Bfgatr

Finite Groups and their Representations
(Mathematics 4H 1998–9 )
7/11/2002
Dr A. J. Baker
Department of Mathematics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QW,
Scotland.
E-mail address: [email protected]
URL: http://www.maths.gla.ac.uk/∼ajb
Contents
Chapter 1. Linear and multilinear algebra 1

1. Basic linear algebra 1
2. Class functions and the Cayley-Hamilton Theorem 5
3. Separability 8
4. Basic notions of multilinear algebra 9
Chapter 2. Recollections and reformulations on basic group theory 13

1. The Isomorphism and Correspondence Theorems 13
2. Some definitions and notation 14
3. Group actions 15
4. The Sylow theorems 17
5. Solvable groups 17
6. Product and semi-direct product groups 18
7. Some useful groups 18
8. Some useful Number Theory 19
Chapter 3. Representations of finite groups 21

1. Linear representations 21
2. G-homomorphisms and irreducible representations 23
3. New representations from old 27
4. Permutation representations 28
5. Properties of permutation representations 30
6. Calculating in permutation representations 32
7. Generalized permutation representations 33
Chapter 4. Character theory 35

1. Characters and class functions on a finite group 35
2. Properties of characters 37
3. Inner products of characters 38
4. Character tables 41
5. Examples of character tables 44
6. Reciprocity formulæ 49
7. Representations of semi-direct products 51
Chapter 5. Some applications to group theory 53

1. Characters and the structure of groups 53
2. A result on representations of simple groups 55
3. A Theorem of Frobenius 56
Chapter 6. Automorphisms and extensions 59

1. Automorphisms 59
2. Extensions 62
3. Classifying extensions [optional extra material] 65
3
4 CONTENTS
Chapter 7. Some further applications 69

1. Fourier series and the circle group 69
CHAPTER 1
Linear and multilinear algebra
In this chapter we will study the linear algebra required in representation theory. Some of
this will be familiar but there will also be new material, especially that on ‘multilinear’ algebra.
1. Basic linear algebra

Throughout the remainder of these notes k will denote a field, i.e., a commutative ring with
unity 1 in which every non-zero element has an inverse. Most of the time in representation
theory we will work the field of complex numbers C and occasionally the field of real numbers
R. However, a lot of what we discuss will work over more general fields, including those of finite
characteristic such as Z/p for a prime p. Here, the characteristic of the field k is defined to be
the smallest natural number p ∈ N such that p1 = 1 + · · · + 1 = 0 if such a number exists then k
is said to have finite characteristic), otherwise it has characteristic 0. In the finite characteristic
case, the characteristic is always a prime.
1.1. Bases, linear transformations and matrices. Let V be a finite dimensional vector
space over k, i.e., a k-vector space. Recall that a basis for V is a linearly independent spanning
set for V . The dimension of V (over k) is the number of elements in any basis, and is denoted
dim| V . We will often view k itself as a 1-dimensional k-vector space with basis {1} or indeed
any set {x} with x 6= 0.
Given two k-vector spaces V, W , a linear transformation (or linear mapping) from V to W
is a function ϕ : V −→ W such that
ϕ(v1 + v2 ) = ϕ(v1 ) + ϕ(v2 ),
ϕ(tv) = tϕ(v),
for v1 , v2 , v ∈ V and t ∈ k. The set of all linear transformations V −→ W will be denoted
Hom| (V, W ). This is a k-vector space with the operations of addition and scalar multiplication
given by
(ϕ + θ)(u) = ϕ(u) + θ(u),
(tϕ)(u) = t(ϕ(u)) = ϕ(tu)
for ϕ, θ ∈ Hom| (V, W ) and t ∈ k.
An important property of a basis is the following extension property.
Proposition 1.1. Let V, W be k-vector spaces with V finite dimensional, and {v1 , . . . , vm }
a basis for V where m = dim| V . Given a function ϕ : {v1 , . . . , vm } −→ W , there is a unique
linear transformation Φ : V −→ W such that
Φ(vj ) = ϕ(vj ) (1 6 j 6 m).
We can express this with the aid of the commutative diagram
inclusion /V
{v1 , . . . , vm }
LL
LL
LL
ϕ LLL ∃! Φ
L% Ä
W
1
2 1. LINEAR AND MULTILINEAR ALGEBRA
in which the dotted arrow is supposed to indicate a (unique) solution to the problem of filling
in the diagram
inclusion /V
{v1 , . . . , vm }
LL
LL
LL
ϕ LLL
L%
W
with a linear transformation so that composing the functions corresponding to the horizontal
and right hand sides agrees with the functions corresponding to left hand side.
Proof. The definition of Φ is

 
m
X m
X
Φ λj vj  = λj ϕ(vj ). ¤
j=1 j=1
When using this result we will refer to Φ as the linear extension of ϕ and often write ϕ.
Let V, W be finite dimensional k-vector spaces with bases {v1 , . . . , vm } and {w1 , . . . , wn },
where m = dim| V and n = dim| W . By Proposition 1.1, each function ϕij : {v1 , . . . , vm } −→ W
(1 6 i 6 m, 1 6 j 6 n) given by
ϕij (vk ) = δik wj (1 6 k 6 m)
extends uniquely to a linear transformation ϕij : V −→ W .
Proposition 1.2. The set of functions ϕij : V −→ W (1 6 i 6 m, 1 6 j 6 n) is a basis

for Hom| (V, W ). Hence
dim| Hom| (V, W ) = dim| V dim| W = mn.
A particular and very important case of this is the dual space of V ,

V ∗ = Hom(V, k).
Notice that dim| V ∗ = dim| V . Given a basis {v1 , . . . , vm } of V , V ∗ has as a basis the set of
functions {v1∗ , . . . , vm
∗ } which satisfy
vi∗ (vk ) = δik ,

where δij is the Kronecker δ-symbol for which
(
1 if i = j,
δij =
0 otherwise.
We can view this giving rise to an isomorphism V −→ V ∗ under which
vj ←→ vj∗ .
If we set V ∗∗ = (V ∗ )∗ , then there is an isomorphism V ∗ −→ V ∗∗ under which
vj∗ ←→ (vj∗ )∗ .
Here we use the fact that the vj∗ form a basis for V ∗ . Composing these two isomorphisms we
obtain a third V −→ V ∗∗ given by
vj ←→ (vj∗ )∗ .
In fact, this does not depend on the basis of V used, although the factors do! This is sometimes
called the canonical isomorphism V −→ V ∗∗ .
The set of all endomorphisms of V is
End| (V ) = Hom| (V, V ),
1. BASIC LINEAR ALGEBRA 3
which is a ring (actually a k-algebra, and also non-commutative if dim| V > 1) with addition
as above, and multiplication given by composition of functions. There is a ring monomorphism
k −→ End| (V ) given by
t 7−→ t IdV
which embeds k into End| (V ) as the subring of scalars. We also have
dim| End| (V ) = (dim| V )2 .
Let GL| (V ) denote the group of all invertible k-linear transformations V −→ V , i.e., the
group of units in End| (V ). This is usually called the general linear group of V or the group of
linear automorphisms of V and denoted GL| (V ) or Aut| (V ).
Now let v = {v1 , . . . , vm } and w = {w1 , . . . , wn } be bases for V and W . Then given a linear
transformation ϕ : V −→ W we may define the matrix of ϕ with respect to the bases v and w
to be the n × m matrix with coefficients in k,
w [ϕ]v = [aij ],
where
n
X
ϕ(vj ) = akj wk .
k=1
Now suppose we have a second pair of bases for V and W , v0 = {v10 , . . . , vm

0 } and w0 =
{w10 , . . . , wn0 }. Then we can write

m
X n
X
vj0 = prj vr , wj0 = qsj ws ,
r=1 s=1
for some pij , qij ∈ k. If we form the m × m and n × n matrices P = [pij ] and Q = [qij ], then we
have the following standard result.
Proposition 1.3. The matrices w [ϕ]v and w0 [ϕ]v0 are related by the formulæ
w0 [ϕ]v0 = Qw [ϕ]v P −1 = Q[aij ]P −1 .
In particular, if W = V , w = v and w0 = v0 , then
v0 [ϕ]v0 = P v [ϕ]v P −1 = P [aij ]P −1 .
1.2. Quotients and complements. Let W ⊆ V be a vector subspace. Then we define

the quotient space V /W to be the set of equivalence classes under the equivalence relation ∼ on
V defined by
u∼v if and only if v − u ∈ W.
We denote the class of v by v + W . This set V /W becomes a vector space with operations
(u + W ) + (v + W ) = (u + v) + W,
λ(v + W ) = (λv) + W
and zero element 0 + W . There is a linear transformation, usually called the quotient map
q : V −→ V /W , defined by
q(v) = v + W.
Then q is surjective, has kernel ker q = W and has the following universal property.
Theorem 1.4. Let f : V −→ U be a linear transformation with W ⊆ ker f . Then there is a

unique linear transformation f : V /W −→ U for which f = f ◦ q. This can be expressed in the
diagram
q
V ? / V /W
? ??
??
f ?? ∃! f
Â |
U
in which all the sides represent linear transformations.
Proof. We define f by
f (v + W ) = f (v),
which makes sense since if v 0 ∼ v, then v 0 − v ∈ W , hence
f (v 0 ) = f ((v 0 − v) + v) = f (v 0 − v) + f (v) = f (v).
The uniqueness follows from the fact that q is surjective. ¤
Notice also that
(1.1) dim| V /W = dim| V − dim| W.
A linear complement (in V ) of a subspace W ⊆ V is a subspace W 0 ⊆ V such that the
restriction q|W 0 : W 0 −→ V /W is a linear isomorphism. The next result sums up properties of
linear complements and we leave the proofs as exercises.
Theorem 1.5. Let W ⊆ V and W 0 ⊆ V be vector subspaces of the k-vector space V with
dim| V = n. Then the following conditions are equivalent.
a) W 0 is a linear complement of W in V .
b) Let {w1 , . . . , wr } be a basis for W , and {wr+1 , . . . , wn } a basis for W 0 . Then
{w1 , . . . , wn } = {w1 , . . . , wr } ∪ {wr+1 , . . . , wn }
is a basis for V .
c) Every v ∈ V has a unique expression of the form
v = v1 + v2
for some elements v1 ∈ W , v2 ∈ W 0 . In particular, W ∩ W 0 = {0}.
d) Every linear transformation h : W 0 −→ U has a unique extension to a linear transfor-
mation H : V −→ U with W ⊆ ker H.
e) W is a linear complement of W 0 in V .
∼
=
f) There is a linear isomorphism J : V − → W × W 0 for which im J|W = W × {0} and
im J|W 0 = {0} × W 0 .
g) There are unique linear transformations p : V −→ V and p0 : V −→ V for which
2
p2 = p ◦ p = p, p0 = p0 ◦ p0 = p0 ,
im p = W, im p0 = W 0 ,
IdV = p + p0 .
We often write V = W ⊕ W 0 whenever W 0 is a linear complement of W . The maps p, p0 of

Theorem 1.5(g) are often called the (linear ) projections onto W and W 0 . This can be extended
to the situation where there are r subspaces V1 , . . . , Vr ⊆ V for which
 
X r 
V = V1 + · · · + Vr = vj : vj ∈ Vj ,
 
j=1
2. CLASS FUNCTIONS AND THE CAYLEY-HAMILTON THEOREM 5
and we inductively have that Vk is a linear complement of (V1 ⊕ · · · ⊕ Vk−1 ) in (V1 + · · · + Vk ).

