝛾𝛾 = 𝛾𝛾 .

Since 𝛾𝛾 is an arbitrary element in 𝑂𝑂𝐻𝐻 , therefore every element in 𝑂𝑂𝐻𝐻 has a pre-image
under Φ. It follows that Φ is surjective.

Thus Φ is bijective map, which further implies that |𝐸𝐸𝐻𝐻 | = |𝑂𝑂𝐻𝐻 |. Hence the theorem. ■

If 𝑯𝑯 ≤ 𝑺𝑺𝒏𝒏 , then either 𝑯𝑯 ≤ 𝑨𝑨𝒏𝒏 or |𝑯𝑯| = 𝟐𝟐|𝑯𝑯 ∩ 𝑨𝑨𝒏𝒏 |.

Corollary 6.9 For𝑛𝑛 ≥ 2, the order of the group 𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 is 𝑛𝑛!⁄2 i.e.,

𝑛𝑛!
|𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 | = .
2

Proof: Since 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 is a subgroup of itself and it contains odd permutations, therefore by
Theorem 6.8, exactly half of the permutationsin𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 are even. Hence

|𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 | 𝑛𝑛!
|𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 | = = . ■
2 2

5. SOLVED PROBLEMS

Q1. Determine the order of the following permutations

a. (13576)
b. (12)(5783)(64)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
c. � �
4 5 2 3 1 8 6 7
Solution:
a. |(13576)| = 5
b. |(12)(5783)(64)| = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚 (2, 4 ,2) = 4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
c. �� �� = |(14325)(687)| = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚 (5, 3) = 15.
4 5 2 3 1 8 6 7

Q2. Which of the following permutations are even ?

a. (145)(8634)(46753)
b. (7561324)(879)(5416)(9876)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4
c. � �� �
2 1 5 7 6 4 3 4 3 1 2
Solution:
a. Since (145) is even, (8634) is odd and (46753) is even, therefore
(145)(8634)(46753) is an odd permutation.
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 21

b. Since (7561324) is even, (879) is even, (5416) is odd and (9876) is odd,
therefore (7561324)(879)(5416)(9876) is even permutation.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4
c. � �� � = (12)(35647)(1423) is an even permutation
2 1 5 7 6 4 3 4 3 1 2
since there are two odd and one even permutation in the product.

Q3. Find the inverse of

1 2 3 4 56 7
𝛼𝛼 = � � .
3 5 2 4 17 6

1 2 3 4 56 7
Solution: Since 𝛼𝛼 = � � = (1325)(4)(67), therefore
3 5 2 4 17 6
−1
𝛼𝛼 −1 = �(1325)(4)(67)�
= (67)−1 (4)−1 (1325)−1
= (67)(4)(5231)[∵ 2 − 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖]
Thus
1 2 3 4 56 7
𝛼𝛼 −1 = � � .
5 3 1 4 27 6

Q4. Let 𝛼𝛼 and 𝛽𝛽 be permutations in 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 . Prove that 𝛼𝛼 −1 𝛽𝛽 −1 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 is an even permutation.
Solution: Suppose 𝛼𝛼is decomposableinto product of 𝑘𝑘2-cycles and 𝛽𝛽isdecomposable
into product of𝑚𝑚2-cycles. Then 𝛼𝛼 −1 can also be decomposedinto product of 𝑘𝑘2-cycles
(just take the inverse of the decomposition of 𝛼𝛼) and 𝛽𝛽 −1 into product 𝑚𝑚2-cycles.
Thus the product 𝛼𝛼 −1 𝛽𝛽 −1 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 is expressible as a product of 2𝑘𝑘 + 2𝑚𝑚2-cycles. Hence
𝛼𝛼 −1 𝛽𝛽 −1 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 is an even permutation.

Q5. Let = (123764)(589) . Find the least positive integer 𝑛𝑛such that𝛽𝛽 𝑛𝑛 = 𝛽𝛽 −5 ?
Solution:|𝛽𝛽| = 𝑙𝑙. 𝑐𝑐. 𝑚𝑚 (6, 3) = 6, therefore
𝛽𝛽1+5 = 𝐼𝐼 𝑖𝑖. 𝑒𝑒. . , 𝛽𝛽 = 𝛽𝛽 −5 .
Hence 1 is the required positive integer. ∎

Q6. Prove that 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 is non-abelian for all 𝑛𝑛 ≥ 3 .

