MHB Surjectivity for permutation representation of a group action

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The discussion centers on proving the surjectivity of a homomorphism from the tetrahedral rotation group T to the permutations of its faces. The initial proof attempt identifies that T is isomorphic to A_4, which has 12 elements, while the permutations of the four faces total 24, indicating that the function cannot be surjective. It is clarified that the goal is to show T is isomorphic to a subgroup of S_4, which can be achieved by demonstrating that T acts injectively on the four faces of the tetrahedron. The conclusion emphasizes that proving surjectivity is unnecessary, as T's injectivity suffices to establish the isomorphism to a subgroup of S_4. The discussion ultimately confirms that the focus should remain on the injective nature of the mapping rather than surjectivity.
kalish1
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I am having trouble proving that my function is surjective. Here is the problem statement:

Problem statement: Let T be the tetrahedral rotation group. Use a suitable action of T on some set, and the permutation representation of this action, to show that T is isomorphic to a subgroup of $S_4$.

Outline of my attempt at a proof:

Let $S$ be the set of faces of the tetrahedron. There exists a homomorphism $f:T$ $\rightarrow$ (permutations of the faces). There are $4$ faces, so $|Perm(|4|)| = 24$. We want to show that $T$ is a bijection, and show the faithfulness of $f$. Well, $|Ker(f)|=1$, because no rotation fixes all faces. So $f$ is injective. Also, the class equation for $T$ is $12 = 1+3+4+4$, which admits no "subsums" to $6$, implying that there are no odd permutations because $T$ has no subgroup of index $2$. So $T \approx A_4$, which is a subgroup of $S_4$.

The thing that evades me is how to prove that $f$ is surjective?
 
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kalish said:
I am having trouble proving that my function is surjective. Here is the problem statement:

Problem statement: Let T be the tetrahedral rotation group. Use a suitable action of T on some set, and the permutation representation of this action, to show that T is isomorphic to a subgroup of $S_4$.

Outline of my attempt at a proof:

Let $S$ be the set of faces of the tetrahedron. There exists a homomorphism $f:T$ $\rightarrow$ (permutations of the faces). There are $4$ faces, so $|Perm(|4|)| = 24$. We want to show that $T$ is a bijection, and show the faithfulness of $f$. Well, $|Ker(f)|=1$, because no rotation fixes all faces. So $f$ is injective. Also, the class equation for $T$ is $12 = 1+3+4+4$, which admits no "subsums" to $6$, implying that there are no odd permutations because $T$ has no subgroup of index $2$. So $T \approx A_4$, which is a subgroup of $S_4$.

The thing that evades me is how to prove that $f$ is surjective?

It is not.
$T$ is isomorphic with $A_4$, which has 12 elements.
However, there are 24 permutations of the faces.
So f cannot be surjective.
Note that for instance the exchange of exactly 2 faces is not possible.
 
All you are required to do is show that $T$ is isomorphic to some SUBGROUP of $S_4$. In practical terms, this means finding a suitable set of 4 objects on which $T$ acts injectively. The 4 faces of the tetrahedron work just fine, and your proposed map is injective, so you are finished.

If you MUST prove surjectivity of SOMETHING, you need only show that there is a surjective map of $T$ onto $A_4$, which it appears you have already done, since $S_4$ has PRECISELY ONE subgroup of order 12.
 
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