A linear complement for a subspace W ⊆ V always exists since we can extend a basis
{w1 , . . . , wr } of W to a basis {w1 , . . . , wr , wr+1 , . . . , wn } for V and then take W 0 to be the
subspace spanned by {wr+1 , . . . , wn }. Theorem 1.5(b) implies that W 0 is a linear complement.
2. Class functions and the Cayley-Hamilton Theorem

In this section k can be any field. Let A = [aij ] be an n × n matrix over k.
Definition 1.6. The characteristic polynomial of A is the polynomial (in the variable X)
n
X
charA (X) = det(XIn − [aij ]) = ck (A)X k ∈ k[X],
k=0
where In is the n × n identity matrix.
This polynomial is monic and of degree n in X. The coefficients cr (A) ∈ k are functions of
the entries aij . The following is an important result about this polynomial.
Theorem 1.7 (Cayley-Hamilton Theorem: matrix version). The matrix A satisfies

the polynomial identity
n
X
charA (A) = ck (A)Ak = 0.
k=0
Example 1.8. Let · ¸

0 −1
A= ∈ R[X].
1 0
Then · ¸
X 1
charA (X) = det = X 2 + 1.
−1 X
By calculation we find that A2 + I2 = O2 as claimed.
Lemma 1.9. Let A = [aij ] and P be an n × n matrix with coefficients in k. Then if P is

invertible,
charP AP −1 (X) = charA (X).
Thus each of the coefficients ck (A) (0 6 k 6 n) satisfies
ck (P AP −1 ) = ck (A).
Proof. We have
charP AP −1 (X) = det(XIn − P AP −1 )
= det(P (XIn )P −1 − P AP −1 )
= det(P (XIn − A)P −1 )
= det P det(XIn − A) det P −1
= charA (X).
Now comparing coefficients we obtain the result. ¤
This result shows that as functions of A (hence of the aij ), the coefficients ck (A) are invariant
or class functions in the sense that they are invariant under conjugation,
cr (P AP −1 ) = cr (A).
Recall that for an n × n matrix A = [aij ], the trace of A, Tr A ∈ k, is defined by

n
X
Tr A = ajj .
j=1
Proposition 1.10. For any n × n matrix over k we have
cn−1 (A) = − Tr A and cn (A) = (−1)n det A.
Proof. Calculating the coefficient of X n−1 in det(XIn − [aij ]) we get

n
X
− arr = − Tr[aij ].
r=1
Putting X = 0 gives
cn (A) = det([−aij ]) = (−1)n det[aij ]. ¤
Now let ϕ : V −→ V be a linear transformation on a finite dimensional k-vector space with

a basis v = {v1 , . . . , vn }. Consider the matrix of ϕ relative to v,
[ϕ]v = [aij ],
where
n
X
ϕvj = arj vr .
r=1
Then the trace of ϕ with respect to the basis v is
Trv ϕ = Tr[ϕ]v .
If we change to a second basis w say, there is an invertible n × n matrix P = [pij ] such that
n
X
wj = prj vr ,
r=1
and then
[ϕ]w = P [ϕ]v P −1 .
Hence,
¡ ¢
Trw ϕ = Tr P [ϕ]v P −1 = Trv ϕ.
Thus we see that the quantity
Tr ϕ = Trv ϕ
only depends on ϕ, not the basis v. We call this the trace of ϕ. We can similarly define
det ϕ = det A.
More generally, we can consider the polynomial
charϕ (X) = char[ϕ]v (X)
which by Lemma 1.9 is independant of the basis v. Thus all of the coefficients ck (A) are
functions of ϕ and do not depend on the basis used, so we may write ck (ϕ) in place of ck (A).
In particular, an alternative way to define Tr ϕ and det ϕ is as
Tr ϕ = cn−1 (ϕ) and det ϕ = (−1)n det A.
We also call charϕ (X) the characteristic polynomial of ϕ. The following is a formulation of the
Cayley-Hamilton Theorem for a linear transformation.
2. CLASS FUNCTIONS AND THE CAYLEY-HAMILTON THEOREM 7
Theorem 1.11 (Cayley-Hamilton Theorem: linear transformation version).

If ϕ : V −→ V is a k-linear transformation on the finite dimensional k-vector space V , then ϕ
satisfies the polynomial identity
charϕ (ϕ) = 0.
More explicitly, if
n
X
charϕ (X) = cr (ϕ)X r ,
r=0
then
n
X
cr (ϕ)ϕr = 0
r=0
where ϕ0 = IdV .
There is an important connection between class functions of matrices such as the trace
and determinant and eigenvalues. It can be shown that for a complex square matrix A (or
more generally a matrix over an algebraically closed field k), the distinct eigenvalues are the
distinct roots of the characteristic polynomial charA (X) (thus there are at most n distinct
eigenvalues). However, on factoring charA (X) into linear factors we can get repeated linear
factors, corresponding to ‘repeated’ roots. If a linear factor (X − λ) appears to degree d say, we
say that λ is an eigenvalue of multiplicity d. If every eigenvalue of A has multiplicity 1 then A
is diagonalisable in the sense that there is an invertible matrix P satisfying
P AP −1 = diag(λ1 , . . . , λn ),
the diagonal matrix with the n distinct diagonal entries λk down the leading diagonal. More
generally, let
(2.1) charA (X) = (X − λ1 ) · · · (X − λn )
where now we allow some of the λj to be repeated. Then we can describe Tr A and det A in
terms of the eigenvalues λj .
Proposition 1.12. We have

Xn
Tr A = λj and det A = (−1)n λ1 · · · λn .
j=1
Proof. This follows by considering the degree (n − 1) and constant terms in Equation (2.1)
and using Proposition 1.10. ¤
We can also apply the above discussion to a linear transformation ϕ : V −→ V , where an

eigenvector for the eigenvalue λ ∈ C is a non-zero vector v ∈ V satisfying ϕ(v) = λv.
The characteristic polynomial may not be the smallest degree polynomial satisfied by a
matrix or a linear transformation. By definition, a minimal polynomial of an n × n matrix A or
linear transformation ϕ : V −→ V is a (non-zero) monic polynomial f (X) of smallest possible
degree for which f (A) = 0 or f (ϕ) = 0.
Lemma 1.13. For an n × n matrix A or a linear transformation ϕ : V −→ V , let f (X) be a

minimal polynomial and g(X) be any other polynomial for which g(A) = 0 or g(ϕ) = 0. Then
f (X) | g(X). Hence f (X) is unique.
Proof. We give the proof for matrices, that for a linear transformation is similar.
Suppose that f (X) - g(X). Then we have
g(X) = q(X)f (X) + r(X)
where deg r(X) < deg f (X). Since r(A) = 0 and r(X) is of degree less than f (X), we have
a contradiction. Hence f (X) | g(X). In particular, if g(X) is of the same degree as f (X),
minimality of g(X) also gives g(X) | f (X), giving f (X) = g(X) as these are both monic. ¤
We write minA (X) or minϕ (X) for the minimal polynomial of A or ϕ. Note also that
minA (X) | charA (X) and minϕ (X) | charϕ (X).
3. Separability
Lemma 1.14. Let V be a finite dimensional vector space over C and ϕ : V −→ V a linear
transformation. Suppose that
m
X
0 6= f (X) = cr X r ∈ C[X]
r=0
is a polynomial with no repeated linear factors over C and that ϕ satisfies the relation
Xm
cr ϕr = 0,
r=0
i.e., for every v ∈ V

m
X
, cr ϕr (v) = 0.
r=0
Then there is a basis v = {v1 , . . . , vn } of V consisting of eigenvectors of the linear transformation
ϕ.
Proof. By multiplying by the inverse of the leading coefficient of f (X) we can replace
f (X) by a monic polynomial with the same properties, so we will assume that f (X) is monic,
i.e., cm = 1. Factoring over C, we obtain
f (X) = fm (X) = (X − λ1 ) · · · (X − λm ),
where the λj ∈ C are distinct. Put
fm−1 (X) = (X − λ1 ) · · · (X − λm−1 ).
Notice that fm (X) = fm−1 (X)(X − λm ), hence (X − λm ) cannot divide fm−1 (X), since this
would lead to a contradiction to the assumption that fm (X) has no repeated linear factors.
Using long division of (X − λm ) into fm−1 (X), we see that
fm−1 (X) = qm (X)(X − λm ) + rm ,
where the remainder rm ∈ C cannot be 0 since then (X − λm ) would divide fm−1 (X). Dividing
by rm if necessary, we see that for some non-zero sm ∈ C,
sm fm−1 (X) − qm (X)(X − λm ) = 1.
Substituting X = ϕ, we have for any v ∈ V ,
sm fm−1 (ϕ)(v) − qm (ϕ)(ϕ − λm IdV )(v) = v.
Notice that we have
(ϕ − λm IdV ) (sm fm−1 (ϕ)(v)) = sm fm (ϕ)(v) = 0
and
fm−1 (ϕ) (qm (ϕ)(ϕ − λm IdV )(v)) = qm (ϕ)fm (ϕ)(v) = 0.
0 where
Thus we can decompose v into a sum v = vm + vm
0
(ϕ − λm IdV )(vm ) = 0 and fm−1 (ϕ)(vm ) = 0.
4. BASIC NOTIONS OF MULTILINEAR ALGEBRA 9
Let
Vm = {v ∈ V : (ϕ − λm IdV )(v) = 0},
Vm0 = {v ∈ V : fm−1 (ϕ)(v) = 0}.
Thus we have shown that V = Vm + Vm0 . If v ∈ Vm ∩ Vm0 , then from above we would have
v = sm fm−1 (ϕ)(v) − qm (ϕ)(ϕ − λm IdV )(v) = 0.
So Vm ∩ Vm0 = {0}, hence V = Vm ⊕ Vm0 . We can now consider Vm0 in place of V , noticing that
for v ∈ Vm0 , ϕ(v) ∈ Vm0 , since
fm−1 (ϕ)(ϕ(v)) = ϕ (fm−1 (ϕ)(v)) = 0.
Continuing in this fashion, we eventually see that
V = V1 ⊕ · · · ⊕ Vm
where for v ∈ Vk ,
(ϕ − λk )(v) = 0.
If we choose a basis v(k) of Vk , then the (disjoint) union
v = v(1) ∪ · · · ∪ v(m)
is a basis for V , consisting of eigenvectors of ϕ. ¤
The condition on ϕ in this result is sometimes referred to as the separability or semisimplicity
of ϕ. We will make use of this when discussing characters of representations.
4. Basic notions of multilinear algebra

In this section we will describe the tensor product of r vector spaces. We will most often
consider the case where r = 2, but give the general case for completeness. Multilinear algebra
is important in differential geometry, relativity, electromagnetism, fluid mechanics and indeed
much of advanced applied mathematics where tensors play a rôle.
Let V1 , . . . , Vr and W be k-vector spaces. A function
F : V1 × · · · × Vr −→ W
is k-multilinear if it satisfies
(ML-1)
F (v1 , . . . , vk−1 , vk + vk0 , vk+1 , . . . , vr ) = F (v1 , . . . , vk , . . . , vr ) + F (v1 , . . . , vk−1 , vk0 , vk+1 , . . . , vr ),
(ML-2)
F (v1 , . . . , vk−1 , tvk , vk+1 , . . . , vr ) = tF (v1 , . . . , vk−1 , vk , vk+1 , . . . , vr )
for vj , vj0 ∈ V and t ∈ k. It is symmetric if for any permutation σ ∈ Sr (the permutation group
on r objects),
(ML-S) F (vσ(1) , . . . , vσ(k) , . . . , vσ(r) ) = F (v1 , . . . , vk , . . . , vr ),
and is alternating or skew-symmetric if
(ML-A) F (vσ(1) , . . . , vσ(k) , . . . , vσ(r) ) = sign(σ)F (v1 , . . . , vk , . . . , vr ),

where sign(σ) ∈ {±1} is the sign of σ.
The tensor product of V1 , . . . , Vr is a k-vector space V1 ⊗V2 ⊗· · ·⊗Vr together with a function
τ : V1 × · · · × Vr −→ V1 ⊗ V2 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Vr satisfying the following universal property.
UP-TP: For any k-vector space W and multilinear map F : V1 × · · · × Vr −→ W , there is a

unique linear transformation F 0 : V1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Vr −→ W for which F 0 ◦ τ = F .
In diagram form this becomes

τ / V1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Vr
V1 × · · · ×L Vr
LLL
LLL
LLL
F L& ∃! F 0
x
W
where the dotted arrow represents a unique linear transformation making the diagram commute.
When V1 = V2 = · · · = Vr = V , we call V ⊗ · · · ⊗ V the rth tensor power and write Tr V .

