Higher National School of Mathematics

Preparatory Cycle Academic Year : 2025/2026

First Year Course : Algebra 1
Worksheet No5
Algebraic Structures
The starred exercises are to be done in tutorial sessions

1 Groups
Exercise 1. ⋆
On R we define the binary operation ∗ by : ∀x, y ∈ R, x ∗ y = x + y + sin(xy).
1. Is this law commutative ?
2. Does it have a neutral element ?
3. Let f (x) = x + 3 + sin(3x). Compute f (−4), f (−3, 8) and f (−3, 1).
4. What can we deduce from this ?
5. Deduce that ∗ is not associative.
Exercise 2. ⋆
Let a, b, c ∈ R. On R we define the binary operation ∗ by : x ∗ y = a(x + y) + bxy + c. Find a, b and c so that
(R, ∗) is a group.
Exercise 3.
On the set H of all binary relations on a set E we define the binary operation ∗ for all R and S in H, by :
R ∗ S = T where T is defined as follows :

∀x, y ∈ E, xT y ⇐⇒ ∃z ∈ E, such that : xRz and zSy.

Show that the law ∗ is associative.

Exercise 4. ⋆
For the set G and the binary operation ∗ on G as given below, show that (G, ∗) is a group.
1. G = R × R \ {(0, 0)}, (a, b) ∗ (c, d) = (ac − bd, bc + ad).
x+y
2. G = ]−1, 1[, x ∗ y = .
1 + xy
Exercise 5.
Let E be a nonempty set. Show that (P (E), △) is an abelian group.
Exercise 6. ⋆
We consider the set S = {f1 , f2 , f3 , f4 , f5 , f6 } of maps from R \ {0, 1} into R \ {0, 1} where f1 (x) = x,
1 1 x−1 x
f2 (x) = 1 − x, f3 (x) = , f4 (x) = , f (x) = and f6 (x) = .
x 1−x 5 x x−1
1. Write the multiplication table of S and show that (S, ◦) is a group.
2. What are the subgroups of S ?
Exercise 7.
Write the multiplication table of a group of order 2 and the multiplication table of a group of order 3.

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Exercise 8 (Minimization of group axioms).
Let G be a nonempty set equipped with a binary operation ∗ which is associative, there is right neutral element
e ∈ G and each element of G admits a right symmetric.
Show that (G, ∗) is a group.

Exercise 9. ⋆
Let (G, .) be a group.
1. Show that for any a ∈ G and n, m ∈ Z, we have an am = an+m .
2. Show that if every element of G is its own inverse, then G is abelian.
3. We assume that G is of even order. Prove that it has an element a , e satisfying a2 = e, where e is the
neutral element of G.
4. We assume that G is finite. Show that there exists a positive integer m, such that : am = e for all a ∈ G.
5. Show that if for all a, b ∈ G, (ab)2 = a2 b2 then G is abelian.

Exercise 10.
Let (G, ·) be a group.
1. Show that for all a, b ∈ G, ab and ba have the same order.
2. Suppose (G, ·) is finite and abelian and let x, y ∈ G with respective orders n and m. Show that if n and
m are coprime then xy is of order mn.
3. Assume that an element x of G has order rs. Find the order of xr .
4. Assuming that x has arbitrary order n, what is the order of xr ?

Exercise 11. ⋆
We define on R2 the binary operation ⊕ as follows :

∀(x, y), (x′ , y ′ ) ∈ R2 , (x, y) ⊕ (x′ , y ′ ) = (x + x′ , y + y ′ + 2xx′ ).

1. Show that (R2 , ⊕) is an abelian group.

n o
2. Show that H = (x, x2 ) | x ∈ R is a subgroup of (R2 , ⊕).
3. Show that the map Φ : (R, +) −→ (H, ⊕) defined by Φ(x) = (x, x2 ) is an isomorphism of groups.

Exercise 12. ⋆ [Particular subgroups]

Let (G, ·) be a group, H and K be two subgroups of G and a ∈ G. Show that the following sets are subgroups
of G.
1. H ∩ K.
2. Z(G) = {x ∈ G | ∀y ∈ G, xy = yx} (Z(G) is called the center of G).
3. CG(a) = {x ∈ G | xa = ax} ( CG(a) is called the centralizer of a in G).
n o
4. aHa−1 = aha−1 | h ∈ H .
5. N (H) = {g ∈ G | gHg −1 = H} (N (H) is called the normalizer of H in G ).

