Math 122 - Definitions

Adam Ehrenberg
December 15, 2015

1 Intro to Groups
Definition 1.1 (Group). A group is set G fitted with a composition law · : G → G that satisfies the
following axioms:
1. Associativity: a(bc) = (ab)c
2. Identity: ∃e ∈ G such that eg = ge = g for all g ∈ G
3. Inverses: ∀g ∈ G, ∃!h ∈ G such that gh = hg = e.
Note that all groups are non-empty. That is, the smallest group is the trivial group {e}.
Definition 1.2 (Abelian). An abelian group is a commutative group. That is, gh = hg for all g, h ∈ G.
Definition 1.3 (General Linear Group, etc.). The General Linear Group GLn (R) is the set of all n × n
invertible matrices with coefficients in R. Analogous definitions exist for C and other fields. Furthermore,
one can take the General Linear Group of a Vector space V to be GL(V ), which is the set of all invertible
endomorphisms of V . Even further, the special linear group SLn (F) ⊂ GLn (F) is a subgroup consisting
matrices of determinant 1.
Definition 1.4 (Symmetric Group, etc.). The symmetric group on n letters, Sn , consists of the permutations
of n letters. The sign of a permutation is defined to to be the number of transpositions that permutation is
made out of. The alternating group on n letters is a subgroup of Sn consisting of even permutations.
Definition 1.5 (Cyclic Group). The cyclic group generated by x is the set:

{. . . , x−2 , x−1 , e, x, x2 , . . . }

It is often denoted hxi

Definition 1.6 (Group Homomorphism). A map ϕ : G → G0 is a group homomorphism if:

ϕ(ab) = ϕ(a)ϕ(b)

for all a, b ∈ G. That is, ϕ respects multiplication. Note that the kernel of ϕ is a subgroup of G and the
image of ϕ is a subgroup of G0 . A homomorphism is an isomorphism if it is bijective.
Definition 1.7 (Fiber). Given a homomorphism ϕ : G → G0 and an element t inG0 , the fiber of t is:

{s ∈ G | ϕ(s) = t}

Definition 1.8 (Coset, Index, Lagrange’s Theorem). Given a subgroup H ⊂ G, the left cosets of H in G
are:
aH = {g ∈ G | ∃h ∈ H =⇒ g = ah}
An analogous definition exists for right cosets. These sets partition G (they form an equivalence relation).

1
Math 122 Definitions Ehrenberg 2

The index of H in G is [G : H] and it is the number of cosets of H.

Cosets of the kernel of ϕ : G → G0 are in bijective correspondence with the image. Therefore for the
order of the image is equal to the number of cosets. Therefore:

|G| = | ker(ϕ)| · |ϕ(G)|

Theorem 1.1 (Lagrange’s Theorem). The cosets all have the same order (h 7→ ah bijective). Therefore the
order of a subgroup divides the order of the group.
Definition 1.9 (Group Action). A group G operates (acts) on a set S if ∃f : G → Aut(S). The automor-
phisms of S form a group, so this f is a group homomorphism. That is:

f (gh)(s) = (f (g) ◦ f (h))(s)

We usually shorthand f (g)(s) to g(s).

If S is a group, or a vector space, or any other algebraic structure, for that matter, we replace Aut(S)
with the appropriate homomorphic structure (group homomorphism, linear map, etc.).
Definition 1.10 (Orbit). Let G act on S. The orbit Os of s ∈ S is:

Os = {s0 ∈ S|∃g ∈ G such that g(s) = s0 }

Note that the orbits form a partition of G. That is:

G
G= Os
s∈S

Definition 1.11 (Center). The center of a group G is the set of elements that commute with all other
elements. That is:
Z(G) = {h ∈ G | hg = gh, ∀g ∈ G}
Definition 1.12 (Normal Subgroup). A subgroup H ⊂ G is normal if and only if:

gHg −1 = {ghg −1 | h ∈ H} = H

Thus, a subgroup is normal if and only if it is the union of conjugacy classes (where a conjugacy class is the
orbit of s under the group action of conjugation).

Note that the kernel of any group homomorphism is a normal subgroup.

