Algebraic System

• An algebraic system is a set and a collection

of binary operations for the set.
 Binary Operation
Suppose G is a nonempty set. Operations on the
elements of a set is a rule, which combines two
elements of the set to obtain a third of the set.
When on performing this operation on any two
elements of the set, we obtain a unique element
belonging to the same set, then this operation is
called binary operation, on the set.
Ex. (N,+)
Thus ‘*’ will be a binary operation on G, iff
a  G , b  G  a * b  G , a, b  G
where a * b is unique.
 Properties
• Commutative property
ab = ba for all a,bA
• Associative property
a (bc)=( ab) c for all a,b,c A
• Closure property
ab A for all a, bA
• Identity element
eG if ea = ae=a, for all a G
 Algebraic structure
• A non empty set G equipped with one or more
binary operation satisfying some axioms is called
an algebraic structure.
• Groupoid - Groupoid is the simplest algebraic
structure using only one composition (G,*).
Semigroup
• A non empty set G equipped with an associative
binary operation ( say ‘’).
• Represented by (G ,)
• Examples : ( I, + )
 Monoid
• a semigroup (G ,) is said to be a monoid if G
possess identity element with respect to ‘*’.
Example :
( I, + ) with e = 0,
( P(S), ) with e =

• Every monoid is a semigroup but every semigroup

may not be a monoid.
 Group
• a set of elements or “numbers” with some
operation whose result is also in the set (closure)
• obeys:
– associative law: (a.b).c = a.(b.c)
– has identity e: e.a = a.e = a
– has inverses a-1: a.a-1 = e
• if commutative a.b = b.a
– then forms an abelian group
 Group
e.g.
G = (set of integers, arithmetic addition)
S = , - 2, - 1, 0, 1, 2, 
( S , )
a + b  S ? yes, Closure

 a + b + c = a +  b + c ? yes, Associative
a + e = a ? yes, e = 0
a + a  0 ? yes,  has inverse element
-1

i.e. a -1   a
 Group Counter-Example
G  (the set of integers, multiplication)
 (Z ,)
a  b  Z ? yes,  Closure
 a  b  c = a   b  c ?
yes, Associative
a  e = a ? yes, e = 1
a  a  1 ? No,
-1

multiplicative inverse does not exist,

 not a group
 Properties of Groups
• The identity element is unique.
• The inverse of each element is unique.
• If inverse of a is a-1, then the inverse of a-1 is a
i.e., (a-1)-1 = a.
• The inverse of the product of two elements of a
group is the product of the inverses taken in the
reverse order i.e., (ab)-1 = b-1a-1
• Cancellation laws hold i.e.,
ab = ac  b = c ( Left cancellation law )
ba = ca  b = c ( Right cancellation law )
 Properties of Groups

The identity element in a group is unique.

Let e,e’ two identity elements of Group (G,)
then ee’ = e if e’ is identity.
and ee’ = e’ if e is identity.

but ee’ is unique element of G

Hence e = e’
 Group
• Abelian group : a group (G ,) is abelian
if  is commutative.
• Example: ( I ,  ) where I is the set of
integers and operation is defined as
ab = a+b-2 for all a,b in I
i. aI, bI  a+b-2I so I is closed w.r.t.
ii. (ab)c = a (b  c) (Associative)
(ab)c = (a+b-2)c = (a+b–2)+c-2 =a+b+c-4
a(bc) =a (b+c-2)=a+(b+c-2)-2 = a+b+c-4
 Group Example
iii. Identity
ea = a
e+a-2 = a  e = 2I for all a in I
iv. Inverse
If aI then bI will be the inverse of a if
ab = e= ba
a+b-2 =2  b, = -a+4 I
– Is I an abelian group
 Homomorphism of Groups
• If ( G ,  ) and ( G ,  ) be two groups,
a mapping f:GG is called a group
homomorphism if

f (ab) = f(a)  f(b)

