On Quotient Structures of Z n

Joseph A. Gallian
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Minnesota, Duluth
Duluth, Minnesota 55812
Robert S. Johnson
Department of Mathematics
Washington and Lee University
Lexington, Virginia 24450
Shiaoling Peng
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Minnesota, Duluth
Duluth, Minnesota 55812
September 19, 2008

Cyclic groups, direct products, quotient (factor) groups, group generators and isomorphisms are fundamental concepts in an undergraduate abstract algebra course. Moreover, the group of lattice points in Euclidian
n-space arises in many contexts. This note was prompted by a question that
involves all of these notions. Namely, what is the structure of the group

Z/h(a, b)i? This question naturally leads to related ones such as the

structures of the group Z n /h(a1 , a2 , , an )i, the ring Z n /h(a1 , a2 , , an )i,

the group Q
R

Q/h(a, b)i, the group R

R/h(a, b)i and the vector space

R/h(a, b)i over R. To make the matter even more encompassing, the

analysis invokes a bit of linear algebra as well.

It is our opinion that specific instances of these questions are useful as
classroom examples, exercises and exam problems as they challenge students
to synthesize many important concepts (see [1, pp. 154, 158] and [2, p. 154]).
We proceed with the answer to our first question.

Theorem 1.

Z/h(a, b)i Z

Zgcd(a,b)

Proof. To simplify the notation we let G = Z

Z, H = h(a, b)i and

d = gcd(a, b). First, we observe that G/H is infinite. For if a 6= b, then

(1, 1) + H has infinite order while if a = b, (1, 0) + H has infinite order.
Next, write a = a0 d, b = b0 d and 1 = a0 s + b0 t. We claim that G/H is
generated by (t, s) + H and (a0 , b0 ) + H. To verify the claim let (m, n) + H
be an arbitrary element of G/H and observe that because 1 = a0 s + b0 t is the
determinant of the linear system
tx + a0 y = m
2

(s)x + b0 y = n
there are integers x and y so that
(m, n) + H = (tx + a0 y, sx + b0 y) + H
= x(t, s) + H + y(a0 , b0 ) + H
= x((t, s) + H) + y((a0 , b0 ) + H).
This establishes the claim.
Next, note that d((a0 , b0 ) + H) = (a, b) + H = H so that h(a0 , b0 ) + Hi is
isomorphic to Zd . Moreover, since G/H is infinite, it follows that (t, s) + H
must have infinite order and therefore is isomorphic to Z. We complete the
proof by noting that h(t, s) + Hi h(a0 , b0 ) + Hi is the identity ( since every
T

element of the subgroup on the left has finite order while every nonidentity
element in the subgroup on the right has infinite order).
Since Z1 is the trivial group, we have the following corollary.

Corollary 1. Z

Z/h(a, b)i is cyclic if and only if gcd(a, b) = 1.

In an Abelian group the subgroup comprised of the elements of finite

order is called the torsion subgroup. As another corollary of Theorem 1, we
have the structure of the torsion subgroup of Z

Z/h(a, b)i.

Corollary 2. The torsion subgroup of Z

The structure of Z

Z/h(a, b)i is isomorphic to Zgcd(a,b) .

Z/h(a, b)i as well as generators of the finite and

infinite direct factors can be readily determined geometrically as follows. In

the real plane, let L(a, b) be the line segment from (0,0) to (a, b) with (0,0)
deleted. Then Z

Z/h(a, b)i is cyclic if and only if (a, b) is the only lattice

point on L(a, b); the order of the finite direct factor is the number of lattice
points on L(a, b); a coset representative of a generator of the finite direct
factor is the lattice point on L(a, b) nearest to (0,0); a coset representative of
a generator of the infinite direct factor is the lattice point closest to L(a, b)
and nearest to (0,0).
To illustrate, we consider Z

Z/h(8, 12)i. From the figure below we

see that the group is not cyclic; the order of the finite direct factor is 4; a
generator of the finite direct factor is (2, 3) + h(8, 12)i; and a generator of the
infinite direct factor is (1, 1) + h(8, 12)i.
Continuing with the notation introduced in the proof of Theorem 1, letting T denote the torsion subgroup of G/H (i.e., the subgroup isomorphic
to Zgcd(a,b) ), and L the line in the real plane joining (0,0) and (a, b), we can
also give a description of the cosets of T in G/H. For k > 0, the elements
of k(t, s) + T are the lattice points in the plane that are above L and a


distance k/ a02 + b02 from L; for k < 0, the elements of k(t, s) + T are

the lattice points in the plane that are below L and a distance |k|/ a02 + b02
from L.

Place figure near here.

Theorem 1 and its corollaries have natural extensions to higher dimensions. The proof of the general case is analogous to the n = 2 case and entails
a (non-routine) induction argument to prove the existence of the generators.

Theorem 2.

Z n /h(a1 , a2 , , an )i Z n1

Corollary 1.

Z n /h(a1 , a2 , , an )i is torsion-free if and only if

Zgcd(a1 ,a2 ,,an )

gcd(a1 , a2 , , an ) = 1.

The torsion subgroup of Z n /h(a1 , a2 , , an )i is isomorphic

Corollary 2.
to Zgcd(a1 ,a2 ,,an ) .
For Z

Z/h(a, b, c)i, we may obtain explicit generators by putting

d = gcd(a, b, c), a = a0 d, b = b0 d, c = c0 d;
d0 = gcd(b0 , c0 ), b0 = b1 d0 , c0 = c1 d;
a0 x1 + d0 y1 = 1

b1 x2 + c1 y2 = 1.
The three coset representatives of the generators are : (a0 , b0 , c0 ),
(y1 , b1 x1 , c1 x1 ) and (0, y2 , x2 ). Verification is left to the reader.
In sharp contrast to the simple description of the structure of the factor
group Z

Z/h(a, b)i, a determination of the structure of the correspond-

ing group with Z replaced by the additive group of rational numbers, real
numbers or complex numbers is a bit beyond the scope of an undergraduate
abstract algebra text. It turns out that in all of these cases the factor group is
isomorphic to the direct product of groups that are isomorphic to the group
of rational numbers and the group Q/Z. (See Section 5.2 of [3] for details.)
To round out our discussion we answer three related questions that might
naturally occur to students.
1. What is the structure of Z n /h(a1 , 0, , 0)i h(0, a2 , 0, , 0)i
h(0, 0, , an )i?
2. Viewing Z n as a ring and h(a1 , a2 , , an )i as the principal ideal generated by (a1 , a2 , , an ), what is the structure of the ring
Z n /h(a1 , a2 , , an )i?
3. Viewing Rn as a vector space over R and h(a1 , a2 , , an )i as the sub-

space spanned by (a1 , a2 , , an ), what is the structure of the vector

space Rn /h(a1 , a2 , , an )i?
It is straightforward (in fact, good exercises for students) to prove that
(yes, you guessed it) the answer to Question 1 is the group
Za1

Za2

Zan ; the answer to Question 2 is the ring Za1

and the answer the Question 3 is the vector space Rn1 .

Za 2

Za n ;

References

1. John B. Fraleigh, A First Course in Abstract Algebra, 4th ed. AddisonWesley, Reading, MA, 1989.
2. Joseph A. Gallian, Contemporary Abstract Algebra, 2nd ed. D.C.
Heath, Lexington, MA, 1990.
3. W.R. Scott, Group Theory, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1964.