Definition 1.13 (Quotient Group). Let H be a normal subgroup H / G (note: normality is key here). The
cosets here form a group called the quotient group with group law:

(aH) · (bH) = (ab)H

Also note that the coset H is the identity.

Theorem 1.2 (First Isomorphism Theorem for Groups). Let f : G → G0 be a group homomorphism. Then
there is an isomorphism f¯ : G/H → Im(f ) where H / G is the kernel of f .
f
G im(f )
π
f¯
G/H

Definition 1.14 (Simple). A group G is simple if its only normal subgroups are {e} and itself.
Math 122 Definitions Ehrenberg 3

2 Vector Spaces and Linear Algebra

Definition 2.1 (Field). A field is a set equipped with two operations, (F, +, ·) such that:
1. (F, +) is an abelian group (identity is 0).
2. (F \ {0}, ·) is an abelian group (identity is 1).
3. (a + b)(c) = ac + bc for all a, b, c ∈ F
4. (a)(b + c) = ab + ac for all a, b, c ∈ F .
Definition 2.2 (Vector Space). A vector space over a field F is a set equipped with two maps:
1. + : V × V → V
2. · : F × V → V
that satisfies the following axioms:
1. (V, +) is an abelian group
2. 1 · v = v
3. a(bv) = (ab)v
4. (a + b)v = av + bv
5. a(v + w) = av + aw
Definition 2.3 (Spanning). Consider a set S = {v1 , . . . vn , . . . }. If any vector v ∈ V can be written as a
finite linear combination of elements in S, then S is spanning.
Definition 2.4 (Linear Independence). A set S is linearly independent if no vector is in the span of the
others. Alternatively, a set is linearly independent if and only if a linear combination of elements yielding
zero implies that the combination is empty (all coefficients of vectors are 0).
Definition 2.5 (Basis). A basis is a linearly independent set of vectors that span a vector space. The size
of this basis is called the dimension of the vector space. A basis is a maximally-sized linearly independent
set, or a minimally-sized spanning set.
Definition 2.6 (Quotient Space). Let V be a finite-dimensional F vector space (fin-dim F -vs). Let W be
subspace W ⊂ V . Then the quotient space V /W is the quotient space, and it is a vector space, with vectors
v + W (cosets, not subspaces). This quotient space is:
1. Quotient group on the cosets:

(v + W ) + (v 0 + W ) = (v + v 0 ) + W

2. Scalar multiplication on cosets works as expected

Note that we always get a legitimate quotient group because W is an abelian group (W is a vector space,
and these are abelian groups under addition), and abelian groups are always normal.
Theorem 2.1 (First Isomorphism Theorem for Vector Spaces). Let T : V → V 0 be a linear map between
vector spaces. Let W be the kernel of V , and let U be the image of V under T . Then there is an isomorphism
T̄ : V /W → U .
T
V V0
η η2

V /W U
T̄
Math 122 Definitions Ehrenberg 4

where the maps are defined in the following way:

η(v) = v + W
T̄ (v + W ) = T (v)

Note that T̄ is well-defined because, given v, v 0 in the same coset, they differ by an element in the kernel.
Theorem 2.2 (Rank-Nullity). Let V be a fin-dim F -vs. Let T be a linear map T : V → V 0 . Then:

dim V = dim ker(T ) + dim im(T )

Definition 2.7 (Direct Sum). Let W1 , . . . , Wn be vector spaces. Let V = W1 + · · · + Wn . We say that the
sum is direct if:
(W1 + · · · Wi ) ∩ Wi+1 = {0}, 1 ≤ i < n
It is equivalent to say that V is a direct sum of subspaces if, for all v ∈ V , there exists a unique way of
representing v as a sum of vectors w1 + · · · + wn , with wi ∈ Wi .

Definition 2.8 (Stable). Let W ⊂ V be a subspace. We say that W is stable under a linear endomorphism
T : V → V if T (W ) ⊂ W .
Definition 2.9 (Eigenvalue and Eigenvector). Let V be an F -vs. Let T : V → V . v is an eigenvector with
eigenvalue λ ∈ F if T (v) = λv. Note that this creates a stable subspace, W = Span(v).
Definition 2.10 (Characteristic Polynomial). Let V be a fin-dim F -vs and T an endomorphism of V . The
characteristic polynomial of T is found by taking the determinant of T − λI. The roots of this polynomial
are the eigenvalues of T .
Theorem 2.3 (Cayley-Hamilton Theorem). Let V be a fin-dim F -vs and T an endomorphism of V . T
solves its own charactersitic polynomial.