The following result provides an explicit description of a tensor product.
Proposition 1.15. If the finite dimensional k-vector space Vk (1 6 k 6 r) has a basis

vk = {vk,1 , . . . , vk,nk }
where dim| Vk = nk , then V1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Vr has a basis consisting of the vectors
v1,i1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ vr,ir = τ (v1,i1 , . . . , vr,ir ),
where 1 6 ik 6 nk . Hence we have
dim| V1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Vr = n1 · · · nr .
More generally, for any sequence w1 ∈ V1 , . . . wr ∈ Vr , we set

w1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ wr = τ (w1 , . . . , wr ).
These satisfy the multilinearity formulæ
(MLF-1) w1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ wk−1 ⊗ (wk + wk0 ) ⊗ wk+1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ wr =

w1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ wk ⊗ · · · ⊗ wr + w1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ wk−1 ⊗ wk0 ⊗ wk+1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ wr ,
(MLF-2)
w1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ wk−1 ⊗ twk ⊗ wk+1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ wr = t(w1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ wk−1 ⊗ wk ⊗ wk+1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ wr ).
We will see later that the tensor power Tr V can be decomposed as a direct sum Tr V =
Symr V ⊕ Altr V consisting of the symmetric and antisymmetric or alternating tensors Symr V
and Altr V .
We end with some useful results.
Proposition 1.16. Let V1 , . . . , Vr be finite dimensional k-vector spaces. Then there is a

linear isomorphism
V1∗ ⊗ · · · ⊗ Vr∗ ∼ = (V1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Vr )∗ .
In particular,
Tr (V ∗ ) ∼
= (Tr V )∗ .
Proof. Use the universal property to construct a linear transformation with suitable prop-
erties. ¤
Proposition 1.17. Let V, W be finite dimensional k-vector spaces. Then there is a k-linear
isomorphism
W ⊗V∗ ∼ = Hom| (V, W )
under which for α ∈ V ∗ and w ∈ W ,
w ⊗ α ←→ wα
where by definition, wα : V −→ W is the function determined by wα(v) = α(v)w for v ∈ V .
4. BASIC NOTIONS OF MULTILINEAR ALGEBRA 11
Proof. The function W × V ∗ −→ Hom| (V, W ) given by (w, α) 7→ wα is bilinear, and

hence factors uniquely through a linear transformation W ⊗ V ∗ −→ Hom| (V, W ). But for bases
v = {v1 , . . . , vm } and w = {w1 , . . . , wn } of V and W , then the vectors wj ⊗ vi∗ form a basis of
W ⊗ V ∗ . Under the above linear mapping, wj ⊗ vi∗ gets sent to the function wj vi∗ which maps
vk to wj if k = i and 0 otherwise. Using Propositions 1.2 and 1.15, it is now straightforward to
verify that these functions are linearly independent and span Hom| (V, W ). ¤
Proposition 1.18. Let V1 , . . . , Vr , W1 , . . . , Wr be finite dimensional k-vector spaces, and
for each 1 6 k 6 r, let ϕk : Vk −→ Wk be a linear transformation. Then there is a unique linear
transformation
ϕ1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ ϕr : V1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Vr −→ W1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Wr
given on each tensor v1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ vr by the formula
ϕ1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ ϕr (v1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ vr ) = ϕ1 (v1 ) ⊗ · · · ⊗ ϕ1 (vr ).
Proof. This follows from the universal property UP-TP. ¤
CHAPTER 2
Recollections and reformulations on basic group theory
Recommended Books.
J&L: G. James & M. Liebeck, Representations and Characters of Groups, Cambridge Uni-
versity Press, 1993.
J-PS: J.-P. Serre, Linear Representations of Finite Groups, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1977.
A&B: J.L. Alperin & R.B. Bell, Groups and Representations, Springer-Verlag, New York,
1995.
JBF: J.B. Fraleigh, A First Course in Abstract Algebra, Addison-Wesley, 1994 (5th Edition).
1. The Isomorphism and Correspondence Theorems

The three Isomorphism Theorems and the Correspondence Theorem are fundamental results
of Group Theory. We will use the notations H 6 G and N / G to indicate that H is a subgroup
and N a normal subgroup of G.
Recall that given a normal subgroup N / G the quotient group G/N has for its elements the
distinct cosets
gN = {gn ∈ G : n ∈ N } (g ∈ G).
Then the natural mapping π : G −→ G/N given by
π(g) = gN
is a surjective homomorphism with kernel ker π = N .
Theorem 2.1 (1st Isomorphism Theorem). Let ϕ : G −→ H be a homomorphism with

N = ker ϕ. Then there is a unique homomorphism ϕ : G/N −→ H such that ϕ ◦ π = ϕ.
Equivalently, there is a unique factorisation
π ϕ
ϕ: G −
→ G/N −
→ H.
In diagram form this becomes

q
G? / G/N
??
??
ϕ ??
?
Â | ∃! ϕ
H
where all the arrows represent group homomorphisms.
Theorem 2.2 (2nd Isomorphism Theorem). Let H 6 G and N / G. Then there is an

isomorphism
HN/N ∼= H/(H ∩ N ); hn ←→ h(H ∩ N ).
Theorem 2.3 (3rd Isomorphism Theorem). Let K / G and N / G with N / K. Then

K/N 6 G/N is a normal subgroup, and there is an isomorphism
G/K ∼
= (G/N )/(K/N ); gK ←→ (gN )(K/N ).
13
14 2. RECOLLECTIONS AND REFORMULATIONS ON BASIC GROUP THEORY
Theorem 2.4 (Correspondence Theorem). There is a one-one correspondence between sub-

groups of G containing N and subgroups of G/N , given by
H ←→ π(H) = H/N,
−1
π Q ←→ Q,
where
π −1 Q = {g ∈ G : π(g) = gN ∈ Q}.
Moreover, under this correspondence, H / G if and only if π(H) / G/N .
2. Some definitions and notation

Let G be a group.
Definition 2.5. The centre of G is the subset
Z(G) = {c ∈ G : gc = cg ∀g ∈ G}.
This is a normal subgroup of G, i.e., Z(G) / G.
Definition 2.6. Let g ∈ G, then the centralizer of g is
CG (g) = {c ∈ G : cg = gc}.
This is a subgroup of G, i.e., CG (g) 6 G.
Definition 2.7. Let H 6 G. The normalizer of H in G is
NG (H) = {c ∈ G : cHc−1 = H}.
This is a subgroup of G containing H; moreover, H is a normal subgroup of NG (H), i.e.,

H / NG (H).
Definition 2.8. G is simple if its only normal subgroups are G and {e}. Equivalently, it
has no non-trivial proper subgroups.
Definition 2.9. The order of G, |G|, is the number of elements in G when G is finite, and
∞ otherwise. If g ∈ G, the order of g, |g|, is the smallest natural number n ∈ N such g n = e
provided such a number exists, otherwise it is ∞. Equivalently, |g| = | hgi |, the order of the
cyclic group generated by g. If G is finite, then every element has finite order.
Theorem 2.10 (Lagrange’s Theorem). If G is a finite group, and H 6 G, then |H| divides
|G|. In particular, for any g ∈ G, |g| divides |G|.
Definition 2.11. Two elements x, y ∈ G are conjugate in G if there exists g ∈ G such that
y = gxg −1 .
The conjugacy class of x is the set of all elements of G conjugate to x,
{y ∈ G : y = gxg −1 for some g ∈ G}.
Conjugacy is an equivalence relation on G and the distinct conjugacy classes are the distinct
equivalence classes.
3. GROUP ACTIONS 15
3. Group actions
Let G be a group (with identity element eG ) and X a set. Recall that an action of G on X
is a rule assigning to each g ∈ G a bijection ϕg : X −→ X and satisfying the identities
ϕgh = ϕg ◦ ϕh ,
ϕeG = IdX .
We will frequently make use of the notation
g · x = ϕg (x)
(or even just write gx) when the action is clear, but sometimes we may need to refer explicitly
to the action. It is often useful to view an action as corresponding to a function
Φ : G × X −→ X; ϕ(g, x) = ϕg (x).
It is also frequently important to regard an action of G as corresponding to a group homomor-
phism
ϕ : G −→ Perm(X); g → 7 ϕg ,
where Perm(X) denotes the group of all permutations (i.e., bijections) of the set X. If n =
{1, 2, . . . , n}, then Sn = Perm(n) is the symmetric group on n-objects, and has order n!.
Given such an action of G on X, we have the following definitions:
Stabϕ (x) = {g ∈ G : ϕg (x) = x},
Orbϕ (x) = {y ∈ X : for some g ∈ G, y = ϕg (x)},
X G = {x ∈ X : gx = x ∀g ∈ G}.
Then Stabϕ (x) is called the stabilizer of x and is often denoted StabG (x) when the action is
clear, while Orbϕ (x) is called the orbit of x and is often denoted OrbG (x). X G is called the
fixed point set of the action.
Theorem 2.12. Let ϕ be an action of G on X, and x ∈ X.
(1) Stabϕ (x) is a subgroup of G. Hence if G is finite, then so is Stabϕ (x) and moreover
by Lagrange’s Theorem, | Stabϕ (x)| | |G|.
(2) There is a bijection
G/ Stabϕ (x) ←→ Orbϕ (x); g Stabϕ (x) ↔ g · x = ϕg (x).
Furthermore, this bijection is G-equivariant in the sense that
hg Stabϕ (x) ↔ h · (g · x).
In particular, if G is finite, then so is Orbϕ (x) and we have
| Orbϕ (x)| = |G|/| Stabϕ (x)|.
The distinct orbits partition X into a disjoint union of subsets,
a
X= Orbϕ (x).
distinct
orbits
Equivalently, there is an equivalence relation ∼ on X for which the distinct orbits are the
G
equivalence classes and given by
x∼y ⇐⇒ for some g ∈ G, y = g · x.
G
Hence, if X is finite, then X
|X| = | Orbϕ (x)|
distinct
orbits
This theorem is the basis of many arguments in Combinatorics and Number Theory as well
as Group Theory. Here is an important example, often called Cauchy’s Lemma.
Theorem 2.13 (Cauchy’s Lemma). Let G be a finite group and let p be a prime for which
p | |G|. Then there is an element g ∈ G of order p.
Proof. Let
X = Gp = {(g1 , g2 , . . . , gp ) : gj ∈ G, g1 g2 · · · gp = eG }.
Let H be the group of all cyclic permutations of the set {1, 2, . . . , p}; this is a cyclic group of
order p. Consider the following action of H on X:
γ · (g1 , g2 , . . . , gp ) = (gγ −1 (1) , gγ −1 (2) , . . . , gγ −1 (p) ).
It is easily seen that this is an action. By Theorem 2.12, the size of each orbit must divide
|H| = p, hence must be 1 or p since p is prime. On the other hand,
|X| = |G|p ≡ 0 (mod p),
since p | |G|. Again by Theorem 2.12, we have
X
|X| = | OrbH (x)|,
distinct
orbits
and hence X
| OrbH (x)| ≡ 0 (mod p).
distinct
orbits
But there is at least one orbit of size 1, namely that containing e = (eG , . . . , eG ), hence,
X
| OrbH (x)| ≡ −1 (mod p).
distinct
orbits not
containing e
If all the left hand summands are p, then we obtain a contradiction, so at least one other orbit
contains exactly one element. But such an orbit must have the form
OrbH ((g, g, . . . , g)) , g p = eG .
Hence g is the desired element of order p. ¤
Later, we will meet the following type of action. Let k be a field and V a vector space over
k. Let GL| (V ) denote the group of all invertible k-linear transformations V −→ V . Then for
any group G, a homomorphism of groups ρ : G −→ GL| (V ) defines a k-linear action of G on V
by
g · v = ρ(g)(v).
This is also called a k-representation of G in (or on) V . One extreme example is provided by
the case where G = GL| (V ) with ρ = IdGL| (V ) . We will be mainly interested in the situation
where G is finite and k = R or k = C; however, other cases are important in Mathematics.
If we have actions of G on sets X and Y , a function ϕ : X −→ Y is called G-equivariant or
a G-map if
ϕ(gx) = gϕ(x) (g ∈ G, x ∈ X).
An invertible G-map is called a G-equivalence (it is easily seen that the inverse map is itself
a a G-map). We say that two G-sets are G-equivalent if there is a G-equivalence between
them. Another way to understand these ideas is as follows. If Map(X, Y ) denotes the set of all
functions X −→ Y , then we can define an action of G by
(g · ϕ)(x) = g(ϕ(g −1 x)).
5. SOLVABLE GROUPS 17
Then the fixed point set of this action is
Map(X, Y )G = {ϕ : gϕ(g −1 x) = ϕ(x) ∀x, g} = {ϕ : ϕ(gx) = gϕ(x) ∀x, g}.
So MapG (X, Y ) = Map(X, Y )G is just the set of all G-equivariant maps.
4. The Sylow theorems

