Intersection of two subgroups trivial, union is the whole group

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the properties of a group ##G## of order ##n##, where ##n## is an odd squarefree prime, and a normal subgroup ##N##. It establishes that if the quotient group ##|G/N|=p_j## for some prime factor of ##n## and ##|N|=\frac{n}{p_j}##, then the intersection ##N \cap G/N## is trivial, specifically ##N \cap G/N = \{e\}##. The second claim, that the union of ##N## and ##G/N## equals ##G##, is acknowledged as problematic due to the nature of the quotient group not being a subgroup of ##G##.

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ToNoAvail27
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Homework Statement


Let ##G## be a group of order ##n## where ##n## is an odd squarefree prime (that is, ##n=p_1p_2\cdots p_r## where ##p_i## is an odd prime that appears only once, each ##p_i## distinct). Let ##N## be normal in ##G##. If I have that ##|G/N|=p_j## for some prime in the prime factorization of ##n##, and ##|N|=\frac{n}{p_j}##, then are the following true?
##N \cap G/N = \{e\}##
and
##N \sqcup G/N = G##



Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution


For the first claim, if you take ##N \cap G/N## and obtain a non-trivial element, that element will generate ##G/N##. And since that element is also in ##N##, I believe that would mean ##G/N < N##, but by LaGrange's theorem, since their orders are relatively prime, ##G/N## cannot be a subgroup of ##N##. Thus, the intersection is trivial. I'm a bit stuck on getting started on the second condition.
 
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ToNoAvail27 said:
##N \cap G/N = \{e\}##
What does ##N \cap G/N## mean? ##N## is a subset of ##G##, but ##G/N## is not: it is a collection of subsets of ##G##. What do you mean by the intersection of these objects?
 
Last edited:
jbunniii said:
What ##N \cap G/N## mean? ##N## is a subset of ##G##, but ##G/N## is not: it is a collection of subsets of ##G##. What do you mean by the intersection of these objects?

Yes I apologize. When writing up the question, I got excited that this lemma would help me prove a bigger problem I had. Indeed, ##G/N## is a group since ##N\vartriangleright G##, but of course ##G/N## itself is not a subgroup of ##G##, which renders the lemma useless in my case, though, I do like the lemma. Thank you.
 

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