3 Inner Product Spaces

Definition 3.1 (Inner Product). A real inner product h, i : V ×V → R is a non-degenerate, positive-definite,
symmetric, bilinear form.

A complex inner product h, i : V × V → C is a non-degenerate, positive-definite, hermitian, sesquilinear

form.
Definition 3.2 (Orthogonal Map). A linear map T : V → V is orthogonal if it preserves the inner product.
That is, for all v, w ∈ V :
hT v, T wi = hv, wi
A map is orthogonal if and only if it maps an orthonormal basis to an orthonormal basis.

An orthogonal map written as a matrix with respect to an orthonormal basis has the property that:

AAt = I

Definition 3.3 (Orthogonal Group). The orthogonal group is the group of all orthogonal transformations.
The special orthogonal group is a normal subgroup of this of index 2 (it is the set of orthogonal transforma-
tions with determinant 1 - it consists loosely of rotations).
Math 122 Definitions Ehrenberg 5

4 p-Groups
Definition 4.1 (p-Group). A p-group is a group of order pn for some natural number n.
Definition 4.2 (Conjugacy Class). Let G be a group acting on itself by conjugation. The orbit of an
element Og , is called the conjugacy class of g. It is the set:

Og = {hgh−1 | h ∈ H}

Definition 4.3 (Stabilizer). Let G be a group acting on a set S. Let s ∈ S. We say that the stabilizer of s
is the subgroup of G that fixes s under action. That is, we write:

Gs = {g ∈ G|gs = s}

Theorem 4.1 (Orbit-Stabilizer Theorem). Let G be a group acting on a set S. Let Os denote the orbit of
an element s ∈ S. Let Gs denote its stabilizer. Then there is a bijection from G/Gs (note that this is not
necessarily a group - it is just a set of cosets) to Os . This implies the formula |G| = |Gs | · |Os |
Proof. Consider the map φ : G → Os such that φ(g) = gs. This is a surjective map, because φ runs over all
of g, which means, by definition of the orbit of s, that gs runs over all of Os . Now, say φ(g) = φ(h). Then
gs = hs implies that (h−1 g)s = s. Thus h−1 g ∈ Gs , the stabilizer. However, this implies that there is a
well-defined, bijective map between G/Gs and Os .
Definition 4.4 (Class Equation). Conjugacy classes partition the set (there is an equivalence relation
whereby g ∼ h ⇐⇒ ∃g 0 such that g = g 0 h(g 0 )−1 ). Thus:
X
|G| = nc
Conjugacy Classes

Where nc is the size of the conjugacy class.

Definition 4.5 (Center, again). The center of a group G is the set of elements that commute with all other
elements. That is:
Z(G) = {h ∈ G | hg = gh, ∀g ∈ G}
Definition 4.6 (Centralizer). Let S ⊂ G be a subset (not necessarily a subgroup). The centralizer of S is
the subgroup of elements CS ⊂ G that commute with all elements in S. That is:

CS = {g ∈ G | gs = sg, ∀s ∈ S}

Note that the stabilizer of a subset S is the same as the stabilizer of the smallest subgroup containing this
subset (that is, if you took all products of elements in S, then the stabilizer of this subgroup would still be
the same).
Definition 4.7 (Normalizer). Let S be the set of subgroups of G. Let H ⊂ G be a subgroup. Let G act on
the set of subgroups. The normalizer is the stabilizer of H in this set of subgroups. That is:

N (H) = {g ∈ G | gHg −1 = H}

Note that if N (H) = G, then H is a normal subgroup.

Definition 4.8 (Sylow p-subgroup). Let G be a group with order |G| = n = pe m where m is not divisible
by p. A Sylow p-subgroup is a subgroup of order pe .

Theorem 4.2 (Sylow Theorems).