The Sylow Theorems provide the beginnings of a systematic study of the structure of finite
groups. For a finite group G, they connect the factorisation of |G| into prime powers,
|G| = pr11 pr22 · · · prdd ,
where 2 6 p1 < p2 < · · · < pd with pk prime, and rk > 0, to the existence of subgroups of
prime power order, often called p-subgroups. They also provide a sort of converse to Lagrange’s
Theorem.
Here are the three Sylow Theorems. Recall that a proper subgroup H < G is maximal if
it is contained in no larger proper subgroup; also a subgroup P 6 G is a p-Sylow subgroup if
|P | = pk where pk+1 - |G|.
Theorem 2.14 (Sylow’s 1st Theorem). A p-subgroup P 6 G is maximal if and only if

it is a p-Sylow subgroup. Hence every p-subgroup is contained in a p-Sylow subgroup.
Theorem 2.15 (Sylow’s 2nd Theorem). Any two p-Sylow subgroups P, P 0 6 G are
conjugate in G.
Theorem 2.16 (Sylow’s 3rd Theorem). Let P 6 G be a p-Sylow subgroup with |P | = pk ,

so |G| = pk m where p - m. Also let np be the number of distinct p-Sylow subgroups of G. Then
(i) np ≡ 1 (mod p);

(ii) m ≡ 0 (mod np ).
Finally, we end with an important result on chains of subgroups in a finite p-group.
Theorem 2.17. Let P be a finite p-group. Then there is a sequence of subgroups
{e} = P0 6 P1 6 · · · 6 Pn = P,
with |Pk | = pk and Pk−1 / Pk for 1 6 k 6 n.
We also have the following which can be proved directly by the method in the proof of
Theorem 2.13.
Theorem 2.18. Let P be a non-trivial finite p-group. Then the centre of P , Z(P ), is non-
trivial.
Sylow theory seemingly reduces the study of structure of a finite group to the interaction
between the different Sylow subgroups as well as their internal structure. In reality, this is just
the beginning of a difficult subject, but the idea seems simple enough!
5. Solvable groups
Definition 2.19. A group G which has a sequence of subgroups
{e} = H0 6 H1 6 · · · 6 Hn = G,
with Hk−1 / Hk and Hk /Hk−1 cyclic of prime order, is called solvable (soluble or soluable).
Solvable groups are generalizations of p-groups in that every finite p-group is solvable. A
finite solvable group G can be thought of as built up from the abelian subquotients Hk /Hk−1 .
Since finite abelian groups are easily understood, the complexity is then in the way these sub-
quotients are ‘glued’ together.
More generally, for a group G, a series of subgroups G = G0 > G1 > · · · > Gr = {e} is
called a composition series for G if Gj+1 / Gj for each j, and each successive quotient group
Gj /Gj+1 is simple. The quotient groups Gj /Gj+1 (and groups isomorphic to them) are called
the composition factors of the series, which is said to have length r. Every finite group has
a composition series, with solvable groups being the ones with abelian subquotients. Thus, to
study a general finite group requires that we analyse both finite simple groups and also the ways
that they can be glued together to appear as subquotients for composition series.
6. Product and semi-direct product groups

Given two groups H, K, their product G = H × K is the set of ordered pairs
H × K = {(h, k) : h ∈ H, k ∈ K}
with multiplication (h1 , k1 ) · (h2 , k2 ) = (h1 h2 , k1 k2 ), identity eG = (eH , eK ) and inverses given
by (h, k)−1 = (h−1 , k −1 ).
A group G is the semi-direct product G = N o H of the subgroups N, H if N / G, H 6 G,
H ∩ N = {e} and HN = N H = G. Thus, each element g ∈ G has a unique expression g = hn
where n ∈ N, h ∈ H. The multiplication is given in terms of such factorisations by
(h1 n1 )(h2 n2 ) = (h1 h2 )(h−1
2 n1 h2 n2 ),
where h−1
2 n1 h2 ∈ N by the normality of N .
An example of a semi-direct product is provided by the symmetric group on 3 letters, S3 .
Here we can take
N = {e, (123), (132)}, H = {e, (12)}.
H can also be one of the subgroups {e, (13)}, {e, (23)}.
7. Some useful groups

In this section we define various groups that are useful as test examples in the theory we will
develop. Some of these will be familiar although the notation may vary from that in previous
encounters with these groups.
7.1. The quaternion group. The quaternion group of order 8, Q8 , has as elements the
following 2 × 2 complex matrices:
±1, ±i, ±j, ±k,
where · ¸ · ¸ · ¸ · ¸
1 0 i 0 0 1 0 i
1= = I2 , i= , j= , k= .
0 1 0 −i −1 0 i 0
7.2. Dihedral groups.
Definition 2.20. The dihedral group of order 2n D2n is generated by two elements α, β of
orders |α| = n and |β| = 2 which satisfy the relation
βαβ = α−1 .
The distinct elements of D2n are
αr , αr β (r = 0, . . . , n − 1).
Notice that we also have αr β = βα−r .
A useful geometric interpretation of D2n is provided by the following.
8. SOME USEFUL NUMBER THEORY 19
Proposition 2.21. The group D2n is isomorphic to the symmetry group of a regular n-
gon in the plane, with α corresponding to a rotation through 2π/n about the centre and β
corresponding to the reflection in a line through a vertex and the centre.
7.3. Symmetric and alternating groups. The symmetric group on n objects Sn is best
handled using cycle notation. Thus, if σ ∈ Sn , then we express σ in terms of its disjoint cycles.
Here the cycle (i1 i2 . . . ik ) is the element which acts on the set n = {1, 2, . . . , n} by sending
ir to ir+1 (if r < k) and ik to i1 , while fixing the remaining elements of n; the length of this
cycle is k and we say that it is a k-cycle. Every permutation σ has a unique expression (apart
from order) as a composition of disjoint cycles, i.e., cycles with no common entries. We usually
supress the cycles of length 1, thus (123)(46)(5) = (123)(46).
It is also possible to express a permutation σ as a composition of 2-cycles; such a decompo-
sition is not unique, but the number of the 2-cycles taken modulo 2 (or equivalently, whether
this number is even or odd, i.e., its parity) is unique. The sign of σ is the number
sign σ = (−1)number of 2-cycles .
Theorem 2.22. The function sign : Sn −→ {1, −1} is a surjective group homomorphism.
The kernel of sign is called the alternating group An and its elements are called even per-
mutations, while elements of Sn not in An are called odd permutations. Notice that |An | =
|Sn |/2 = n!/2. Sn is the disjoint union of the two cosets eAn = An and τ An where τ ∈ Sn is
any odd permutation.
Here are the elements of A3 and S3 expressed in cycle notation.
A3 : e = (1)(2)(3), (123) = (13)(12), (132) = (12)(13).
S3 : e, (123), (132), (12)e = (12), (12)(123) = (1)(23), (12)(132) = (2)(13).
8. Some useful Number Theory

In the section we record some number theoretic results that are useful in studying finite
groups. These should be familiar and no proofs are given. Details can be found in the book
[JBF] or any other basic book on abstract algebra.
Definition 2.23. Given two integers a, b, their highest common factor or greatest common
divisor is the highest positive common factor, and is written (a, b). It has the property that
any integer common divisor of a and b divides (a, b).
Definition 2.24. Two integers a, b are coprime if (a, b) = 1.
Theorem 2.25. Let a, b ∈ Z. Then there are integers r, s such that ra + sb = (a, b). In
particular, if a and b are coprime, then there are integers r, s such that ra + sb = 1.
More generally, if a1 , . . . , an are pairwise coprime, then there are integers r1 , . . . , rn such
that
r1 a1 + · · · + rn an = 1.
These are consequences of the Euclidean or Divison Algorithm for Z.
EA: Let a, b ∈ Z. Then there are unique q, r ∈ Z for which 0 6 r < |b| and a = qb + r.
It can be shown that in this situation, (a, b) = (b, r). This allows a determination of the
highest common factor of a and b by repeatedly using EA until the remainder r becomes 0,
when the previous remainder will be (a, b).
CHAPTER 3
Representations of finite groups
1. Linear representations
In discussing representations, we will be mainly interested in the situations where k = R or
k = C. However, other cases are important and unless we specifically state otherwise we will
usually assume that k is an arbitrary field of characteristic 0. For fields of finite characteristic
dividing the order of the group, Representation Theory becomes more subtle and the resulting
theory is called Modular Representation Theory. Another important property of the field k
required in many situations is that it is algebraically closed in the sense that every polynomial
over k has a root in k; this is true for C but not for R, however, the latter case is important in
many applications of the theory. Throughout this section, G will denote a finite group.
A homomorphism of groups ρ : G −→ GL| (V ) defines a k-linear action of G on V by
g · v = ρg v = ρ(g)(v),
which we call a k-representation or k-linear representation of G in (or on) V . Sometimes V
together with ρ is called a G-module, although we will not use that terminology. The case where
ρ(g) = IdV is called the trivial representation in V . Notice that we have the following identities:
(Rep-1) (hg) · v = ρhg v = ρh ◦ ρg v = h · (g · v) (h, g ∈ G, v ∈ V ),
(Rep-2) g · (v1 + v2 ) = ρg (v1 + v2 ) = ρg v1 + ρg v2 = g · v1 + g · v2 (g ∈ G, vi ∈ V ),
(Rep-3) g · (tv) = ρg (tv) = tρg (v) = t(g · v) (g ∈ G, v ∈ V, t ∈ k).
A vector subspace W of V which is closed under the action of elements of G is called a G-
submodule or G-subspace; we sometimes say that W is stable under the action of G. It is usual
to view W as being a representation in its own right, using the ‘restriction’ ρ|W : G −→ GL| (W )
defined by
ρ|W (g)(w) = ρg (w).
The pair consisting of W and ρ|W is called a subrepresentation of the original representation.
Given a basis v = {v1 , . . . , vn } for V with dim| V = n, for each g ∈ G we have the associated
matrix of ρ(g) relative to v, [rij (g)] which is defined by
n
X
(Rep-Mat) ρg vj = rkj (g)vk .
k=1
Example 3.1. Let ρ : G −→ GL| (V ) where dim| V = 1. Then given any non-zero element
v ∈ V (which forms a basis for V ) we have for each g ∈ G a λg ∈ k satisfying g · v = λg v. By
Equation (Rep-1), for g, h ∈ G we have
λhg v = λh λg v,
and hence
λhg = λh λg .
From this it is easy to see that λg 6= 0. Thus there is a homomorphism Λ : G −→ k× given by
Λ(g) = λg .
21
22 3. REPRESENTATIONS OF FINITE GROUPS
Although this appears to depend on the choice of v it is in fact independent of it (exercise). As