Solution: For any 𝑛𝑛 ≥ 3, (12), (13) ∈ 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 and clearly,
(12)(13) ≠ (13)(12) .

Q7. Show that for 𝑛𝑛 ≥ 3, 𝑍𝑍(𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 ) = {𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 }.

Solution: Let 𝛼𝛼 ≠ 𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 be any permutation. Then there exist distinct integers 𝑘𝑘, 𝑚𝑚 ∈
{1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛} such that 𝛼𝛼(𝑘𝑘) = 𝑚𝑚. For 𝑐𝑐 ≠ 𝑘𝑘, 𝑚𝑚, let 𝛽𝛽 = (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚), then
𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼(𝑘𝑘) = 𝛼𝛼�𝛽𝛽(𝑘𝑘)� = 𝛼𝛼(𝑘𝑘) = 𝑚𝑚 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽(𝑘𝑘) = 𝛽𝛽�𝛼𝛼(𝑘𝑘)� = 𝛽𝛽(𝑚𝑚) = 𝑐𝑐
⇒ 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 ≠ 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 22

Thus 𝛼𝛼 ∉ 𝑍𝑍(𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 ). Since 𝛼𝛼 is an arbitrary non-identity permutation, therefore it follows

that
𝑍𝑍(𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 ) = {𝐼𝐼𝑛𝑛 } .
Q8. Prove that an odd permutation must be of even order.
Solution: Let 𝛼𝛼 be an odd permutation order𝑘𝑘 i.e., |𝛼𝛼| = 𝑘𝑘for some 𝑘𝑘 ∈ ℕ. Let
𝛼𝛼 = 𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑚𝑚 , where 𝑚𝑚 is odd and 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 ’s are2-cycles. Now
𝐼𝐼 = 𝛼𝛼 𝑘𝑘
= (𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑚𝑚 )𝑘𝑘
= (𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑚𝑚 )(𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑚𝑚 ) … (𝛼𝛼1 𝛼𝛼2 … 𝛼𝛼𝑚𝑚 )
���������������������������
𝑘𝑘 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡

Thus 𝐼𝐼 is expressible as product of 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2-cycles. Since 𝐼𝐼 is an even permutation,

therefore 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 is even. Consequently 𝑘𝑘 is even and hence 𝛼𝛼 is a permutation of even
order.

Q9. Prove that |𝑍𝑍(𝐴𝐴4 )| = 1 using the fact that the order of every
permutationin𝐴𝐴4 is1, 2or3?
Solution:It is enough to show that an element of order 2does not commute with an
element of order 3. Suppose on the contrary, there exists a permutations𝛼𝛼and 𝛽𝛽of
order 2 and 3 respectively, such that 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 = 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽. Then
(𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼)6 = 𝛼𝛼 6 𝛽𝛽 6 = 𝐼𝐼. 𝐼𝐼 = 𝐼𝐼
⇒ |𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼| 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 6
⇒ |𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼| = 1, 2 , 3 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 6 .
Now
|𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼| = 1 ⇒ 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 = 𝐼𝐼 ⇒ 𝛽𝛽 = 𝛼𝛼 −1 ⇒ |𝛽𝛽| = |𝛼𝛼|, 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
|𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼| = 2 ⇒ (𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼)2 = 𝐼𝐼 ⇒ 2 2
𝛼𝛼 𝛽𝛽 = 𝐼𝐼 ⇒ 𝛽𝛽 2 = 𝐼𝐼, 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
|𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼| = 3 ⇒ (𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼)3 = 𝐼𝐼 ⇒ 𝛼𝛼 3 𝛽𝛽 3 = 𝐼𝐼 ⇒ 𝛼𝛼 3 = 𝐼𝐼 ⇒ 𝛼𝛼 = 𝐼𝐼, 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 .
Thus |𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼| = 6, a contradiction to the fact that no element in 𝐴𝐴4 has order 6. Hence no
element in 𝑍𝑍(𝐴𝐴4 ) is of order 2 and 3. It follows that |𝑍𝑍(𝐴𝐴4 )| = 1 .

