Gallians Abstract Algebra Notations 1

Set Theory

iI
S
i
Intersection of sets S
i
for i I

iI
S
i
Union of sets S
i
for i I
[ a ] x S : x a, the equivalence class of S containing a
[S[ number of elements in the set of S
Special Sets
Z Integers, additive groups of integers, ring of integers
Q Rational numbers, eld of rational numbers
Q
+
Multiplicative group of positive rational numbers
F

Set of nonzero elements of F

R Real numbers, eld of real numbers
R
+
Multiplicative group of positive real numbers
C Complex numbers
Functions and Arithmetic
f
1
Inverse of the function of f
t[s t divides s
t,[s t does not divide s
gcd(a, b) Greatest common divisor of the integers a and b
lcm(a, b) Least common multiple of the integers a and b
[a +b[

a
2
+b
2
Gallians Abstract Algebra Notations 2
(a) Image of a under
: A B Mapping of A to B
gf, Composite function
Algebraic Systems
D
4
Group of symmetries of a square, dihedral group of order 8
D
n
Dihedral group of order 2n
e Identity element
Z
n
Group 0, 1, . . . , n 1 under addition modulo n
det A Determinant of A
U(n) Group of units modulo n, that is the set of integers less than n and
relatively prime to n under multiplication modulo n
R
n
(a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
) : a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
R
SL(2, F) Group of 2 2 matrices over F with determinant 1
GL(2, F) 22 matrices of nonzero determinants with coecients from the eld
F, the general linear group
g
1
Multiplicative inverse of g
g Additive inverse of g
[G[ Order of the group G
[g[ Order of the element g
H G Subgroup inclusion
H < G Subgroup H ,= G
a a
n
: n Z, cyclic group generated by a
Gallians Abstract Algebra Notations 3
Z(G) a G : ax = xa, x G, the center of G
C(a) g G : ga = ag, the centralizer of a in G
C(H) g G : ga = ag, h H, the centralizer of H
(n) Euler phi function of n
N(H) x G : xHx
1
= H = x G : Hx = xH, the normalizer of H in G
cl(a) Conjugacy Class of a
G
n
g
n
: g G
S
n
Group of bijective functions from Z
n
to itself
A
n
Alternating group of degree n
G G G and G are isomorphic (alternatively

= or )

a
Mapping given by
a
(x) = axa
1
for all x
Aut(G) Group of automorphism of the group G
Inn(G) Group of inner automorphisms of G
aH ah : h H, the left coset
aHa
1
aha
1
: h H
[G : H[ Index of H in G
stab
G
(i) G : (i) = i, the stabilizer of i under the permutation group G
orb
G
(i) (i) : G, the orbit of i under the permutation group G
G
1
G
2
G
n
External direct product of groups G
1
, G
2
, . . . , G
n
U
k
(n) x U(n) : x mod k = 1
G

Commutator subgroup
H G H is a normal subgroup of G
Gallians Abstract Algebra Notations 4
G/H Factor group
HK hk : h H, k K
H K Internal direct product of H and K
H
1
H
2
H
n
Internal direct product of H
1
, H
2
, . . . , H
n
Ker Kernel of the homomorphism

1
(g

) Inverse image of g

under

1
(K) Inverse image of K under
Z[x] Ring of polynomials with integer coecients
M
2
(Z) Ring of all 2 2 matrices with integer entries
R
1
R
2
R
n
Direct sum of rings
nZ Ring of multiples of n
Z[i] Ring of Guassian integers
U(R) Group of units of the ring R (alternatively R

or R

)
Z
n
[x] Ring of Gaussian integers modulo n
char R Characteristic of R
a Principal ideal generated by a
a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
Ideal generated by a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
R/A Factor ring
A+B Sum of ideals A and B
AB Product of ideals A and B
Ann(A) Annihilator of A
N(A) Nil radical of A
Gallians Abstract Algebra Notations 5
F(x) Field of quotients or eld of fractions of F[x]
R[x] Ring of polynomials over R
deg f(x) Degree of the polynomial f

p
(x) pth cyclotomic polynomial
M
2
(Q) Ring of 2 2 matrices over Q
v
1
, v
2
, . . . , v
n
Subspace spanned by v
1
, v
2
, . . . , v
n
F(a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
) Extension of F by a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
f

(x) Derivative of f(x)

[E : F ] Degree of E over F
GF(p
n
) Galois eld of order p
n
GF(p
n
)

Nonzero Galois eld of order p

n
cl(a) xax
1
: x G, the conjugacy class of a
Pr(G) Probability that two elements from G commute
n
p
Number of Sylow p-subgroups of a group
W(S) Set of all words from S
a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
: w
1
= w
2
= = w
t
Group with generators a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
and
relations w
1
= w
2
= = w
t
Q
4
Quaternions
Q
6
Dicyclic group of order 12
D

Innite dihedral group

x() i S : (i) = i, elements xed by
Cay(S : G) Cayley digraph of the group G with generating set S
Gallians Abstract Algebra Notations 6
k (a, b, . . . , c) Concatenation of k copies of (a, b, . . . , c)
(n, k) Linear code, k-dimensional subspace of F
n
F
n
F F F, direct product of n copies of eld F
d(u, v) Hamming distance between vectors u and v
wt(u) Number of nonzero components of the vector u, Hamming weight of u
Gal(E/F) Automorphism group of E xing F
E
H
Fixed eld of H

n
(x) nth cyclotomic polynomial
C

Dual code of a code C