Number of Elements of Order 5 in S7 Permutation Group

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SUMMARY

The number of elements of order 5 in the permutation group S7 is calculated using the concept of cycle decomposition. The correct approach involves recognizing that only 5-cycles contribute to permutations of order 5, as including a 2-cycle would result in an l.c.m. of 10. The calculation involves selecting 5 elements from 7, which can be done in 7C5 ways, and arranging them in a cycle, yielding a total of 504 distinct permutations. The final formula is confirmed as 7C5 * (5! / 5) = 504.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of permutation groups, specifically S7
  • Knowledge of cycle notation and decomposition in group theory
  • Familiarity with combinatorial selection (binomial coefficients)
  • Basic grasp of least common multiples (l.c.m.) in the context of cycle lengths
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the properties of permutation groups, focusing on S_n
  • Learn about cycle types and their significance in group theory
  • Explore the concept of centralizers and conjugacy classes in symmetric groups
  • Investigate advanced combinatorial techniques, including generating functions
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Mathematicians, particularly those specializing in abstract algebra, students studying group theory, and anyone interested in combinatorial enumeration within permutation groups.

astronut24
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what is the number of elements of order 5 in the permutaion group S7??
so what we're concerned with here is, after decompositon into disjoint cycles the l.c.m of the lengths must be 5. since 5 is a prime, the only possible way we could get 5 as l.c.m would be to fix ANY 2 elements amongst the 7 to themselves...so we end up getting 2 cycles of length 1 each. the remaining five elements can be arranged in 4! ways...
so, the answer is 7C2 * 4! = 21*24 = 504.
:smile: but unfortunately, this answer is WRONG!
CAN ANYBODY TELL ME WHY?! PLEEEEASE HELP!
 
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Since 5 is prime, you MUST have cycle of length 5.
Then there could be a 2-cycle in addition.
 
hello

well...yes, it's possible to have a cycle of length 2 in addition to the 5 cycle...but then the l.c.m becomes 10. so that rules out such a consideration!
 
Yes, so the only permutations in S7 of order 5 are the 5-cycles.
 
Your answer is wrong because you've counted, for example:

12345, 23451, 34512, 45123, and 51234 as different elements.
 
ya...so what further? that's a valid point you've raised...
so do you divide by 4?
 
You have {7 \choose 5} ways to pick 5 elements from a set of 7.
There are 5! ways you can order 5 elements in a cycle.
For a given cycle of length 5, 5 orderings are give the same permutation.
 
hey galileo

please read stuff carefully...
we left this a long while ago, right astronut?! :smile:
 
i think the solution 504 is correct...
i don't see any fallacy in it.
 
  • #10
The general solution is:

suppose t is a permutation of type

1^{m_1}2^{m_2}...r^{m_r}

then the order of the centralizer is

\prod_i i^{m_i}m_i!

in this case it is 1^2.5

so the centralizer's order is

2!.5

hence the conjugacy class has order

7!/10

which is indeed 504
 

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