• If f is also one to one and onto then f is

called an isomorphism between G and G.
 Example

• Let f:( R, + )  ( R+ , ×) is defined as

f(x) = ex for all x in R,
where, R  set of real numbers and
R+ set of positive real numbers
• x, y  R then f(x) = ex and f(y) = ey
f(x+y) = ex+y = ex×ey = f(x)×f(y)
So f is a homomorphism.
• Is f an isomorphism 
 ORDER
• Order of a group = number of elements in the group
• Order of an element of a group
• Let (G ,) be a group, a  G and e is identity. Order of
an element a is the least positive integer n such that
aaaa…a (n times) = e (identity)
or
an = e if ‘’ is ‘×’
na = e if ‘’ is ‘+’
Note: If there exists no positive integer n such that an = e
or na = e then we say that a is of order infinity or zero.
 Subgroup
• A non empty subset H of a group G is
called a subgroup of G if H itself is a group
under the operation of G.

• G={-1,1,i,-i} and H={1,-1}

then (H, ×)  (G, ×)
 THEOREM
• A nonempty subset H of a group (G, *) is a
subgroup of G if and only if
a  H, b  H  a*b-1H
where b-1 is the inverse of b in G.
Note:
a  H, b  H  a×b-1H (if * is ×)
a  H, b  H  a-bH (if * is +)
Example 1 : If a is an element of a group (Ro, ) then the
group formed by the integral powers of a form a subgroup
of (Ro, ).

Example 2 : Consider the set

S={a/2n : a is any integer, n is a fixed integer  0}
then S is a subgroup of the additive group of
rational numbers.
Theorem: If H and K are the two subgroups of a
group (G, *) then HK is a subgroup of G.
Proof:
If H is a subgroup of G then
a  H, b  H  a*b-1  H.
Let a  HK and b  HK
a  HK  a  H and a  K,
b  HK  b  H and b  K
aH and bH  a*b-1  H
Similarly aK and bK  a*b-1  K
Now a*b-1  H and a*b-1  K  a*b-1  HK
 HK is a subgroup of G
Addition and Multiplication modulo
• Addition modulo n
a+nb = r, 0 ≤ r < n
• r = least nonnegative remainder when a+b is
divided by n.
• example : 12+37 = 1, 21+1130= 7
• Multiplication modulo m
• amb = r, 0 ≤ r < m
• r = least nonnegative remainder when ab is
divided by m.
• Example: 1258 = 1, 1375 = 2
Composition table for addition modulo 8
G=({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7}, +8)
Composition table for multiplication modulo 5
G=({1,2,3,4}, ×5)

5
1 2 3 4

1 1 2 3 4
2 2 4 1 3
3 3 1 4 2
4 4 3 2 1
• Exercise 1. Show that the set {0,1,2,3,4,5}
is a finite abelian group under addition
modulo 6.
• Exercise 2. Show that the set {1,3,4,5,9} is
an abelian group under multiplication
modulo 11.
 Cyclic Group
• A group G is called cyclic if, for some
aG, every element xG is of the form an,
where n is some integer.
• a is said to be a generator of the group G.

Example: Let G={1, -1, i, -i} be a group with respect to

the binary operation ‘ × ‘ . Then G is a cyclic group and i
and –i are the generators of group G.
 Properties of Cyclic Group
• Every cyclic group is an abelian group.
• If a finite group of order n contains an
element of order n, then the group must be
cyclic.
Example: Show that G=({1,2,3,4,5,6}, ×7) is cyclic group.
How many generators are there ?

O(a) = O(G) : other than identity.

 RING
A ring is an algebraic structure (R,+,×) consisting of
a nonempty set R, with two binary operations
denoted by (+) and (×) respectively, satisfying the
following postulates.
R1- (R,+) is an abelian group.
R2- (R,×) is semi group.
R3- Semi group operation (×) is distributive over
the group operation(+).
a×(b+c) = a×b + a×c
EXAMPLE:(I,+,×),(R,+,×),
({0,1,2,3,4,5},+ × ).
• If operation of multiplication is commutative, it forms a
commutative ring. If multiplicative identity exists in a ring, we
call it ring with unity or ring with unity element.