1. A finite group whose order is divisible by a prime p contains a Sylow p-subgroup.
2. Let G be a finite group whose order is divisible by p.
Math 122 Definitions Ehrenberg 6

(a) All Sylow p-subgroups of G are conjugate subgroups (quick corollary: G has just one Sylow p-
subgroup H if and only if H is normal).
(b) Every subgroup of G that is a p-group is contained in a Sylow p-subgroup.
3. Let G be a finite group with order divisible by p such that |G| = n = pe m where m is not divisible by
p. If S is the number of Sylow p-subgroups S divides m and S ≡ 1 mod p.

Proof. LOLJK
Definition 4.9 (Commutator). Let G be a group, and let g, h ∈ G. Define the commutator of g, h in the
following way:
[g, h] = ghg −1 h−1
A few points of note about commutators:
1. [g, h]−1 = hgh−1 g −1 = [h, g]

2. [G, G] is defined to be the smallest subgroup containing all commutators in G.

3. [G, G] / G, G/[G, G] is abelian.
Definition 4.10 (Support). Let Sn be the permutation group. The support of a permutation g ∈ Sn is the
set of elements in {1, . . . , n} such that g(a) 6= a. That is:

{a ∈ {1, . . . , n} | g(a) 6= a}

Definition 4.11 (Conjugacy Classes in Sn ). The number of conjugacy classes in Sn is the same as the
number of partitions of n as the sum of positive integers.

The order of conjugacy classes in Sn is:

Math 122 Definitions Ehrenberg 7

5 Rings
1. Ideal 2. Ring 3. Ideal generated by a set 4. Principal Ideal 5. Domain 6. Quotient Ring 7. Correspondence
theorem (group version and ring version) 8. Integral Domain 9. Fraction field 10. Maximal ideal 11. Unit
12. Unique Factorization Domain 13. Euclidean domain 14. Gauss integers 15. Product of Ideal
Definition 5.1 (Ring). A ring is a field except that each element does not necessarily have a multiplicative
inverse (an element may have an inverse, but it does not necessarily).
Definition 5.2 (Ring Homomorphism). Let R, R0 be rings. A ring homomorphism is map ϕ : R → R0 such
that:

ϕ(r1 + r2 ) = ϕ(r1 ) + ϕ(r2 )

ϕ(r1 r2 ) = ϕ(r1 )ϕ(r2 )

Note that the kernel of ϕ is a subring (and ideal) of R and the image of ϕ is a subring of R0 .
Definition 5.3 (Ideal). Let R be a ring. An ideal I ⊂ R is an ideal if:
1. r1 + r2 ∈ I for all r1 , r2 ∈ I
2. r · r1 ∈ I for all r1 ∈ I and r ∈ R
3. r1 · r ∈ I for all r1 ∈ I and r ∈ R.
Definition 5.4 (Ideal Generated by a Set). Let (r1 , . . . , rn ) be a set of elements in a ring R. Then the ideal
generated by this set is the set of all finite linear combinations of these elements with scalars in the ring R.
Definition 5.5 (Principal Ideal). A principal ideal is an ideal generated by one element. It is typically
denoted (a).
Definition 5.6 (Integral Domain). A nonzero, commutative ring is an integral domain if r1 r2 = 0 implies
either r1 = 0 or r2 = 0 (if the ring is non-commutative, then this means that it is a domain).
Definition 5.7 (Quotient Ring). Let I ⊂ R be an ideal. The quotient ring is R/I (the set of cosets r + I).
Theorem 5.1 (Correspondence Theorem for Rings). Let ϕ : R → R0 be a surjective ring homomorphism
with kernel K. There is a bijective correspondence between the set of all ideals of R0 and the set of ideals of
R that contain K That is:
1. if I is an ideal of R0 and if K ⊂ I, the corresponding ideal of R0 is ϕ(I)
2. If I 0 is an ideal of R0 , the corresponding ideal of R is ϕ−1 (I 0 ). If the idea I of R correspond to the
ideal I 0 of R0 , the quotient rings R/I and R0 /I 0 are naturally isomorphic.
Definition 5.8 (Fraction Field). The fraction field is the set of equivalence classes of fractions where
a c
b ∼ d ⇐⇒ ad = bc.

