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Proof of Lagrange's Theorem

theoremthm:lagrange-2026a
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Reason: Initial publication of the proof of thm:lagrange-2026a.

Proof

Step 1: the three sets have a number of elements. By claim 3 of Uniqueness of the Identity Element and of Inverses in a Group the set GG is nonempty, and it is finite by hypothesis, so it has nn elements for some natural number n=∣G∣n=|G|.

The subgroup HH is a subset of GG and is nonempty, since eG∈He_G\in H by condition 1 of Subgroup. Hence claim 3 of Basic Properties of Finite Sets shows that HH has tt elements for some t∈Nt\in\mathbb{N}, and t=∣H∣t=|H|.

The map q:Gβ†’G/Hq:G\to G/H defined by q(a)=aHq(a)=aH is surjective, because by Left Coset, Order of a Group, and Index of a Subgroup every element of G/HG/H is of the form aHaH for some a∈Ga\in G. Hence claim 4 of Basic Properties of Finite Sets shows that G/HG/H is finite and nonempty and has rr elements for some r∈Nr\in\mathbb{N}, and r=[G:H]r=[G:H].

Step 2: the left cosets form a partition indexed by [r][r]. Let Ξ¦:[r]β†’G/H\Phi:[r]\to G/H be a bijection from the initial segment [r][r] onto G/HG/H, which exists because G/HG/H has rr elements. For i∈[r]i\in[r] put Bi=Ξ¦(i)B_i=\Phi(i); each BiB_i is an element of G/HG/H, hence a left coset of HH and in particular a subset of GG.

We verify the three hypotheses of Counting a Partition into Blocks of Equal Cardinality for the set X=GX=G and the subsets BiB_i, i∈[r]i\in[r].

Hypothesis 1. Let x∈Gx\in G. The left coset xHxH is an element of G/HG/H, so by surjectivity of Φ\Phi there is i∈[r]i\in[r] with Bi=Φ(i)=xHB_i=\Phi(i)=xH. By claim 1 of Left Cosets Partition a Group and All Have the Same Cardinality we have x∈xH=Bix\in xH=B_i.

Hypothesis 2. Let i,iβ€²βˆˆ[r]i,i'\in[r] with iβ‰ iβ€²i\ne i'. Since Ξ¦\Phi is injective by claim 1 of Injectivity, Composition, and Restriction of Bijections, we have Biβ‰ Biβ€²B_i\ne B_{i'}. Write Bi=aHB_i=aH and Biβ€²=bHB_{i'}=bH with a,b∈Ga,b\in G. If Bi∩Biβ€²B_i\cap B_{i'} were nonempty, claim 3 of Left Cosets Partition a Group and All Have the Same Cardinality would give aH=bHaH=bH, i.e. Bi=Biβ€²B_i=B_{i'}, a contradiction. Hence Bi∩Biβ€²=βˆ…B_i\cap B_{i'}=\emptyset.

Hypothesis 3. Each BiB_i is a left coset, say Bi=aHB_i=aH, and HH has tt elements by Step 1, so claim 4 of Left Cosets Partition a Group and All Have the Same Cardinality shows that BiB_i has tt elements.

Step 3: proof of claim 1. By Counting a Partition into Blocks of Equal Cardinality, the set GG has tβ‹…rt\cdot r elements. Since GG also has nn elements, Uniqueness of the Number of Elements gives n=tβ‹…rn=t\cdot r, that is

∣G∣=∣Hβˆ£β€‰[G:H].|G|=|H|\,[G:H].

Together with the finiteness and nonemptiness of HH and G/HG/H established in Step 1, this proves claim 1.

Step 4: proof of claim 2. By Step 1 the index [G:H][G:H] is an element of N\mathbb{N}, and by Step 3 we have ∣G∣=∣Hβˆ£β‹…[G:H]|G|=|H|\cdot[G:H]. Taking c=[G:H]c=[G:H] in the definition of divisibility shows that ∣H∣|H| divides ∣G∣|G|.

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