Group Theory, cyclic group proof

ripcity4545
Messages
16
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



Prove that Z sub n is cyclic. (I can't find the subscript, but it should be the set of all integers, subscript n.)

Homework Equations

Let (G,*) be a group. A group G is cyclic if there exists an element x in G such that G = {(x^n); n exists in Z.}

(Z is the set of all integers)

The Attempt at a Solution



* is a binary operation, and for my purposes, is either additive (+) or multiplicative (x).

Multiplicative does not work because the multiplicative inverse of, say, 2 is not an integer. So the operation must be additive. So I can rewrite the equation for (G,+) as:

G = {nx; n exists in Z}

but that's where I get stuck. Thanks for the help!
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
How about taking x = 1 as your generator?
 
Every cyclic group has a generator.

What is your generator in this case?

edit: nm already beaten too it
 
thanks to both!
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
Back
Top