Definition 5.9 (Maximal Ideal). An ideal I ⊂ R is maximal if there exists no ideal I 0 such that I ⊂ I 0 ⊂ R
with the subsets proper.
Definition 5.10 (Unit). Let R be a ring. r ∈ R is a unit if it has an inverse.
Definition 5.11 (Prime Element). An element p ∈ R (a commutative ring) is said to be prime if whenever
p = ab for a, b ∈ R, either a or b is a unit.
Definition 5.12 (Unique Factorization Domain). A unique factorization domain is a commutative ring in
which every nonzero, nonunit element can be written as a product of prime elements.
Definition 5.13 (Euclidean Domain). An Integral Domain equipped with a Euclidean function. A Euclidean
function is a function f from R \ {0} such that if a and b are in R, then ∃ q and r ∈ R s.t. a = bq + r and
either r = 0 or f (r) < f (b)
Math 122 Definitions Ehrenberg 8

Definition 5.14 (Gaussian Integers). The set of Gaussian integers is the ring:

{a + bi | a, b ∈ Z}

Definition 5.15 (Sum Ideal). Let R be a ring. Let I, J be ideals of R. Then the sum ideal:

I + J = {r ∈ R | r = x + y}

where x ∈ I and y ∈ J.
Definition 5.16 (Product Ideal). Let R be a ring. Let I, J be ideals of R. Then the product ideal:
n
X
IJ = {r ∈ R | r = xi yi }
i=1

where xi ∈ I, yi ∈ J.
Math 122 Definitions Ehrenberg 9

6 Modules
Definition 6.1 (Module). Let R be a ring. An R-Module M is a set equipped with two maps + : M × M →
M and · : R × M → M such that:
1. (M, +) is an abelian group
2. 1R · m = m

3. a(bm) = (ab)m
4. (a + b)(m) = am + bm
5. a(m + n) = am + an
Definition 6.2 (Free Modules). A free R-module M is one that has a basis. That is, it is isomorphic to
some Rn . For an example of a non-free R-module, consider Z/5Z. It is an R-module over Z, but it clearly
does not have a basis (take 5 as your scalar multiple of any vector).
Definition 6.3 (Submodule). Let M be an R-module. A submodule N ⊂ M is just an R-module that is a
subset of R. It should suffice to show that it is closed under addition and scalar multiplication.

Theorem 6.1 (Module Decomposition Theorem). Let M be a finitely generated module over a principle
ideal domain. Then M may be written:

M = Rr + ⊕ki=1 R/(ai)

where M has r + i generators.

Note that if R is a field, then any ideals are (0) or R, so R/(ai) → 0 which means that M is free, which
makes sense, because finitely generated vector spaces are always free (always have a basis).
Theorem 6.2 (Submodules of Free Modules). Let R be a principal ideal domain. Any submodule N of a
free module P = Rn is a free module of rank (dimension) less than or equal to n.

Definition 6.4 (Quotient Module). Just mod out by a submodule.

Definition 6.5 (Finitely Generated Module). A module M is finitely generated if there exists a finite set
{m1 , . . . , mn } such any m ∈ M can be written as a linear combination of these elements.
Math 122 Definitions Ehrenberg 10

7 Polynomials
Definition 7.1 (Irreducible Polynomial). An irreducible polynomial cannot be factored into the product of
polynomials of lesser degree.
Definition 7.2 (Primitive Polynomial). A primitive polynomial is one where the greatest common divisor
of the coefficients is 1.
Definition 7.3 (Gauss’s Lemma). The product of two primitive polynomials is primitive.

Definition 7.4 (Field Construction). If you want to construct a field of cardinality pn , find an irreducible
polynomial of degree n in Fp [x]. Then mod out by the ideal generated by this polynomial. Example: We
will construct a field with nine elements. Consider E = F3 /x2 + 1. We have that, in the finite field with
three elements, f (x) = x2 + 1 is irreducible because it has no linear factors, as f (0) = 1, f (1) = 2, f (2) = 2.
Therefore E is indeed a field. Calling α = x + (f ), we have 9 elements in our field, namely:

0, 1, 2, α, 2α, α + 1, α + 2, 2α + 1, 2α + 2

We can now write a multiplication table for this field:

0 1 2 α 2α α+1 α+2 2α + 1 2α + 2
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 1 2 α 2α α+1 α+2 2α + 1 2α + 2
2 0 2 1 2α α 2α + 2 2α + 1 α+2 α+1
α 0 α 2α 2 1 α+2 2α + 2 α+1 2α + 1
2α 0 2α α 1 2 2α + 1 α+1 2α + 2 α+2
α+1 0 α+1 2α + 2 α+2 2α + 1 2α 1 2 α
α+2 0 α+2 2α + 1 2α + 2 α+1 1 α 2α 2
2α + 1 0 2α + 1 α+2 α+1 2α + 2 2 2α α 1
2α + 2 0 2α + 2 α+1 2α + 1 α+2 α 2 1 2α
Note that every element does indeed have an inverse, which indeed makes this a field. Additionally, we can
associate the non-zero elements of this field with the cyclic group of order 8. Consider α + 2. We consider
powers of this element. This will generate a subgroup of multiplicative group of order 8 that we already
have. Thus, the subgroup must have order 2, 4, or 8. However, we have that:

(α + 2)2 = α
(α + 2)4 = 2
(α + 2)8 = 1

Thus, α + 2 generates the entire group, making this group cyclic.

Theorem 7.1 (Euler’s Theorem). Let F be a finite field. The nonzero elements form a cylcic group under
mulitplication.
Proof. loljk again

Definition 7.5 (Eisenstein Criterion). Let f (x) ∈ Z[x] be a monic polynomial. Call it:

f (x) = xn + an−1 xn−1 + · · · + a1 x + a0

Let p be a prime such that p divides ai , but p2 does not divide a0 . Then f (x) is irreducible.
Math 122 Definitions Ehrenberg 11

8 Group Representations
Definition 8.1 (Hermitian Inner Product, again). A complex inner product h, i : V × V → C is a non-
degenerate, positive-definite, Hermitian, sesquilinear form.

A Hermitian inner product is one where:

hv, wi = hw, vi
Definition 8.2 (Representation). Let V be a fin-dim C-vs (we could do R-vs as well, but we seem to mostly
care about the complex case). A representation ρ of a group G is a homomorphism ρ : G → GL(V ), where
GL(V ) represents the invertible linear endomorphisms V → V . When we say that ρ is a homomorphism,
we mean that if ρ(g) = f : V → V and ρ(h) = f 0 : V → V , then ρ(gh) = ρ(g)ρ(h) = f ◦ f 0 . We will often
shorten ρ(g) to ρg or just g.
Definition 8.3 (Matrix Representation). Let V be a fin-dim C-vs. A matrix representation ρ of a group G
is a homomorphism ρ : G → GLn (C). That is, we essentially choose a specific basis for the representation
and then represent all of the linear maps with respect to this basis.
Definition 8.4 (G-Invariant Vector). Let G be a group, and let ρ be a representation of that group onto
V . Let v ∈ V . We say that v is G-invariant if ρg v = v for all g ∈ G.

Given a vector v, we can always produce a G-invariant vector v̄ by averaging over its ”orbit”.
1 X
v̄ = ρg v
|G|
g∈G

Definition 8.5 (G-Invariant Subspace). Let G be a group, and let ρ be a representation of that group onto
V . Let W ⊂ V be a subspace. We say that W is G-invariant if ρg (W ) ⊂ W . That is, ρg (w) ∈ W for all
w ∈ W.
Definition 8.6 (G-Invariant Hermitian Form). Let G be a group, and let ρ be a representation of that
group onto V . Let h, i be a Hermitian inner product. We say that h, i is G-invariant if:

hρg v, ρg wi = hv, wi

For all g ∈ G. Note that this is equivalent to saying that ρ is a unitary transformation with respect to the
inner product. That is, it maps each g ∈ G to a unitary transformation of (V, h, i).

Note that we can always produce a G-Invariant Hermitian inner product with our usual averaging pro-
cess. X
{v, w} = hρh v, ρh wi
h∈G

Definition 8.7 (Irreducible Representation). Let G be a group, and let ρ be a representation of that group
onto V . We say that V is an irreducible representation if the only G-stable subspaces of V are {0} and {V }.
Definition 8.8 (Direct Sum of Representations). Let G be a group, and let ρ be a representation of that
group onto V . If V decomposes as W ⊕ U , then we write ρ = ρW ⊕ ρU .