Exercise 13.
1. Prove that (R, +) is not a cyclic group.
2. Show that any subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic and find an example of a non-cyclic group, all of
whose proper subgroups are cyclic.

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 3. Let p and q two primes. Show that if G is a finite group of order pq, then every proper subgroup of G
is cyclic.
Exercise 14.
Let H and K be two subgroups of a group G.
1. Show that H ∪ K is a subgroup of G if and only if H ⊂ K or K ⊂ H.
2. We define HK by HK = {hk | h ∈ H, k ∈ K}. Show that HK is a subgroup of G if and only if HK = KH.
Exercise 15 (Classification of subgroups of (R, +)).
Let G be a subgroup of (R, +) such that G , {0}. In this exercise we will show that G is either dense in R or
there is α ∈ R such that : G = αZ.
1. Show that the set G ∩ R∗+ is nonempty.
2. We put α = inf (G ∩ R∗+ ). We suppose that : α > 0.
(a) Show that α ∈ G and deduce that  gαZ
 ⊂ G.
(b) Show that for all g ∈ G, g = α E .
α
(c) Deduce that G = αZ.
3. We suppose that : α = inf (G ∩ R∗+ ) = 0.
   
x
(a) Show that for all x, y ∈ R, we have : x < y =⇒ ∃g ∈ G, x < E + 1 g < y.
g
(b) Deduce that G is dense in R.
Exercise 16. ⋆ [On the subgroups of S 1 ]
Let U = {z ∈ C | |z| = 1} be the unit circle, Un = {z ∈ C | zn = 1} be the set of nth
Let n be a positive integer.[
roots of unity, and U∞ = Un be the set of all the nth roots of unity.
n∈N∗
I. 1. Show that U and Un are subgroups of (C∗ , ×). Is it the case for U∞ ?
2. Show that Un ⊂ Um if and only if n | m.
3. Show that Un is cyclic.
II. Let α ∈ R and let the map
fn : Z → C∗ ; fn (p) = e2iπpnα .
1. Show that fn is a group morphism from (Z, +) to (C∗ , ×).
2. Show that Im fn ⊂ U.
3. Show that fn is injective if and only if α < Q.
III. Let the map
φR → Ut; φ(t) = eit .
1. Show that φ is a group morphism from (R, +) to (U, ×). Is φ injective ? surjective ?
2. We define on R the binary relation R by : ∀x, y ∈ R, xRy if and only if ∃k ∈ Z, x − y = 2kπ. Show that
R is an equivalence relation.
3. We define on the quotient set R/R the binary operation ⊕ by : x ⊕ y = x + y for x, y ∈ R/R. Show that
(R/R, ⊕) is a group isomorphic to (U, ×).
Exercise 17. ⋆ (Structure Transport)
On R we define the binary operation ∗ as follows :
q
3 3
∀x, y ∈ R, x ∗ y = x + y 3.

Show that (R, ∗) is an abelian group isomorphic to (R, +).

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Exercise 18.
1. Determine all the group homomorphisms from (Z, +) to (Z, +). Which are injective ? surjective ?
2. Same question for the group homomorphisms from (Q, +) to (Z, +).

Exercise 19.
Show that the following statements are true :
(a) There is no group isomorphism between (R, +) and (R∗ , ×).
(b) There is no group isomorphism between (Q, +) and (Q∗+ , ×).

Exercise 20.
Let (G, ∗) be a group and Aut(G) be the set of automorphisms of G.
1. Show that (Aut(G), ◦) is a group.
2. Let H be a subgroup of Aut(G), and let φ be the following map :

φGP (G)x{f (x) | f ∈ H}.

φ(x) is called the orbit of x under H. Show that φ(G) is a partition of G.

2 Rings
Exercise 21. ⋆
Complete the operation tables for the ring R = {a, b, c, d} :

+ a b c d ∗ a b c d
a a b c d a a a a a
b b a d c b a b
c c d a b c a a
d d c b a d a b c

Is R a commutative ring ? Does it have a unity ? what is its characteristic ? (Hint : c ∗ b = (b + d) ∗ b, c ∗ c =

c ∗ (b + d), . . ., etc).

Exercise 22.
Let (R, +, ×) be a commutative ring with unity, and N the set of nilpotent elements of R. Let B = {1+x | x ∈ N }.
Show that (B, ×) is a group.