6. SUMMARY

In this chapter we introduced what is meant by a permutation on a given set and

showed how they form a group. We discussed the cycle notation of permutation and how
it is useful in determining various properties of permutation groups. In fact it is shown
that a permutation can be decomposed into disjoint cycles uniquely and that order of the
permutation is the l.c.m of the lengths of the cycle in a decomposition of disjoint cycles.
Next we introduced an important class of cycles, namely 2-cycles (or transpositions) and
showed that every permutation is expressible as a product of these transpositions.
Moreover, if a permutation 𝛼𝛼 is expressible as a product of even 2-cycles, then every
 PERMUTATION GROUPS 23

decomposition of 𝛼𝛼 into product of 2-cycles consists of even 2-cycles. Based on this fact,
a permutation isclassified as an even permutation or an odd permutation depending on
whether it is expressible as product of even 2-cycles or product of odd 2-cycles. The
identity permutation of any permutation group is an even permutation. An even
permutation on a finite set of cardinality at least 3 is also expressible as 3-cycle or a
product of 3-cycles. Any symmetric group 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 (𝑛𝑛 ≥ 2)is expressible as a product of two
disjoint sets of equalcardinality, one consisting of all even permutation and the other
consisting of all odd permutations. Further, if 𝐻𝐻 is a subgroup of the symmetric group𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 ,
then either every permutation in 𝐻𝐻 is an even permutation or exactly half of the
permutations in 𝐻𝐻 are even. Also, the set 𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 of all even permutation in 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 (𝑛𝑛 ≥ 2) is a
subgroup of 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 . The subgroup 𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 of 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 (𝑛𝑛 ≥ 2) is called alternating group.

7. EXERCISES

1. Find the order of following permutations.

i. (13456)
ii. (3546)(21)(798)
iii. (14)
1 2 34 5 6
iv. � �
4 6 15 3 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
v. � �
7 6 1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5 6
vi. � �
2 1 5 4 6 3
2. Conclude whether following permutations are odd or even.
i. (137)
ii. (1347)
iii. (125673)
iv. (12)(154)(136)
3. Determine whether an 𝑛𝑛-cycle an odd or an even permutation when
i. 𝑛𝑛 is odd
ii. 𝑛𝑛 is even.
4. Prove that 𝐴𝐴𝑛𝑛 is a subgroup of 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 .
5. Let
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
𝛼𝛼 = � � 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝛽𝛽 = � �
2 3 6 1 4 7 8 5 3 4 7 1 2 8 4 6
Compute each of the following
i. 𝛼𝛼 −1 , 𝛽𝛽 −1
ii. 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 and 𝛽𝛽𝛽𝛽
iii. 8
𝛼𝛼 , 𝛽𝛽 6

iv. |𝛼𝛼| and |𝛽𝛽|

 PERMUTATION GROUPS 24

6. Is the set of all odd permutations in 𝑆𝑆𝑛𝑛 a group? Why?

7. Write 𝛽𝛽 99 in cycle form, where 𝛽𝛽 = (123)(145).
8. In 𝑆𝑆3 , find 𝛼𝛼 and 𝛽𝛽 so that |𝛼𝛼| = 2, |𝛽𝛽| = 2 and |𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼| = 3 .
9. Find the group elements 𝛼𝛼 and 𝛽𝛽 so that |𝛼𝛼| = 3, |𝛽𝛽| = 3 and |𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼| = 5 .
10. Prove or disprove that 𝐻𝐻 = {𝑔𝑔2 | 𝑔𝑔 ∈ 𝐺𝐺} is a subgroup of the group 𝐺𝐺.

8. REFERENCES
[1] Joseph A. Gallian, Contemporary Abstract Algebra (Fourth Edition), Narosa
Publishing House, India 1999.
[2] I.N Herstein, Topics in Algebra (Second Edition), Wiley Eastern Limited.
[3] Trygve Nagell, Introduction to Number Theory, John Wiley & Sons, New York,
1951.
[4] David S. Dummit and Richard M. Foote, Abstract Algebra, Third Edition, John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.