To think about this another way, consider two representations ρ1 and ρ2 of the same group G onto two
different vector spaces W1 , W2 respectively. Let V = W1 ⊕ W2 . Let A1g be the matrix of ρ1g with respect to
the basis (w1 , . . . wn ) and let A2g be the matrix of ρ2g with respect to the basis (wn+1 , . . . , wm ). Then the
representation ρ = ρ1 ⊕ ρ2 of G onto V takes the form:
 
A1 0
ρg =
0 A2

with respect to the basis (w1 , . . . , wm ).

Math 122 Definitions Ehrenberg 12

Theorem 8.1 (Maschke’s Theorem). Let G be a group, and let ρ be a representation of that group onto V .
Then V decomposes as a direct sum of irreducible representations.
Proof. Let V be an inner product space with respect to the G-invariant inner product. If V has no non-trivial
G-stable subspaces, then we are done, as then ρ is an irreducible representation by definition. If it has a
non-trivial G-stable subspace, call it W . From previous work, we know that V = W ⊕ W ⊥ , and that W ⊥ is
also G-stable. The result follows from this by induction. We simply apply the same logic to each of W and
W ⊥ and so on.
Definition 8.9 (Character and Class Functions). Let G be a group, and let ρ be a representation of that
group onto V . We define the character to be a complex-valued function on G such that χ(g) = tr(ρg ).

Note that this is well-defined. To actually calculate it, we need to choose a specific basis, but the trace
is independent of basis.

Furthermore, tr is a class function. χ(ghg −1 ) = χ(h). The space of class functions has dimension equal
to the number of conjugacy classes (clearly spanned by the functions that take 1 on one conjugacy class and
0 elsewhere).
Definition 8.10 (Regular Representation). Let G be a group, and let ρ be a representation of that group
onto V . Let V be the vector space with dimension |G|. Label the basis vectors {eg }. Define ρh to be the
linear transformation that takes eg 7→ ehg . χ(h) will be equal to the number of elements that are fixed by
left translation. However, this is 0 if h 6= e, and |G| if h = e. Thus:
(
|G| h = e
χ(h) =
0 h 6= e

Definition 8.11 (G-homomorphism). Let ρV , ρW be representations of G onto V, W respectively. Let

T : V → W be a map between vector spaces. T is a G-homomorphism if:

ρW,g (T (v)) = T (ρV,g (v))

for all g ∈ G, v ∈ V .
Definition 8.12 (Hermitian Product on Characters). Let (ρi ) be irreducible representations of G. Consider
their characters χ, χ0 . Then the following holds:
(
1 X 1 X 1 i=j
hχi , χj i = χi (g)χj (g) = nc χi (g)χj (g) =
|G| |G| 0 i 6= j
g∈G conj.

where, in the second equality, g is a representative element of the conjugacy class, and nc is the number of
elements in the conjugacy class.

Thus, the rows (and columns) of a character table are orthonormal vectors (as long as you appropriately
weight by the size of the conjugacy classes).
Theorem 8.2 (Shur’s Lemma Lemma). The kernel and image of a G-invariant linear transformation T :
V 0 → V are G-invariant subspaces of V 0 and V respectively.
Theorem 8.3 (Schur’s Lemma).
1. Let ρ and ρ0 be irreducible representation of G on vector spaces V and V 0 , respectively, and let T :
V 0 → V be a G invariant transformation. Either T is an isomorphism, or else T = 0.
2. Let ρ be an irreducible representation of G on a vector space V , and let T : V → V be a G-invariant
linear operator. Then T is multiplication by a scalar: T = cI.
Proof.
Math 122 Definitions Ehrenberg 13

1. From the lemma lemma we know that the image and kernel must either be the entire group represen-
tation or the null space (or else the representation would have g-invariant proper subspaces from the
image and kernel). This defines two mappings, an isomorphism and T = 0.
2. We get an eigenvector (complex vector space). Then T − λI has non-trivial kernel, which implies that
T = 0. Then T = λI.