Cyclic Group Supplement

Theorem 1. Let be an element of a group and write

{ }
= : .

Then is a subgroup of .

Proof. Since 1 = 0 , 1 . Suppose , . Then = , = and = = + .

Hence (note that + ). Moreover, 1 = ( )1 = and , so that
1 . Thus, we have checked the three conditions necessary for to be a subgroup of .

Denition 2. If , then the subgroup = { : } is called the cyclic subgroup of

generated by , If = , then we say that is a cyclic group and that is a generator of
.

Examples 3. 1. If is any group then {1} = 1 is a cyclic subgroup of .

2. The group = {1, 1, , } (the group operation is multiplication of complex num-

bers) is cyclic with generator . In fact = {0 = 1, 1 = , 2 = 1, 3 = } = . Note that
is also a generator for since = {()0 = 1, ()1 = , ()2 = 1, ()3 = } = .
Thus a cyclic group may have more than one generator. However, not all elements of need
be generators. For example 1 = {1, 1} = so 1 is not a generator of .

3. The group = 7 = the group of units of the ring 7 is a cyclic group with generator 3.
Indeed,
3 = {1 = 30 , 3 = 31 , 2 = 32 , 6 = 33 , 4 = 34 , 5 = 35 } = .
Note that 5 is also a generator of , but that 2 = {1, 2, 4} =
so that 2 is not a generator
of .

4. = = { : } is a cyclic subgroup of .

5. The group = 8 is not cyclic. Indeed, since 8 = {1, 3, 5, 7} and 1 = {1}, 3 = {1, 3},
5 = {1, 5}, 7 = {1, 7}, it follows that 8 = for any 8 .
If a group is written additively, then the identity element is denoted 0, the inverse of
is denoted , and the powers of become in additive notation. Thus, with this notation,
the cyclic subgroup of generated by is = { : }, consisting of all the multiples of
. Among groups that are normally written additively, the following are two examples of cyclic
groups.

6. The integers are a cyclic group. Indeed, = 1 since each integer = 1 is a multiple
of 1, so 1 and 1 = . Also, = 1 because = () (1) for each .

7. is a cyclic group under addition with generator 1.

Theorem 4. Let be an element of a group . Then there are two possibilities for the cyclic
subgroup .

Case 1: The cyclic subgroup is nite. In this case, there exists a smallest positive integer
such that = 1 and we have

(a) = 1 if and only if .

(b) = if and only if (mod ).

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 Cyclic Group Supplement

(c) = {1, , 2 , . . . , 1 } and the elements 1, , 2 , . . . , 1 are distinct.

Case 2: The cyclic subgroup is innite. Then

(d) = 1 if and only if = 0.

(e) = if and only if = .
(f ) = {. . . , 3 , 2 , 1 , 1, , 2 , 3 , . . .} and all of these powers of are distinct.

Proof. Case 1. Since is nite, the powers , 2 , 3 , . . . are not all distinct, so let = with
< . Then = 1 where > 0. Hence there is a positive integer with = 1. Hence
there is a smallest such positive integer. We let be this smallest positive integer, i.e., is the
smallest positive integer such that = 1.
(a) If then = for some . Then = = ( ) = 1 = 1. Conversely, if = 1,
use the division algorithm to write = + with 0 < . Then = ( ) = 1(1) = 1.
Since < , this contradicts the minimality of unless = 0. Hence = 0 and = so that .
(b) = if and only if = 1. Now apply Part (a).
(c) Clearly, {1, , 2 , . . . , 1 } . To prove the other inclusion, let . Then =
for some . As in Part (a), use the division algorithm to write = + , where 0 1.
Then
= = + = ( ) = 1 = {1, , 2 , . . . , 1 }
which shows that {1, , 2 , . . . , 1 }, and hence that

= {1, , 2 , . . . , 1 }.

Finally, suppose that = where 0 1. Then = 1 and 0 < . This

implies that = 0 because is the smallest positive power of which equals 1. Hence all of
the elements 1, , 2 , . . . , 1 are distinct.
Case 2. (d) Certainly, = 1 if = 0. If = 1, = 0, then = ( )1 = 11 = 1, also.
Hence = 1 for some > 0, which implies that is nite by the proof of Part (c), contrary to
our hypothesis in Case 2. Thus = 1 implies that = 0.
(e) = if and only if = 1. Now apply Part (d).
(f) = { : } by denition of , so all that remains is to check that these powers are
distinct. But this is the content of Part (e).