Exercise 23. ⋆
Let Z/nZ be the set of integers modulo n.
I. 1. Verify that Z/nZ is a commutative ring with a unity.
2. What is the characteristic of the ring Z/5Z ? and the ring Z/6Z ?
3. Show that Z/nZ is an integral domain if and only if n is prime.
II. Let m and n be two integers. Put mZ + nZ = {an + bm | a, b ∈ Z}. Show that :
1. mZ + nZ is a subgroup of Z.
2. m and n + 7m generate the subgroup mZ + nZ.
III. Let m and n be two positive integers.

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 1. Show that mZ ∩ nZ = lcm(n, m)Z.
2. Is 2Z ∪ 3Z a subring of Z ?
3. Find a necessary and sufficient condition on m and n for which mZ ∪ nZ is a subgroup of Z.
4. Determine the smallest subgroup of Z containing mZ and nZ.

Exercise 24. ⋆ [ENPEI Exam 2018]

′ ′ ′
We define on C the binary operations ⊕ and ⊗ as follows : for any z = a + ib, z = a + ib ∈ C,

′ ′ ′ ′ ′ ′ ′
z ⊕ z = (a + a ) + i(b + b ) and z ⊗ z = aa + i(ab + ba ).

1. Show that (C, ⊕, ⊗) is a unitary commutative ring .

2. Determine the set U of invertible elements in (C, ⊕, ⊗).
3. Determine the set D of zero divisors in (C, ⊕, ⊗).
4. Let z = a + ib ∈ C. For all n ∈ N, let : z(n) = z ⊗ z ⊗ z · · · ⊗ z .
| {z }
n times

a. Write z(n) as a function of n, a and b.

b. Solve in C the equation z(4) ⊕ z(2) = 6 + i.

Exercise 25.
On R2 consider the addition
(x1 , x2 ) + (y1 , y2 ) = (x1 + y1 , x2 + y2 )
and the multiplication
(x1 , x2 ) × (y1 , y2 ) = (x1 y1 − x2 y2 , x1 y2 + x2 y1 ).
1. Verify that (R2 , +, ×) is ring with identity.
2. Find the zero divisors of (R2 , +, ×).

Exercise 26. √ √
Let R = {a + b 2 | a, b ∈ Z}, and for all x = a + b 2 of R, let N (x) = a2 − 2b2 .
1. Show that R is a subring of R.
2. Show that for all x, y of R, N (xy) = N (x)N (y).
3. Deduce that x is invertible in R if and only if N (x) = ±1.
√
4. Show that the elements ±(1 + 2)n , where n ∈ Z, are invertibles in R.
5. Conversely, we want to show that any invertible element x of R is of such form.
√
i. Show that we can assume that x = a + b 2, with a ∈ N∗ and b ∈ N.
√
ii. Then show that x is of the form (1 + 2)n with n ∈ N and conclude.
x√
Hint : if b ≥ 1, consider x1 = .
1+ 2

Exercise 27.
Let R be the set defined as follows :
a
 
R= | a ∈ Z, n ∈ N .
10n
1. Show that R is a subring of Q for the usual binary operations.
2. Show that 3 has no inverse in R. Conclude.

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 3. Determine the set of invertible elements in R.

Exercise 28.
Let R be a ring and C := {x ∈ R| ∀y ∈ R, xy = yx} (C is called the center of R). Show that C is a subring of R.

Exercise 29.
Determine the smallest subring of Q that contains 12 .

Exercise 30.
1. Find all ring homomorphisms from Z to Z/30Z.
2. In each case describe the kernel and the image.

Exercise 31. ⋆
We consider the Cartesian product N0 × N0 , where N0 = {0, 1, 2, . . . }. Define a relation ∼ on N0 × N0 by

(a, b) ∼ (c, d) if and only if a + d = b + c.

1. Show that ∼ is an equivalence relation on N0 × N0 .

2. Determine the equivalence classes

[(0, 0)], [(0, 1)], [(0, 2)], [(1, 0)].

3. For each (a, b) ∈ N0 × N0 , denote by [(a, b)] its equivalence class. The set

Z := (N0 × N0 )/ ∼

will serve as our construction of the integers. Define addition on Z by

+ : Z × Z → Z, [(a, b)] + [(c, d)] := [(a + c, b + d)].

4. Show that this operation is well defined.

5. Show that (Z, +) is an abelian group.
6. Define multiplication on Z by

× : Z × Z → Z, [(a, b)] × [(c, d)] := [(ac + bd, ad + bc)].

7. Show that this operation is well defined.

8. Show that (Z, +, ×) is a commutative ring.
9. The usual order on the integers can be defined by

[(a, b)] < [(c, d)] if and only if a + d < b + c.

Show that this defines a total order on Z.

