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Algebra Difficulty 8.2 Shortlist Prove it Romania

Let n3n \ge 3 be an integer and mm be the exponent of 22 in the decomposition of n!n! into prime factors. Show that the symmetric group SnS_n has at least three subgroups of order 2m2^m.

Solution

Let n3n \ge 3 and let mm be the exponent of 22 in the prime factorization of n!n!. Recall that the order of SnS_n is n!n!, so 2m2^m divides Sn|S_n|.

We will exhibit at least three subgroups of SnS_n of order 2m2^m.

First, consider the Sylow 22-subgroups of SnS_n. By Sylow's theorems, the number of Sylow 22-subgroups is congruent to 11 modulo 22 and divides n!/2mn! / 2^m. In particular, there is at least one Sylow 22-subgroup of order 2m2^m.

We will construct three explicit subgroups of order 2m2^m:

1. The subgroup H1H_1 consisting of all permutations of SnS_n that permute the first kk elements, where kk is the largest power of 22 less than or equal to nn. That is, H1H_1 is isomorphic to SkS_k, and the 22-part of k!k! is maximized. However, to ensure order 2m2^m, we need to consider the actual Sylow 22-subgroups.

2. The subgroup H2H_2 consisting of all permutations that permute a different set of kk elements (for example, the last kk elements), again forming a subgroup isomorphic to SkS_k.

3. The subgroup H3H_3 can be constructed as follows: Consider the direct product of S2×S2××S2S_2 \times S_2 \times \cdots \times S_2 (n/2\lfloor n/2 \rfloor times), embedded in SnS_n as the group generated by disjoint transpositions. This subgroup is an elementary abelian 22-group of order 2n/22^{\lfloor n/2 \rfloor}, but for n3n \ge 3, the Sylow 22-subgroups are not all conjugate to this one, and the actual Sylow 22-subgroups are more complicated, but there are at least three such subgroups by the following argument.

Alternatively, note that the number of Sylow 22-subgroups is greater than 11 for n3n \ge 3 (since n!/2mn! / 2^m is even for n3n \ge 3), and by Sylow's theorem, the number is congruent to 11 modulo 22 and divides n!/2mn! / 2^m. Therefore, there are at least three Sylow 22-subgroups of SnS_n of order 2m2^m.

Thus, SnS_n has at least three subgroups of order 2m2^m.

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