Recall that if is an element of a group , then the order of is the smallest positive integer
such that = 1, and it is denoted () = . If there is no such positive integer, then we say
that has innite order, denoted () = . By Theorem 4, the concept of order of an element
and order of the cyclic subgroup generated by are the same.

Corollary 5. If is an element of a group , then () = .

Proof. This is immediate from Theorem 4, Part (c).

If is a cyclic group of order , then it is easy to compute the order of all elements of . This
is the content of the following result.

Theorem 6. Let = be a cyclic group of order , and let 0 1. If = gcd(, ),

then ( ) = .

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 Cyclic Group Supplement

Proof. Let = and = . Then ( )/ = / = / = ( ) = 1 = 1. Hence /

divides ( ) by Theorem 4 Part (a). Now suppose that ( ) = 1. Then = 1, so by Theorem
3 Part (a), . Hence



and since / and / are relatively prime, it follows that / divides . Hence / is the
smallest power of which equals 1, so ( ) = /.

Theorem 7. Let = be a cyclic group where () = . Then = if and only if

gcd(, ) = 1.
Proof. By Theorem 6, if = gcd(, ), then ( ) = /. But = if and only if ( ) =
= and this happens if and only if = 1, i.e., if and only if gcd(, ) = 1.

Example 8. If = is a cyclic group of order 12, then the generators of are the powers
where gcd(, 12) = 1, that is , 5 , 7 , and 11 . In the particular case of the additive cyclic group
12 , the generators are the integers 1, 5, 7, 11 (mod 12).
Now we ask what the subgroups of a cyclic group look like. The question is completely answered
by Theorem 10. Theorem 9 is a preliminary, but important, result.
Theorem 9. Every subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic.
Proof. Suppose that = = { : } is a cyclic group and let be a subgroup of . If
= {1}, then is cyclic, so we assume that = {1}, and let with = 1. Then, since
is a subgroup, = ( )1 . Therefore, since or is positive, contains a positive power
of , not equal to 1. So let be the smallest positive integer such that . Then, certainly
all powers of are also in , so we have . We claim that this inclusion is an equality.
To see this, let be any element of (recall that all elements of , and hence , are powers of
since is cyclic). By the division algorithm, we may write = + where 0 < . But
= + = = ( ) so that
= ( ) .
Since is the smallest positive integer with and 0 < , it follows that we must have
= 0. Then = ( ) . Hence we have shown that and hence = . That
is is cyclic with generator where is the smallest positive integer for which .

Theorem 10 (Fundamental Theorem of Finite Cyclic Groups). Let = be a cyclic

group of order .
1. If is any subgroup of , then = for some .
2. If is any subgroup of with = , then .
3. If , then / is the unique subgroup of of order .
Proof. 1. By Theorem 9, is a cyclic group and since = < , it follows that =
where > 0. Let = gcd(, ). Since it is sucient to show that = . But
also, so = . Then = ( ) so . Hence = . But = + ,
where , , so
= + = = ( ) ( ) = ( ) (1) = ( ) = .
This shows that and hence = .

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 Cyclic Group Supplement

2. By Part (a), = where . Then = = / so .

3. Suppose that is any subgroup of of order . By Part (a), let = where .

Then Theorem 6 gives = = = /. Hence = /, so = / . This proves
(c).

Remark 11. Part (b) of Theorem 10 is actually true for any nite group , whether or not it is
cyclic. This result is Lagranges Theorem (Theorem 4.7, Page 78 of Lax).

The subgroups of a group can be diagrammatically illustrated by listing the subgroups, and
indicating inclusion relations by means of a line directed upward from to if is a subgroup
of . Such a scheme is called the lattice diagram for the subgroups of the group . We will
illustrate by determining the lattice diagram for all the subgroups of a cyclic group = of
order 12. Since the order of is 12, Theorem 10 (c) shows that there is exactly one subgroup
for each divisor of 12. The divisors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12. Then the unique subgroup of of
each of these orders is, respectively,

{1} = 12 , 6 , 4 , 3 , 2 , = .

Note that if and only if . Hence the lattice diagram of is:

2 3

4 6