Tour:Generating set of a group
From Groupprops
This article adapts material from the main article: generating set of a group
This page is part of the Groupprops guided tour for beginners (Jump to beginning of tour)
PREVIOUS: Lagrange's theorem| UP: Introduction three (beginners)| NEXT: Subgroup generated by a subset
General instructions for the tour | Pedagogical notes for the tour | Pedagogical notes for this part
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:PONDER: To what extent is a group described by its generating set? What do you think are the possible ways in which generating sets may be important?
- Understand the two definitions of generating set of a group.
- Convince yourself that the two definitions are equivalent.
Contents
Definition
Symbol-free definition
A subset of a group is termed a generating set if it satisfies the following equivalent conditions:
- Every element of the group can be expressed as a word in terms of the elements of this subset, i.e., it can be expressed using the elements of the subset by means of the group operations of multiplication and inversion. (note that if the subset is a symmetric subset, i.e., it contains the identity and is closed under taking inverses, then every element of the group must be a product of elements in the subset. Symmetric subsets arise, for instance, when we take a union of subgroups).
- There is no proper subgroup of the group containing this subset
The elements of the generating set are termed generators (the term is best used collectively for the generating set, rather than for the elements in isolation).
Definition with symbols
A subset of a group
is termed a generating set if it satisfies the following equivalent conditions:
- For any element
, we can write:
where for each , either
or
(here, the
s are not necessarily distinct). In the situation where
is a symmetric subset (i.e.
) we do not need to throw in inverses. This happens, for instance, when
is a union of subgroups of
.
- If
is a proper subgroup of
(i.e.
is a subgroup of
that is not equal to the whole of
), then
cannot contain
.
Examples
Extreme examples
- The set of all elements of a group is a generating set for the group. It is also the largest possible generating set.
- The set of all non-identity elements of a group is a generating set for the group.
- If
is a subset of a group
such that every element of
is a power of some element of
, then
is a generating set for
.
Some examples in abelian groups
- In the group of integers under addition, the singleton set
is a generating set. This is because every integer can be written as a sum of
s or
s.
- In the group of integers under addition, the two-element set
is a generating set. To see this, note that every integer can expressed as a sum of
s or
s, and both
and
can be expressed in terms of
and
.
- In the group of rational numbers, the set of all unit fractions
, form a generating set.
This page is part of the Groupprops guided tour for beginners. Make notes of any doubts, confusions or comments you have about this page before proceeding.
PREVIOUS: Lagrange's theorem| UP: Introduction three (beginners)| NEXT: Subgroup generated by a subset