Sylow's theorem

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This article gives the statement, and possibly proof, of a basic fact in group theory.
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Statement

Verbal statement

The Sylow's theorem(s) give(s) information about the existence of p-Sylow subgroups of a finite group, as well as the relation among them. More specifically, given a finite group:

  • Existence: For any prime p, there exists a p-Sylow subgroup
  • Conjugacy: Any two p-Sylow subgroups are conjugate in the whole group
  • Domination: Any p-subgroup is contained inside some p-Sylow subgroup
  • Congruence: The number of p-Sylow subgroups divides the index of any p-Sylow subgroup and is also congruent to 1 modulo p.

Symbolic statement

Let G be a finite group and p a prime. A subgroup of G is termed a p-Sylow subgroup if its order is a power of p and its index is relatively prime to p. Then Sylow's theorem states that:

  • Existence: There exists a p-Sylow subgroup P of G
  • Conjugacy: If P and Q are p-Sylow subgroups of G then there exists g in G such that gPg1=Q viz P and Q are conjugate subgroups)
  • Domination: Let P be a p-Sylow subgroup and Q a p-group. Then there exists a g in G such that gQg1P.
  • Congruence: Let Sylp(G) denote the set of p-Sylow subgroups of G and np denote the cardinality of Sylp(G). Then, np1modp.