G is finite, every element g ∈ G has a finite order |g|, and hence we also have
λ|g|
g = 1,
which we also leave as an exercise. This says that λg is a |g| th root of unity. Hence, given a
1-dimensional representation of a group, we can regard it as equivalent to such a homomorphism
G −→ k× .
Example 3.2. As examples of the above, let us consider the following situations.
a) Take k = R. Then the only roots of unity in R are ±1, hence we can assume that
for a 1-dimensional representation over R, Λ : G −→ {1, −1}, where the codomain is a
group under multiplication. An interesting example of this is provided by the sign of
permutations, sign : Sn −→ {1, −1}.
b) Now take k = C. Then for each n ∈ N we have n distinct nth roots of unity in C× . We
will denote the set of all nth roots of unity by µn , and the set of all roots of unity by
[
µ∞ = µn ,
n∈ N
where we use the inclusions µm ⊆ µn whenever m|n. These are abelian groups under
multiplication.
Given a 1-dimensional representation over C, the function Λ can be viewed as a
homomorphism Λ : G −→ µ∞ , or even Λ : G −→ µ|G| by Lagrange’s Theorem.
For example, if G = C is cyclic of order N say, then we must have for any 1-
dimensional representation of C that Λ : C −→ µN . Note that there are exactly N of
such homomorphisms.
Example 3.3. Let G be a simple group which is not abelian. Then given a 1-dimensional
representation ρ : G −→ GL| (V ) of G, the associated homomorphism Λ : G −→ µ|G| has abelian
image, hence ker Λ has to be bigger than {eG }. Since G has no proper normal subgroups, we
must have ker Λ = G. Hence, ρ(g) = IdV .
Indeed, for any representation ρ : G −→ GL| (V ) we have ker ρ = G or ker ρ = {eG }. Hence,
either the representation is trivial or ρ is an injective homomorphism, which therefore embeds
G into GL| (V ). This severely restricts the smallest dimension of non-trivial representations of
non-abelian simple groups.
Example 3.4. Let G = {e, τ } ∼= Z/2 and let V be any representation over any field not of
characteristic 2. Then there are k-vector subspaces V+ , V− of V for which V = V+ ⊕ V− and
the action of G is given by
(
v if v ∈ V+ ,
τ ·v =
−v if v ∈ V− .
Proof. Define linear transformations ε+ , ε− : V −→ V , by

1 1
ε+ (v) = (v + τ · v) , ε− (v) = (v − τ · v) .
2 2
It is easily verified that
ε+ (τ · v) = ε+ (v), ε− (τ · v) = −ε− (v).
We take V+ = im ε+ and V− = im ε− and the direct sum decomposition follows from the identity
v = ε+ (v) + ε− (v). ¤
2. G-HOMOMORPHISMS AND IRREDUCIBLE REPRESENTATIONS 23
The decomposition in this example corresponds to the two distinct irreducible representa-
tions of Z/2. Later we will see (at least over the complex numbers C) that there is always such a
decomposition of a representation of a finite group G with factors corresponding to the distinct
irreducible representations of G.
Example 3.5. Let D2n be the dihedral group of order 2n described in Section 7.2. This
group is generated by elements α of order n and β of order 2, subject to the relation
βαβ = α−1 .
We can realise D2n as the symmetry group of the regular n-gon centred at the origin and with
vertices on the unit circle (we take the first vertex to be (1, 0)). It is easily checked that relative
the standard basis {e1 , e2 } of R2 , we get
· ¸ · ¸
r cos 2rπ/n − sin 2rπ/n r cos 2rπ/n − sin 2rπ/n
α = βα =
sin 2rπ/n cos 2rπ/n − sin 2rπ/n − cos 2rπ/n
for r = 0, . . . , (n − 1).
Thus we have a 2-dimensional representation ρR of D2n over R, where the matrices of ρR (αr )
and ρR (βαr ) are given by the above. We can also view R2 as a subset of C2 and interpret these
matrices as having coefficients in C. Thus we obtain a 2-dimensional complex representation
ρC of D2n with the above matrices relative to the C-basis {e1 , e2 }.
2. G-homomorphisms and irreducible representations

Suppose that we have two representations ρ : G −→ GL| (V ) and σ : G −→ GL| (W ). Then
a linear transformation f : V −→ W is called G-equivariant, G-linear or a G-homomorphism
with respect to ρ and σ, if for each g ∈ G the diagram
f
V −−−−→ W
 
ρg 
y
σg
y
f
V −−−−→ W
commutes, i.e., σg ◦ f = f ◦ ρg or equivalently, σg ◦ f ◦ ρg−1 = f . A G-homomorphism which is
a linear isomorphism is called a G-isomorphism or G-equivalence and we say that the represen-
tations are G-isomorphic or G-equivalent.
We define an action of G on Hom| (V, W ), the vector space of k-linear transformations
V −→ W , by
(g · f )(v) = σg f (ρg−1 v) (f ∈ Hom| (V, W )).
This is another G-representation. The G-invariant subspace HomG (V, W ) = Hom| (V, W )G is
then equal to the set of all G-homomorphisms.
If the only G-subspaces of V are {0} and V , ρ is called irreducible or simple.
Given a subrepresentation W ⊆ V , the quotient vector space V /W also admits a linear
action of G, ρW : G −→ GL| (V /W ), the quotient representation, where
ρW (g)(v + W ) = ρ(g)(v) + W,
which is well defined since whenever v 0 − v ∈ W ,
¡ ¢
ρ(g)(v 0 ) + W = ρ(g)(v + (v 0 − v)) + W = ρ(g)(v) + ρ(g)(v 0 − v)) + W = ρ(g)(v) + W.
Proposition 3.6. If f : V −→ W is a G-homomorphism, then

a) ker f is a G-subspace of V ;
b) im f is a G-subspace of W .
Proof. (a) Let v ∈ ker f . Then for g ∈ G,

f (ρg v) = σg f (v) = 0,
so ρg v ∈ ker f . Hence ker f is a G-subspace of V
(b) Let w ∈ im f with w = f (u) for some u ∈ V . Now
σg w = σg f (u) = f (ρg u) ∈ im f,
hence im f is a G-subspace of W . ¤
Theorem 3.7 (Schur’s Lemma). Let ρ : G −→ GLC (V ) and σ : G −→ GLC (W ) be irred-

ucible representations of G over the field C, and let f : V −→ W be a G-linear map.
a) If f is not the zero map, then f is an isomorphism.
[Remark: Part (a) holds for any field k.]
b) If V = W and ρ = σ, then f has the form
f (v) = λv (v ∈ V )
form some λ ∈ C.
Proof. (a) Proposition 3.6 implies that ker f ⊆ V and im f ⊆ W are G-subspaces. By the
irreducibility of V , either ker f = V (in which case f is the zero map) or ker f = {0} in which
case f is injective. Similarly, irreducibility of W implies that im f = {0} (in which case f is the
zero map) or im f = W in which case f is surjective. Thus if f is not the zero map it must be
an isomorphism.
(b) Let λ ∈ C be an eigenvalue of f , with eigenvector v0 6= 0. Let fλ : V −→ V be the linear
transformation for which
fλ (v) = f (v) − λv (v ∈ V ).
For g ∈ G,
ρg fλ (v) = ρg f (v) − ρg λv
= f (ρg v) − λρg v,
= fλ (ρg v),
showing that fλ is G-linear. Since fλ (v0 ) = 0, Proposition 3.6 shows that ker fλ = V . As
dimC V = dimC ker fλ + dimC im fλ ,
we see that im fλ = {0} and so
fλ (v) = 0 (v ∈ V ). ¤
A linear transformation f : V −→ V is sometimes called a homothety if it has the form

f (v) = λv (v ∈ V ).
In this proof, it is essential that we take k = C rather than k = R for example, since we
need the fact that every polynomial over C has a root to guarantee that linear transformations
V −→ V always have eigenvalues. This theorem can fail to hold for representations over R as
the next example shows.
Example 3.8. Let k = R and V = C considered as a 2-dimensional R-vector space. Let

G = µ4 = {1, −1, i, −i}
be the group of all 4th roots of unity with ρ : µ4 −→ GL| (V ) given by
ρα z = αz.
2. G-HOMOMORPHISMS AND IRREDUCIBLE REPRESENTATIONS 25
Then this defines a 2-dimensional representation of G over R. If we use the basis {u = 1, v = i},
then
ρi u = v, ρi v = −u.
From this we see that any G-subspace of V containing a non-zero element w = au + bv also
contains −bu + av, and hence it must be all of V (exercise). So V is irreducible.
But the linear transformation ϕ : V −→ V given by
ϕ(au + bv) = −bu + av = ρi (au + bv)
is G-linear, but not the same as multiplication by a real number (this is left as an exercise).
Theorem 3.9 (Maschke’s Theorem). Let V be a k-vector space and ρ : G −→ GL| (V ) a

k-representation. Let W ⊆ V be a G-subspace of V . Then there is a projection onto W which is
G-equivariant. Equivalently, there is a linear complement W 0 of W which is also a G-subspace.
Proof. Let p : V −→ V be a projection onto W . Define a linear transformation p0 : V −→

V by
1 X
p0 (v) = ρg ◦ p ◦ ρ−1
g (v).
|G|
g∈G
Then for v ∈ V ,
ρg ◦ p ◦ ρ−1
g (v) ∈ W
since im p = W and W is a G-subspace; hence p0 (v) ∈ W . We also have

1 X
p0 (ρg v) = ρh p(ρ−1
h ρg v)
|G|
h∈G
1 X
= ρg ρg−1 h p(ρ−1
g −1 h
v)
|G|
h∈G
Ã !
1 X −1
= ρg ρg−1 h p(ρg−1 h v)
|G|
h∈G
Ã !
1 X
= ρg ρh p(ρh−1 v)
|G|
h∈G
= ρg p0 (v),
which shows that p0 is G-equivariant. If w ∈ W ,

1 X
p0 (w) = ρg p(ρg−1 w)
|G|
g∈G
1 X
= ρg ρg−1 w
|G|
g∈G
1 X
= w
|G|
g∈G
1
= (|G|w) = w.
|G|
Hence p0 |W = IdW , showing that p0 has image W .
Now consider W 0 = ker p0 , which is a G-subspace by part (a) of Proposition 3.6. This
is a linear complement for W since given the quotient map q : V −→ V /W , if v ∈ W 0 then
q(v) = 0 + W implies v ∈ W ∩ W 0 and hence 0 = p0 (v) = v. ¤
Theorem 3.10. Let ρ : G −→ GL| (V ) be a linear representation of a finite group with V

non-trivial. Then there are G-spaces U1 , . . . , Ur ⊆ V , each of which is a non-trivial irreducible
subrepresentation and
V = U1 ⊕ · · · ⊕ Ur .
Proof. We proceed by Induction on n = dim| V . If n = 1, the result is true with U1 = V .