• Ring with zero divisors – A ring (R,+,×) is said to ring with zero
divisors, if there exist non-zero elements a,bR such that a×b=0.
In such a case, a and b are called zero divisors.

• Example:({0,1,2,3,4,5},+6,×6).
2 ×6 3=0 , 4 ×6 3=0,
1 0  0 0  0 0
1 
 0 1 
1  0 0
 INTEGRAL DOMAIN
The system (D,+,×) is an integral domain if
D1- (D,+) is an abelian group.
D2- (D,×) is commutative semi group with unity.
D3- Multiplication operation is distributive over
addition.
D4- (D,+,×) is free of zero divisors.
OR
A commutative ring with unity and without proper
zero divisors is called an integral domain.
i) The ring of integers (Z,+,×) is an integral
domain since it is commutative ring with
unity and for any two integers a,b, ab=0
implies a=0 or b=0(no zero divisors).

ii) The ring of real numbers (R,+,×) is an

integral domain.
 FIELD
The system (F,+,×) is a field if,
F1- (F,+) is an abelian group.
F2- (F0,×) is an abelian group.
F3- Multiplication is distributive w.r.t addition.
OR
A commutative ring with unity is called a field if it
contains multiplicative inverse of every non-zero
element.
Ex. The systems (Q,+,×), (R,+,×), (C,+,×) are all
fields.
 . a
that the set S of all matrices of the form 
b
Show  - b a ,
 
where a, b  R is a field with respect to matrix
addition and matrix multiplication.
 a b
Solution : Let M(a, b)   
- b a 
1. Closure : Here M(a, b)  M(c, d)  M(a  c, b  d)
& M  a, b  M  c, d   M  ac  bd, ad  bc .
2. Commutati ve law :
M a, b  , M c, d   S
M a , b   M c, d   M c, d   M a , b 
M a , b  M c, d   M c, d  M a , b  M a , b  & M c, d   S
3. Associative law : Addition and multiplication for matrices
over R being associative.

4.Existence of Identity : M 0,0  is the additive of M a, b 

& M1,0 is the multiplicative identity
as M a, b   M  0,0  M a , b 
5. Existence of additive inverse : M - a,-b  is additive
inverse of M a, b  , since M  a, b   M  - a,-b   M 0,0
6. Existence of Multiplicative Inverse :
If a 2  b 2  0, then the matrix M  a a 2  b 2 ,  b a 2  b 2 
is the multiplicative inverse of M a, b .

7. Distributive law : Since matrix - multiplication

distribute itself over matrix addition for matrices
over R, it is true for all matrices in S.
Hence S is a field.
• Theorem : Every field is an integral domain.
But every integral domain is not a field.

• Proof: Comparing definition of integral domain

with that of field we observe that both are
commutative rings with unity. In field every non
zero element has its multiplicative inverse, where
as integral domain is free of zero divisors. Since
a field f is a commutative ring with unity,
therefore in order to show the every field is an
integral domain we have to show that a field has
no zero divisors.
•Let a,b be elements of F such that a.b=0 with
a  0 , a-1 exists and we have
ab  0  a 1 (ab )  a 1 0
 (a 1a )b  0
 1b  0.
b  0.
Similarly , Let ab  0 and b  0.
Since b  0, b 1 exists we have
ab  0  (ab )b 1  0b 1
 a(bb 1 )  0  a1  0  a  0.
• Thus in a field ab=0  a=0 or b=0.
Therefore, a field has no zero divisors.
Hence every field is an integral domain.
• But the converse is not true i.e. every
integral domain is not a field. For example
the ring of integers is an integral domain but
it is not a field. The only invertible elements
of the ring of integers are 1 and –1.
• Ex. Consider the ring Z5={0,1,2,3,4,5} with integer
modulo 6. Find the additive and multiplicative
inverse of 2, 3 and 5 if they exist. Also find the root
of the f(x)=x+3.