Homepage Solution manuals David S. Dummit Abstract Algebra Exercise 1.1.20 ($x$ and $x^{-1}$ have the same order)

Exercise 1.1.20 ($x$ and $x^{-1}$ have the same order)

For x an element in G show that x and x 1 have the same order.

Answers

Proof. By Exercise 19, ( x 1 ) n = ( x n ) 1 = x n for any n . If x 1 has infinite order, then ( x 1 ) n 1 for all integers n , thus x n 1 for all n , so x has infinite order. Similarly the converse is true, so

| x | = | x 1 | = .

Suppose now that x has finite order. For all n ,

n | x | x n = 1 ( x n ) 1 = 1 ( x 1 ) n = 1 n | x 1 | .

So for all n

n | x | n | x 1 | .

For n = | x | , we obtain that | x | divides | x 1 | , and for n = | x 1 | , this shows that | x 1 | divides | x | . Therefore

| x | = | x 1 | .

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2026-01-07 12:22
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