So assume that the result holds whenever dim| V < n. Now either V is irreducible or there
is a proper G-subspace U1 ⊆ V . By Theorem 3.9, there is a G-complement U10 of U1 in V with
dim| U10 < n. By the Inductive Hypothesis there are irreducible G-subspaces U2 , . . . , Ur ⊆ U10 ⊆
V for which
U10 = U2 ⊕ · · · ⊕ Ur ,
and so we find
V = U1 ⊕ U2 ⊕ · · · ⊕ Ur . ¤
We will see later that given any two such collections of non-trivial irreducible subrepresent-
ations U1 , . . . , Ur and W1 , . . . , Ws , we have s = r and for each k, the number of Wj G-isomorphic
to Uk is equal to the number of Uj G-isomorphic to Uk . The proof of this will use characters,
which give further information such as the multiplicity of each irreducible which occurs as a sum-
mand in V . The irreducible representations Uk are called the irreducible factors or summands
of the representation V .
An important example of a G-subspace of any representation ρ on V is the G-invariant
subspace
V G = {v ∈ V : ρg v = v ∀g ∈ G}.
We can construct a projection map V −→ V G which is G-linear, provided that the characteristic
of k does not divide |G|. In practice, we will be mainly interested in the case where k = C, so
in this section from now on, we will assume that k has characteristic 0 .
Proposition 3.11. Let ε : V −→ V be the k-linear transformation defined by

1 X
ε(v) = ρg v.
|G|
g∈G
The following hold.

a) For g ∈ G and v ∈ V , ρg ε(v) = ε(v).
b) ε is G-linear.
c) For v ∈ V G , ε(v) = v. Hence, im ε = V G .
Proof. (a) Let g ∈ G and v ∈ V . Then

Ã !
1 X 1 X 1 X 1 X
ρg ε(v) = ρg ρh v = ρg ρh v = ρgh v = ρh v = ε(v).
|G| |G| |G| |G|
h∈G h∈G h∈G h∈G
(b) Similarly, for g ∈ G and v ∈ V ,

1 X 1 X 1 X
ε(ρg v) = ρh (ρg v) = ρhg v = ρk v = ε(v).
|G| |G| |G|
h∈G h∈G k∈G
By (a), this agrees with ρg ε(v). Hence, ε is G-linear.

(c) For v ∈ V G ,
1 X 1 X 1
ε(v) = ρg v = v= |G|v = v.
|G| |G| |G|
g∈G g∈G
This also shows that im ε = V G. ¤

3. NEW REPRESENTATIONS FROM OLD 27
3. New representations from old

Let G be a finite group and k a field. In this section we will see how new representations
can be manufactured out of existing ones. As well as allowing interesting new examples to be
constructed, this sometimes gives ways of understanding representations in terms of familiar
ones. This will be important when we have learnt how to decompose representations in terms
of irreducibles and indeed is sometimes used to construct the latter.
Let V1 , . . . , Vr be k-vector spaces carrying representations ρ1 , . . . , ρr of G. Then for each
g ∈ G and each j, we have the corresponding linear transformation ρj g : Vj −→ Vj . Using
Proposition 1.18 we obtain a unique linear transformation
ρ1 g ⊗ · · · ⊗ ρr g : V1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Vr −→ V1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Vr .
It is easy to verify that this gives a representation of G on the tensor product V1 ⊗· · ·⊗Vr , called
the tensor product of the original representations. By Proposition 1.18 we have the formula
(3.1) ρ1 g ⊗ · · · ⊗ ρr g (v1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ vr ) = ρ1 g v1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ ρr g vr
for vj ∈ Vj (j = 1, . . . , r).
Let V, W be k-vector spaces supporting representations ρ : G −→ GL| (V ) and σ : G −→
GL| (W ). Recall that the set of all linear transformations V −→ W is the k-vector space
Hom| (V, W ) with addition and multiplication given by the formulæ
(ϕ + θ)(u) = ϕ(u) + θ(u),
(tϕ)(u) = t(ϕ(u)) = ϕ(tu)
for ϕ, θ ∈ Hom| (V, W ) and t ∈ k.
We can also define an action of G on Hom| (V, W ) by
(τg ϕ)(u) = σg ϕ(ρg−1 u).
This turns out to be a linear representation of G on Hom| (V, W ).
As a particular example of this, taking W = k with the trivial action of G (i.e., σg = Id| ),
we obtain an action of G on the dual of V , V ∗ = Hom| (V, k), the contragredient representation
ρ∗ . Explicitly,
ρ∗g ϕ = ϕ ◦ ρg−1 .
Proposition 3.12. Let ρ : G −→ GL| (V ) be a representation, and v = {v1 , . . . , vn } a basis
of V . Suppose that relative to v,
[ρg ]v = [rij (g)] (g ∈ G).
Then relative to the dual basis v∗ = {v1∗ , . . . , vn∗ }, we have
[ρ∗g ]v∗ = [rji (g −1 )] (g ∈ G),
or equivalently,
[ρ∗g ]v∗ = [ρg−1 ]T .
Proof. If we write
[ρ∗g ]v∗ = [tij (g)],
then by definition,
n
X
ρ∗g vs∗ = trs (g)vr∗ .
r=1
Now for each i = 1, . . . , n,
n
X
(ρ∗g vj∗ )(vi ) = trj (g)vr∗ (vi ),
r=1
which gives
vj∗ (ρg−1 vi ) = tij (g),
and hence
n
X
tij (g) = vj∗ ( rki (g −1 )vi ) = rji (g −1 ). ¤
k=1
Another perspective on the above is provided by the next result, whose proof is left as an
exercise.
Proposition 3.13. The k-linear isomorphism
Hom| (V, W ) ∼
= W ⊗V ∗
|
is a G-isomorphism where the right hand side carries the tensor product representation σ ⊗ ρ∗ .
Using these ideas together with Proposition 3.11 we obtain the following useful result
Proposition 3.14. For k of characteristic 0, the G-homomorphism
ε : Hom| (V, W ) −→ Hom| (V, W )
of Proposition 3.11 has image equal to the set of G-homomorphisms V −→ W , Hom| (V, W )G
which is also G-isomorphic to (W ⊗| V ∗ )G .
Now let ρ : G −→ GL| (V ) be a representation of G and let H 6 G. We can restrict ρ to
G
H and obtain a representation ρ|H : H −→ GL| (V ) of H, usually denoted ρ ↓G H or ResH ρ; the
G G
H-module V is also denoted V ↓H or ResH V .
Similarly, if G 6 K, then we can form the induced representation ρ ↑KG : K −→ GL| (V ↑G )
K
as follows. Take KR to be the G-set consisting of the underlying set of K with the G-action
g · x = xg −1 .
Define
V ↑K K G
G = IndG V = Map(KR , V ) = {f : K −→ V : f (x) = ρg f (xg) ∀x ∈ K}.
Then K acts linearly on V ↑K

G by
(k · f )(x) = f (kx),
and so we obtain a linear representation of K. The induced representation is often denoted
K
G or IndG ρ. The dimension of V ↑G is dim| V ↑G = |K/G| dim| V . Later we will meet
ρ ↑K K K
Reciprocity Laws relating these induction and restriction operations.
4. Permutation representations
Let G be a finite group and X a finite G-set, i.e., a finite set X equipped with an action
of G on X, written gx. A finite dimensional G-representation ρ : G −→ GLC (V ) over k is a
permutation representation on X if there is an injective G-map j : X −→ V and im j = j(X) ⊆ V
is a k-basis for V . Notice that a permutation representation really depends on the injection
j. We frequently have situations where X ⊆ V and j is the inclusion of the subset X. The
condition that j be a G-map amounts to the requirement that
ρg (j(x)) = j(gx) (g ∈ G, x ∈ X).
Definition 3.15. A homomorphism from a permutation representation j1 : X1 −→ V1 to a
second j2 : X2 −→ V2 is a G-linear transformation Φ : V1 −→ V2 such that
Φ(j1 (x)) ∈ im j2 (x ∈ X1 ).
A G-homomorphism of permutation representations which is a G-isomorphism is called a G-
isomorphism of permutation representations.
4. PERMUTATION REPRESENTATIONS 29
Notice that by the injectivity of j2 , this implies the existence of a unique G-map ϕ : X1 −→
X2 for which
j2 (ϕ(x)) = Φ(j1 (x)) (x ∈ X1 ).
Equivalently, we could specify the G-map ϕ : X1 −→ X2 and then Φ : V1 −→ V2 would be the
unique linear extension of ϕ restricted to im j2 (see Proposition 1.1). In the case where Φ is a
G-isomorphism, it is easily verified that ϕ : X1 −→ X2 is a G-equivalence.
To show that such permutations representations exist in abundance, we proceed as follows.
Let X be a finite set equipped with a G-action. Let k[X] = Map(X, k), the set of all functions
X −→ k. This is a finite dimensional k-vector space with addition and scalar multiplication
defined by
(f1 + f2 )(x) = f1 (x) + f2 (x), (tf )(x) = t(f (x)),
for f1 , f2 , f ∈ Map(X, k), t ∈ k and x ∈ X. There is an action of G on Map(X, k) given by
(g · f )(x) = f (g −1 x).
If Y is a second finite G-set, and ϕ : X −→ Y a G-map, then we define the induced function
ϕ∗ : k[X] −→ k[Y ] by
X X
(ϕ∗ f )(y) = f (x) = f (x).
x∈ϕ−1 {y} ϕ(x)=y
Theorem 3.16. Let G be a finite group.

a) For a finite G-set X, k[X] is a finite dimensional permutation representation of di-
mension dim| k[X] = |X|.
b) For a G-map ϕ : X −→ Y , the induced function ϕ∗ : k[X] −→ k[Y ] is a G-linear
transformation.
Proof.
a) For each x ∈ X we have a function δx : X −→ k given by
(
1 if y = x,
δx (y) =
0 otherwise.
The map j : X −→ k[X] given by
j(x) = δx
is easily seen to be an injection. It is also a G-map, since
δgx (y) = 1 ⇐⇒ δx (g −1 y) = 1,
and hence
j(gx)(y) = δgx (y) = δx (g −1 y) = (g · δx )(y).
Given a function f : X −→ k, consider
X
f− f (x)δx ∈ k[X].
x∈X
Then for y ∈ X,
X
f (y) − f (x)δx (y) = f (y) − f (y) = 0,
x∈X
P
hence f − x∈X f (x)δx is the constant function taking the value 0 on X. So the functions δx
(x ∈ X) span k[X]. They are also linearly independent, since if the 0 valued constant function
is expressed in the form
X
tx δx
x∈X
for some tx ∈ k, then for each y ∈ X,

X
0= tx δx (y) = ty ,
x∈X
hence all the coefficients tx must be 0.
b) The k-linearity of ϕ∗ is easily checked. To show it is a G-map, for g ∈ G,
(g · ϕ∗ f )(y) = (ϕ∗ f )(g −1 y)
X
= f (x)
x∈ϕ−1 {g −1 y}
X
= f (g −1 x),
x∈ϕ−1 {y}
since we have
ϕ−1 {g −1 y} = {x ∈ X : gϕ(x) = y} = {x ∈ X : ϕ(gx) = y} = {g −1 x : x ∈ X, x ∈ ϕ−1 {y}}.
Since by definition
(g · f )(x) = f (g −1 x),
we have
(g · ϕ∗ f ) = ϕ∗ (g · f ). ¤
Given a permutation representation k[X], we will often identify X with a subset of k[X],
using the injection j. If ϕ : X −→ Y is a G-map, notice that
X X
ϕ∗ ( tx δ x ) = tx δϕ(x) .
x∈X x∈X
P
We will sometimes write x instead of δx , and a typical element of k[X] as x∈X tx x rather
P
than x∈X tx δx , where tx ∈ k. Another useful notational device is to list the elements of X
as x1 , x2 , . . . , xn and then identify n = {1, 2, . . . , n} with X via the correspondence k ←→ xk .
Then we can identify k[n] ∼ = kn with k[X] using the correspondence
n
X
(t1 , t2 , . . . , tn ) ←→ tk xk .
k=1
5. Properties of permutation representations

