(New page: Looking at Example 4 by Theorem 5.4 (on page 103 in 7th Ed) we see that we can show all possible ''n''-cycle combinations of Sn. (Example uses S7) <pre> If we do this for A5 we get: --(5)...)
 
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--20 ord=3,
 
--20 ord=3,
 
--15 ord=2
 
--15 ord=2
--~~~~
 
 
</pre>
 
</pre>
 +
--[[User:Bcaulkin|Bcaulkin]] 04:43, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

Revision as of 23:43, 28 January 2009

Looking at Example 4 by Theorem 5.4 (on page 103 in 7th Ed) we see that we can show all possible n-cycle combinations of Sn. (Example uses S7)

If we do this for A5 we get:
--(5)
--(3)(1)(1)
--(2)(2)(1)
with orders 5, 3, and 2 respectively.

For the (5) set, recall combinatorics. The number of possible permutations of 5 objects is 5!. However, for this to be a 5-cycle, no item may map to itself. Thus, each of the 5 positions in the permutation has only 4 possible places to map. Thus the number of ways to map a 5-cycle is 4! which is 24!

For (3)(1)(1), the first obstacle is to choose which 3 to permute. You have 10 choices. Similar to (5), each position has only 2 options. We know that the number of possible k-cycle mappings is (k-1)! So, we have 10 * (3-1)! = 20!!

Lastly, for (2)(2)(1), we choose from 5, 2 to permute first. From the remaining 3, we choose 2 again to permute. Since these two sets of choices are independent, they are multiplicative. So, we have (5 nCr 2)*(3 nCr 2) = 30. However, each combination of 2-cycles is counted twice (since (1,2)(3,4)=(3,4)(1,2)). Thus, we divide by 2 to eliminate the duplicates and we get 15!

Thus we have shown that there exists:
--24 ord=5,
--20 ord=3,
--15 ord=2

--Bcaulkin 04:43, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

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