Exercise 32 (Particular ideals).

Let R be a ring with unity.
1. The sum of two ideals I and J is the set defined by I + J := {i + j| i ∈ I and j ∈ J}. Show that I + J is also
an ideal.

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 2. Suppose that R is commutative, and let I and J be two ideals of R. We define the following set :

[I : J] := {r ∈ R| ∀s ∈ J, rs ∈ I}.
Show that [I : J] is an ideal ([I : J] is called the quotient ideal of I by J).
3. Let I be an ideal. Show that if 1 ∈ I, then I = R.
4. Suppose that R is commutative.
a. Let J be an ideal of R. We define the radical of J as follows :
p
J := {a ∈ R| r n ∈ J for some n ∈ N}.
√
Show that J is an ideal of R.
[Link] that the set of nilpotent elements

I = {x ∈ R| xn = 0 for some integer n}

is an ideal of R (I is called the nilradical of I).

c. Let A be any subset of R. The annihilator of A is defined by :

Ann(A) := {r ∈ R | ra = 0 for all a ∈ A} .

Show that Ann(A) is an ideal of R.

Exercise 33 (Boolean ring).

Let R be a ring with unity in which, for any element x we have x2 = x.
1. Give examples of such rings.
2. Show that for any a, 2a = 0.
3. Deduce that R is commutative.
4. Show that R cannot be reduced to three elements.
5. Assume that R is finite and of cardinal greater than 2. Show that R has divisors of zero (Hint : Consider
the element xy(x + y)).
6. Show that if card(R) = 4, then R is unique up to an isomorphism.
7. Show that if R is finite, then its cardinal is a power of 2.

Exercise 34 (Euclidean rings ).

Let R be a ring. We say that R is an euclidean ring if R is an integral domain, and there is a map v : R\{0} → N,
such that :
∀a, b ∈ (R\{0}), ∃q, r ∈ R : a = qb + r and (r = 0 or v(r) < v(b)).
1. Show that Z and R[x] are euclidean rings.
2. Let Z[i] = {a + bi | a, b ∈ Z}. By considering the map v : z → |z|2 , show that Z[i] is an euclidean ring.

Exercise 35.
Let E be a set. Show that (P (E), ∆, ∩) is a commutative ring with identity and zero divisors, such that each
element is idempotent.

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3 Fields
Exercise 36. ⋆
We define on R the binary operations ⊕ and ⊗ as follows : ∀x, y ∈ R, x ⊕ y = x + y − 1 and x ⊗ y = x + y − xy.
Show that (R, ⊕, ⊗) is a field.

Exercise 37. ⋆
Prove that the following statement are true :
√ √
1. Q[ 3] = {a + b 3 | a, b ∈ Q} is a subfield of R.
√ √ √ √ √ √
2. Q[ 2, 5, 10] = {a + b 2 + c 5 + d 10 | a, b, c, d ∈ Q} is a subfield of R.
3. Q[i] = {a + bi | a, b ∈ Q} is a subfield of C.
√
4. {a + b 3 2 | a, b ∈ Q} is not a subfield of R.
5. Q[i] and Q[j] 3
p are not isomorphic, where j ∈ C is a root of the polynomial X − 1 different from 1 and
Q[j] = {a + b j | a, b ∈ Q}.

Exercise 38. ⋆
1. Prove that any field homomorphism is either a monomorphism or the zero homomorphism.
2. Prove that any field is an integral domain.
3. If F is a field, prove that its only ideals are (0) and F itself.
4. Show that a finite integral domain is a field.
5. Find all the subfields of Q.
6. Can we find a field for which the group (F, +) is isomorphic to the group (F ∗ , ×) ?

Exercise 39.
Let F be a commutative field, and G the set of automorphisms of F. Verify that (G, ◦) is a group.
Let φ : P (F) → P (G), ψ : P (G) → P (F) the two maps defined by :

φ(A) = {g ∈ G|∀x ∈ A, g(x) = x}, ψ(B) = {x ∈ F|∀g ∈ B, g(x) = x}.

1. a. Show that for all A ∈ P (F), φ(A) is a subgroup of G.

b. Show that for all B ∈ P (G), ψ(A) is a subfield of F.
2. a. Verify that ∀A ∈ P (F), A ⊂ (ψ ◦ φ)(A).
b. Verify that ∀B ∈ P (G), B ⊂ (φ ◦ ψ)(B).
3. Prove that φ ◦ ψ ◦ φ = φ and ψ ◦ φ ◦ ψ = ψ.