Let X be a finite G-set. The result shows how to reduce an arbitrary permutation repre-
sentation to a direct sum of those induced from transitive G-sets.
`
Proposition 3.17. Let X = X1 X2 where X1 , X2 ⊆ X are closed under the action of G.
Then there is a G-isomorphism
k[X] ∼
= k[X1 ] ⊕ k[X2 ].
Proof. Let j1 : X1 −→ X and j2 : X2 −→ X be the inclusion maps, which are G-maps. By
Theorem 3.16(b), there are G-linear transformations j1 ∗ : k[X1 ] −→ k[X] and j2 ∗ : k[X2 ] −→
k[X]. For
X
f= tx x ∈ k[X],
x∈X
we have the ‘restrictions’ X X
f1 = tx x, f2 = tx x.
x∈X1 x∈X2
We define our linear map k[X] ∼
= k[X1 ] ⊕ k[X2 ] by
f 7−→ (f1 , f2 ).
5. PROPERTIES OF PERMUTATION REPRESENTATIONS 31
It is easily seen that this is a linear transformation, and moreover has an inverse given by
(h1 , h2 ) 7−→ j1 ∗ h1 + j2 ∗ h2 .
Finally, this is a G-map since the latter is the sum of two G-maps, hence its inverse is. ¤
Let X1 and X2 be G-sets; then X = X1 × X2 can be made into a G-set with action given by
g · (x1 , x2 ) = (gx1 , gx2 ).
Proposition 3.18. Let X1 and X2 be G-sets. Then there is a G-isomorphism
k[X1 ] ⊗ k[X2 ] ∼
= k[X1 × X2 ].
Proof. The function F : k[X1 ] × k[X2 ] −→ k[X1 × X2 ] defined by

X X X X
F( sx x, ty y) = sx ty (x, y)
x∈X1 y∈X2 x∈X1 y∈X2
is k-bilinear. Hence by the universal property of the tensor product (Section 4, UP-TP), there
is a unique linear transformation F 0 : k[X1 ] ⊗ k[X2 ] −→ k[X1 × X2 ] for which
F 0 (x ⊗ y) = (x, y) (x ∈ X1 , y ∈ X2 ).
This is easily seen to to be an isomorphism and also G-linear. ¤
Definition 3.19. Let G be a finite group. The regular representation over k is the G-
representation k[G], of dimension dim| k[G] = |G|.
Proposition 3.20. The regular representation of a finite group G over a field k is a ring
(in fact a k-algebra). Moreover, this ring is commutative if and only if G is abelian.
P P
Proof. Let a = g∈G ag g and b = g∈G bg g where ag , bg ∈ G. Then we define the product
of a and b by
Ã !
X X
ab = ah bh−1 g g.
g∈G h∈G
Note that for g, h ∈ G in k[G] we have
(1g)(1h) = gh.
For commutativity, each such product (1g)(1h) must agree with (1h)(1g), which happens if and
only if G is abelian. The rest of the details are left as an exercise. ¤
The ring k[G] is called the group algebra or group ring of G over k. The next result is
left as an exercise for those who know about modules. It provides a link between the study
of modules over k[G] and G-representations, and so the group ring construction provides an
important source of non-commutative rings and their modules.
Proposition 3.21. Let V be a k vector space. Then if V carries a G-representation, it

admits the structure of a k[G] module defined by
X X
( ag g)v = ag gv.
g∈G g∈G
Conversely, if V is a k[G]-module, then it admits a G-representation with action defined by
g · v = (1g)v.
6. Calculating in permutation representations

In this section, we determine how the permutation representation k[X] looks in terms of the
basis consisting of elements x (x ∈ X). We know that g ∈ G acts by sending x to gx. Hence, if
we label the rows and columns of a matrix by the elements of X, the |X| × |X| matrix [g] of g
with respect to this basis has xy entry
(
1 if x = gy,
(6.1) [g]xy = δx,gy =
0 else,
where δa,b denotes the Kronecker δ function which is 0 except for when a = b and it then takes
the value 1. Thus there is exactly one 1 in each row and column, and 0’s everywhere else. The
following is an important example.
Let X = n = {1, 2, . . . , n} and G = Sn , the symmetric group of degree n, acting on n in the
usual way. We may take as a basis for k[n], the functions δj (1 6 j 6 n) given by
(
1 if k = j,
δj (k) =
0 else.
Relative to this basis, the action of σ ∈ Sn is given by the n × n matrix [σ] whose ij th entry is
(
1 if i = σ(j),
(6.2) [σ]ij =
0 else.
Taking n = 3, we get
     
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
[(132)] = 0 0 1 , [(13)] = 0 1 0 , [(132)(13)] = [(12)] = 1 0 0 .
1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
As expected, we also have
    
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
[(132)][(13)] = 0 0 1 0 1 0 = 1 0 0 = [(132)(13)].
1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
An important fact about permutation representations is the following, which makes their char-
acters easy to calculate.
Proposition 3.22. Let X be a finite G-set, and k[X] the associated permutation represen-
tation. Let g ∈ G and ρg : k[X] −→ k[X] be the linear transformation induced by g. Then
Tr ρg = |X g | = |{x ∈ X : gx = x}| = number of elements of X fixed by g.
Proof. Take the elements of X as a basis for k[X]. Then Tr ρg is the sum of the diagonal
terms in the matrix [ρg ] relative to this basis. Hence
Tr ρg = number of non-zero diagonal terms in [ρg ]

= number of elements of X fixed by g
by Equation (6.1). ¤
Our next result which that permutation representations are self-dual.
Proposition 3.23. Let X be a finite G-set, and k[X] the associated permutation represen-
tation. Then there is a G-isomorphism k[X] ∼
= k[X]∗ .
7. GENERALIZED PERMUTATION REPRESENTATIONS 33
Proof. Take as a basis of k[X] the elements x ∈ X. Then a basis for the dual space k[X]∗
consists of the elements x∗ . By definition of the action of G on k[X]∗ = Hom| (k[X], k), we have
(g · x∗ )(y) = x∗ (g −1 x) (g ∈ G, y ∈ X).
A familiar calculation shows that g · x∗ = (gx)∗ , and so this basis is also permuted by G. Now
define a function ϕ : k[X] −→ k[X]∗ by
X X
ϕ( ax x) = ax x ∗ .
x∈X x∈X
This is a k-linear isomorphism also satisfying

Ã ! Ã ! Ã !
X X X X
ϕ g ax x = ϕ ax (gx) = ax (gx)∗ = g · ϕ ax x .
x∈X x∈X x∈X x∈X
Hence ϕ is a G-isomorphism. ¤
7. Generalized permutation representations

It is useful to generalize the notion of permutation representation somewhat. Let V be a
finite dimensional k-vector space with a representation of G, ρ : G −→ GL| (V ); we will usually
write gv = ρg v. We can consider the set of all functions X −→ V , Map(X, V ), and this is also
a finite dimensional k-vector space with addition and scalar multiplication defined by
(f1 + f2 )(x) = f1 (x) + f2 (x), (tf )(x) = t(f (x)),
for f1 , f2 , f ∈ Map(X, V ), t ∈ k and x ∈ X. There is a representation of G on Map(X, V ) given
by
(g · f )(x) = gf (g −1 x).
We call this a generalized permutation representation of G.
Proposition 3.24. Let Map(X, V ) be a permutation representation of G, where V has basis

v = {v1 , . . . , vn }. Then the functions δx,j : X −→ V (x ∈ X, 1 6 j 6 n) given by
(
vj if y = x,
δx,j (y) =
0 otherwise,
for y ∈ X, form a basis for Map(X, V ). Hence,
dim| Map(X, V ) = |X| dim| V.
Proof. Let f : X −→ V . Then for any y ∈ X,

n
X
f (y) = fj (y)vj ,
j=1
where fj : X −→ k is a function. It suffices now to show that any function h : X −→ k has a

unique expression as X
h= h x δx
x∈X
where hx ∈ k and δx : X −→ k is given by
(
1 if y = x,
δx (y) =
0 otherwise.
But for y ∈ X, X
h(y) = hx δx (y) ⇐⇒ h(y) = hy .
x∈X
P
Hence h = x∈X h(x)δx is the unique expansion of this form. Combining this with the above
we have
n
X n X
X
f (y) = fj (y)vj = fj (x)δx (y)vj ,
j=1 j=1 x∈X
and so
n X
X
f= fj (x)δxj ,
j=1 x∈X
is the unique such expression, since δxj (y) = δx (y)vj . ¤
Proposition 3.25. If V = V1 ⊕ V2 is a direct sum of representations V1 , V2 , then there is a
G-isomorphism
Map(X, V ) ∼
= Map(X, V1 ) ⊕ Map(X, V2 ).
Proof. Recall that every v ∈ V has a unique expression of the form
v = v1 + v2 .
Define a function Map(X, V ) −→ Map(X, V1 ) ⊕ Map(X, V2 ) by
f −→ f1 + f2
where f1 : X −→ V1 and f2 : X −→ V2 satisfy
f (x) = f1 (x) + f2 (x) (x ∈ X).
This is easily seen to be both a linear isomorphism and a G-homomorphism, hence a G-
isomorphism. ¤
`
Proposition 3.26. Let X = X1 X2 where X1 , X2 ⊆ X are closed under the action of G.
Then there is a G-isomorphism
Map(X, V ) ∼
= Map(X1 , V ) ⊕ Map(X2 , V ).
Proof. Let j1 : X1 −→ X and j2 : X2 −→ X be the inclusion maps, which are G-maps.
Then given f : X −→ V , we have two functions fk : X −→ V (k = 1, 2) given by
(
f (x) if x ∈ Xk ,
fk (x) =
0 else.
Define a function Map(X, V ) ∼
= Map(X1 , V ) −→ Map(X2 , V ) by
f −→ f1 + f2 .
This is easily seen to be a linear isomorphism. We have
(g · f )k = g · fk ,
using the fact that Xk is closed under the action of G, hence
g · (f1 + f2 ) = g · f1 + g · f2 .
Thus this map is a G-isomorphism. ¤
These results tell us how to reduce an arbitrary generalized permutation representation to
a direct sum of those induced from a transitive G-set X and an irreducible representation V .
CHAPTER 4
Character theory
1. Characters and class functions on a finite group

Let G be a finite group and ρ : G −→ GLC (V ) a finite dimensional C-representation of
dimension dimC V = n. For g ∈ G, the linear transformation ρg : V −→ V will sometimes be
written g· or g. The character of g in the representation ρ is the trace of g on V , i.e.,
χρ (g) = Tr ρg = Tr g.
We can view χρ as a function χρ : G −→ C, the character of the representation ρ.
Definition 4.1. A function θ : G −→ C is a class function if for all g, h ∈ G,
θ(hgh−1 ) = θ(g),
i.e., θ is constant on each conjugacy class of G.
Proposition 4.2. For all g, h ∈ G,
χρ (hgh−1 ) = χρ (g).
Hence χρ : G −→ C is a class function on G.
Proof. We have
ρhgh−1 = ρh ◦ ρg ◦ ρh−1 = ρh ◦ ρg ◦ ρ−1
h
and so
χρ (hgh−1 ) = Tr ρh ◦ ρg ◦ ρ−1
h = Tr ρg = χρ (g). ¤
Example 4.3. Let G = S3 act on the set 3 = {1, 2, 3} in the usual way. Let V = C[3] be
the associated permutation representation over C, where we take as a basis e = {e1 , e2 , e3 } with
action
σ · ej = eσ(j) .
Let us determine the character of this representation ρ : S3 −→ GLC (V ).
The elements of S3 written using cycle notation are the following:
1, (12), (23), (13), (123), (132).
The matrices of these elements with respect to e are
         
