LECTURE 11(MTL501)
DATE: 2/9/2024
Definition. Let p be a prime number. A group G is called a p-group if the order
of G is pn for some n ≥ 0.
Definition. Let G be a group and H, a subgroup of it and p, a prime number. We
say that H is a p-subgroup of G if H is a p-group.
Theorem. Let G be a finite group such that pn | |G| for some prime number p.
Then there exists a p-subgroup of G of order pn .
Proof. We shall prove it by induction on |G|. Let |G| = 1. Then there is no prime p
and n ∈ N such that pn | |G|. So the statement is vacuously true. Now we assume
the induction hypothesis i.e. for any group of order strictly less than |G|, if any
prime power pi where i ∈ N divides its order then it has a subgroup of order pi .
Now we consider the group G such that pn | |G|. We need to show that G has
a subgroup of order pn . If G has a proper subgroup H such that pn | |H|. Then by
induction hypothesis H has a subgroup of order pn and hence G has a subgroup
of order pn . So we assume G has no proper subgroup H such that pn | |H|. We
write down the class equation of G:
X |G|
|G| = |Z(G)| + ,
1≤j≤k
|CG (aj )|
where for all 1 ≤ j ≤ k, aj ∈ / Z(G) and they are representatives of all distinct
conjugacy classes of the group G. Consider the subgroup CG (aj ) of G. As aj ∈ /
Z(G), we have CG (aj ) is a proper subgroup of G. According to our assumption in
this case pn - |CG (aj ). Therefore we have for each 1 ≤ j ≤ k,
|G|
p| .
|CG (aj )|
This implies that p | |Z(G)|. So by Cauchy’s theorem Z(G) has an element of order
p, say a. Consider H := hai. Clearly H is normal as H ⊆ Z(G). Therefore we can
consider the quotient group G/H. Now note that the order of G/H is strictly less
than |G|. Also pn−1 divides |G/H| as pn divides |G| and H| = p. Thus by induction
hypothesis, G/H has a subgroup say T of order pn−1 . Now we know, T = K/H for
1
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some subgroup K of G containing H. Note that |K| = |T ||H| = pn . This proves
that G has a subgroup of order pn .
Remark. One can deduce Cauchy’s theorem on finite abelian groups as a corol-
lary to the above theorem. If G is a finite abelian group and m ∈ N be such that
m | |G|, then there exists a subgroup of order m.
Definition. Let G be a finite group such that pn is the largest power of the prime
number p that divides |G|. Then any p-subgroup of G of order pn is called a Sylow
p-subgroup.
Notation. For a finite group G, by Sylp (G) we denote the set of all Sylow p-
subgroups of G.
Definition. For two subgroups H, K of G if there exists g ∈ G such that K =
gHg −1 , then H, K are called conjugates of each other.
Theorem (Sylow theorems). Let G be a group such that |G| = pn m for some n ∈ N
and p, a prime number such that p - m.
(1) There exists a subgroup of order pn . In other words, Sylp (G) 6= ∅.
(2) If H, K are two Sylow p-subgroups then there exists g ∈ G such that K =
gHg −1 i.e. H, K are conjugates of each other.
(3) The number of Sylow p-subgroups of G, np is of the form 1 + kp where k ≥ 0
and np | |G|.
Remark. We have already seen a proof of Sylow’s first theorem. From the first
theorem of Sylow we know that Sylow p-subgroups exist in a finite group G.
Note that if H is a Sylow p-subgroup then gHg −1 is also a Sylow p-subgroup for
each g ∈ G. So the collection of subgroups {gHg −1 : g ∈ G} consists of Sylow p-
subgroups of G. The second theorem of Sylow tells us that they are all the Sylow
p-subgroups. The third theorem of Sylow determines the number of distinct
Sylow p-subgroups.
P ROOF OF S YLOW ’ S SECOND AND THIRD THEOREM
Let P be a Sylow p-subgroup of G. Consider the set S = {gP g −1 : g ∈ G}. As G
is finite, we have S is finite. Let |S| = r. Let Q be a subgroup of G. Then we have
an action of Q acts on S defined by q·(gP g −1 ) := (qg)P (qg)−1 for all q ∈ Q, gP g −1 ∈ S.
3
Therefore we have,
G
S= Oi ,
1≤i≤s
where Oi ’s are distinct orbits of S under this action. So,
X
r= |Oi |.
1≤i≤s
Clearly r ≥ s. We write, S = {P1 , . . . , Pr } such that Pi ∈ Oi for all 1 ≤ i ≤ s ≤ r. For
1 ≤ i ≤ s, we know that Oi has exactly [Q : QPi ] many elements where QPi denotes
the stabilizer of Pi in Q. Note that,
QPi = NQ (Pi ) = Q ∩ NG (Pi ).
Next we show that if Q is a p-subgroup then Q ∩ NG (Pi ) = Q ∩ Pi . Clearly
Q ∩ Pi ⊆ Q ∩ NG (Pi ) as Pi ⊆ NG (Pi ). To show Q ∩ NG (Pi ) ⊆ Q ∩ Pi , it is enough to
show Q ∩ NG (Pi ) ⊆ Pi . Denote Q ∩ NG (Pi ) = H. Note that H is a p-subgroup as
H ⊆ Q and Q is a p-subgroup. We can see that as H ⊆ NG (Pi ), we have HPi = Pi H,
and hence HPi is a subgroup of G. In fact, HPi is a p-subgroup containing Pi . As
Pi is a Sylow p-subgroup, we get Pi = HPi and hence H ⊆ Pi .
Hence by taking Q = P1 we get,
|P1 |
|Oi | = for all 1 ≤ i ≤ s.
|P1 ∩ Pi |
Therefore we have, |O1 | = 1 and |Oi | ≡ 0(mod p) for all 2 ≤ i ≤ s as Pi ’s are all
distinct implies P1 ∩ Pi is a proper subgroup of P1 for all i 6= 1. Therefore we
obtain, r ≡ 1(mod p).
So if we can prove that S is the set of all Sylow p-subgroups, then r = np . So
we will have, np ≡ 1(mod p). Also by taking Q = G, we get np | |G|. Because if
Q = G, then there is only one orbit O in S, and hence
|G|
np = |S| = |O| = .
|G ∩ NG (P )|
So we remain to show that S contains all the Sylow p-subgroups. Let P 0 be
any p-group. We show that P 0 ⊆ Pi for some 1 ≤ i ≤ r. Suppose P 0 * Pi for all
1 ≤ i ≤ r, then P 0 ∩ Pi ( P 0 for all 1 ≤ i ≤ r. By taking Q = P 0 we get |Oi | ≡ 0(modp)
for all 1 ≤ i ≤ s and hence r ≡ 0(modp), which is a contraction as for the action of
any p-subgroup Q we obtained r ≡ 1(modp). Hence P 0 ⊆ Pi for some 1 ≤ i ≤ r. If
P 0 is Sylow p-subgroup we get P 0 = Pi . This completes the proof.
