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Alternating Group




For instance, the alternating group of degree 4 is A''4'' = {e, (123), (132), (124), (142), (134), (143), (234), (243), (12)(34), (13)(24), (14)(23)}.


BASIC PROPERTIES


For ''n'' > 1, the group A''n'' is a .

The group ''A''''n'' is Abelian Iff ''n'' ≤ 3 and Simple iff ''n'' = 3 or ''n'' ≥ 5.
A5 is the smallest non-abelian simple group, having order 60.


CONJUGACY CLASSES


As in the Symmetric Group , the Conjugacy Classes in A''n'' consist of elements with the same cycle shape. However, if the cycle shape consists of cycles of odd length with no two cycles the same length, then there are exactly two conjugacy classes for this cycle shape.

Examples:
  • the two permutations (123) and (132) are not conjugates in A3, although they have the same cycle shape, and are therefore conjugate in S3

  • the permutation (123)(45678) is not conjugate to its inverse (132)(48765) in A8, although the two permutations have the same cycle shape, so they are conjugate in S8.



AUTOMORPHISM GROUP


For ''n'' > 3, except for ''n'' = 6, the Automorphism Group of A''n'' is the symmetric group S''n'', with Inner Automorphism Group A''n'' and Outer Automorphism Group Z2.

For ''n'' = 1 and 2, the automorphism group is trivial. For ''n'' = 3 the automorphism group is Z2, with trivial inner automorphism group and outer automorphism group Z2.

The outer automorphism group of
A6 is Z22. The extra outer automorphism in A6 swaps the 3-cycles (like (123)) with elements of shape 32 (like (123)(456)).


EXCEPTIONAL ISOMORPHISMS


There are some Isomorphisms between some of the small alternating groups and small Groups Of Lie Type . These are:

More obviously, A3 is isomorphic to the Cyclic Group Z3, and A1 and A2 are isomorphic to the Trivial Group .


SUBGROUPS