0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
I3 , 1 0 0 , 0 0 1 , 0 1 0 , 1 0 0 , 0 0 1 .
0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
Taking traces we obtain
χρ (1) = 3, χρ (12) = χρ (23) = χρ (13) = 1, χρ (123) = χρ (132) = 0.
Notice that we have χρ (g) ∈ Z. Indeed, by Proposition 3.22 we have
Proposition 4.4. Let X be a G-set and ρ the associated permutation representation on
C[X]. Then
χρ (g) = |X g | = |{x ∈ X : g · x = x}| = the number of elements of X fixed by g.
35
36 4. CHARACTER THEORY
The next result sheds further light on the significance of the character of a G-representation
over the complex number field C. This makes use of the linear algebra developed in Section 3
of Chapter 1.
Theorem 4.5. For g ∈ G, there is a basis v = {v1 , . . . , vn } of V consisting of eigenvectors

of the linear transformation g.
Proof. Let d = |g|, the order of g. For v ∈ V ,

(g d − IdV )(v) = 0.
Now we can apply Lemma 1.14 with the polynomial f (X) = X d − 1, which has d distinct roots
in C. ¤
There may well be a smaller degree polynomial identity satisfied by the linear transformation
g on V . However, if a polynomial f (X) satisfied by g has deg f (X) 6 d and no repeated linear
factors, then f (X)|(X d − 1).
Corollary 4.6. The distinct eigenvalues of the linear transformation g on V are dth roots
of unity. More precisely, if d0 is the smallest natural number such that for all v ∈ V ,
(g d0 − IdV )(v) = 0,
then the distinct eigenvalues of g are d0 th roots of unity.
Proof. An eigenvalue λ (with eigenvector vλ 6= 0) of g satisfies

(g d − IdV )(vλ ) = 0,
hence
(λd − 1)vλ = 0. ¤
Corollary 4.7. For any g ∈ G we have

n
X
χρ (g) = λj
j=1
where λ1 , . . . , λn are the n eigenvalues of ρg on V , including repetitions.
Corollary 4.8. For g ∈ G we have

χρ (g −1 ) = χρ (g) = χρ∗ (g).
Proof. If the eigenvalues of ρg including repetitions are λ1 , . . . , λn , then the eigenvalues of

ρg−1 including repetitions are easily seen to be λ−1 −1
1 , . . . , λn . But if ζ is a root of unity, then
−1 −1
ζ = ζ, and so χρ (g ) = χρ (g). The second equality follows from Proposition 3.12. ¤
Now let us return to the idea of functions on a group which are invariant under conjugation.
Denote by Gc the set G and let G act on it by conjugation,
g · x = gxg −1 .
The set of all functions Gc −→ C, Map(Gc , C) has an action of G given by
(g · α)(x) = α(gxg −1 )
for α ∈ Map(Gc , C), g ∈ G and x ∈ Gc . Then the class functions are those which are invari-
ant under conjugation and hence form the set Map(Gc , C)G which is a C-vector subspace of
Map(Gc , C).
2. PROPERTIES OF CHARACTERS 37
Proposition 4.9. The C-vector space Map(Gc , C)G has as a basis the set of functions
∆C : Gc −→ C for C a conjugacy class in G, determined by
(
1 if x ∈ C,
∆C (x) =
0 if x ∈
/ C.
Thus dimC Map(Gc , C)G is the number of conjugacy classes in G.
Proof. By the proof of Theorem 3.16, a class function α : Gc −→ C function can be

uniquely expressed in the form
X
α= a x δx
x∈Gc
for suitable ax ∈ Gc . But
X X X
g·α= ax (g · δx ) = ax δgxg−1 = agxg−1 δx .
x∈Gc x∈Gc x∈Gc
Hence by uniqueness and the definition of class function, we must have

agxg−1 = ax (g ∈ G, x ∈ Gc ).
Hence,
X X
α= aC δx ,
C x∈C
where for each conjugacy class C we choose any element c0 ∈ C and put aC = ac0 . Here the
outer sum is over all the conjugacy classes C of G. We now find that
X
∆C = δx
x∈C
and the rest of the proof is straightforward. ¤
We will see that the characters of non-isomorphic irreducible representations of G also form
a basis of Map(Gc , C)G . We will set C(G) = Map(Gc , C)G .
2. Properties of characters
In this section we will see some other important properties of characters.
Theorem 4.10. Let G be a finite group with finite dimensional complex representations
ρ : G −→ GLC (V ) and σ : G −→ GLC (W ). Then
a) χρ (e) = dimC V and for g ∈ G, |χρ (g)| 6 χρ (e).
b) The tensor product representation ρ ⊗ σ has character
χρ⊗σ = χρ χσ ,
i.e., for g ∈ G,
χρ⊗σ (g) = χρ (g)χσ (g).
c) Let τ : G −→ GLC (U ) be a representation which is G-isomorphic to the direct sum of
ρ and σ, so U ∼
= V ⊕ W . Then
χτ = χρ + χσ ,
i.e., for g ∈ G,
χτ (g) = χρ (g) + χσ (g).
Proof.
a) The first statement is immediate from the definition. For the second, using Theo-
rem 4.5, we may choose a basis v = {v1 , . . . , vr } of V for which ρg vk = λk vk , where λk
is a root of unity (hence satisfies |λk | = 1). Then
r
X r
X
|χρ (g)| = | λk | 6 |λk | = r = χρ (e).
k=1 k=1
b) Let g ∈ G. By Theorem 4.5 we can find bases v = {v1 , . . . , vr } and w = {w1 , . . . , ws }

for V and W consisting of eigenvectors for ρg and σg with corresponding eigenvalues
λ1 , . . . , λr and µ1 , . . . , µs . The elements vi ⊗ wj form a basis for V ⊗ W and by the
formula of Equation (3.1), the action of g on these vectors is given by
(ρ ⊗ σ)g · (vi ⊗ wj ) = λi µj vi ⊗ wj .
Finally Corollary 4.7 implies
X
Tr(ρ ⊗ σ)g = λi µj = χρ (g)χσ (g).
i,j
c) For g ∈ G, choose bases v = {v1 , . . . , vr } and w = {w1 , . . . , ws } for V and W consisting

of eigenvectors for ρg and σg with corresponding eigenvalues λ1 , . . . , λr and µ1 , . . . , µs .
Then v ∪ w = {v1 , . . . , vr , w1 , . . . , ws } is a basis for U consisting of eigenvectors for τg
with the above eigenvalues. Then
χτ (g) = Tr τg = λ1 + · · · + λr + µ1 + · · · + µs = χρ (g) + χσ (g). ¤
3. Inner products of characters

In this section we will discuss a way to ‘compare’ characters, using a scalar or inner product
on the vector space of class functions C(G). In particular, we will see that the character of
a representation determines it up to a G-isomorphism. We will again work over the field of
complex numbers C.
We begin with the notion of scalar or inner product on a finite dimensional C-vector space
V . A function ( | ) : V × V −→ C is called a hermitian inner or scalar product on V if for
v, v1 , v2 , w ∈ V and z1 , z2 ∈ C,
(LLin) (z1 v1 + z2 v2 |w) = z1 (v1 |w) + z2 (v2 |w),
(RLin) (w|z1 v1 + z2 v2 ) = z1 (w|v1 ) + z2 (w|v2 ),
(Symm) (v|w) = (w|v),
(PoDe) 0 6 (v|v) ∈ R with equality if and only if v = 0.
A set of vectors {v1 , . . . , vk } is said to be orthonormal if
(
1 if i = j,
(vi |vj ) = δij =
0 else.
We will define an inner product ( | )G on C(G) = Map(Gc , C)G , often writing ( | ) when the
group G is clear from the context.
Definition 4.11. For α, β ∈ C(G), let

1 X
(α|β)G = α(g)β(g).
|G|
g∈G
Proposition 4.12. ( | ) = ( | )G is an hermitian inner product on C(G).

3. INNER PRODUCTS OF CHARACTERS 39
Proof. The properties LLin, RLin and Symm are easily checked. We will show that PoDe
holds. We have
1 X 1 X
(α|α) = α(g)α(g) = |α(g)|2 > 0
|G| |G|
g∈G g∈G
with equality if and only if α(g) = 0 for all g ∈ G. Hence (α|α) satisfies PoDe. ¤
Now let ρ : G −→ GLC (V ) and θ : G −→ GLC (W ) be finite dimensional representations
over C. We know how to determine (χρ |χθ )G from the definition. Here is another interpreta-
tion of this quantity. Recall from Proposition 3.13 the representations of G on W ⊗ V ∗ and
HomC (V, W ); in fact these are G-isomorphic, W ⊗ V ∗ ∼
= HomC (V, W ). By Proposition 3.14, the
G-invariant subspaces (W ⊗ V ∗ )G and HomC (V, W )G are subrepresentations and are images of
G-homomorphisms ε1 : W ⊗ V ∗ −→ W ⊗ V ∗ and ε2 : HomC (V, W ) −→ HomC (V, W ).
Proposition 4.13. We have
(χθ |χρ )G = Tr ε1 = Tr ε2 .
Proof. Let g ∈ G. By Theorem 4.5 and Corollary 4.7 we can find bases v = {v1 , . . . , vr }
for V and w = {w1 , . . . , ws } for W consisting of eigenvectors with corresponding eigenvalues
λ1 , . . . , λr and µ1 , . . . , µs . The elements wj ⊗ vi∗ form a basis for W ⊗ V ∗ and moreover g acts
on these by
(θ ⊗ ρ∗ )g (wj ⊗ vi∗ ) = µj λi wj ⊗ vi∗ ,
using Proposition 3.12. By Corollary 4.7 we have
X X X
Tr(θ ⊗ ρ∗ )g = µj λi = ( µj )( λi ) = χθ (g)χρ (g).
i,j j i
By definition of ε1 , we have
1 X 1 X
Tr ε1 = Tr(θ ⊗ ρ∗ )g = χθ (g)χρ (g) = (χθ |χρ ).
|G| |G|
g∈G g∈G
Since ε2 corresponds to ε1 under the G-isomorphism W ⊗ V ∗ ∼

= HomC (V, W ) we obtain
Tr ε1 = Tr ε2 . ¤
Corollary 4.14. For irreducible representations ρ and θ,
(
1 if ρ and θ are G-equivalent,
(χθ |χρ ) =
0 otherwise.
Proof. By Schur’s Lemma, Theorem 3.7,
(
1 if ρ and θ are G-equivalent,
dim| Hom| (V, W )G =
0 otherwise.
Since ε2 is the identity on Hom| (V, W )G , we obtain the result. ¤
Thus if we take a collection of non-equivalent irreducible representations {ρ1 , . . . , ρr }, their
characters form an orthonormal set {χρ1 , . . . , χρr } in C(G), i.e.,
(χρi |χρj ) = δij .
By Proposition 4.9 we know that dimC C(G) is equal to the number of conjugacy classes in G.
We will show that the characters of the distinct inequivalent irreducible representations form a
basis for C(G), thus there must be dimC C(G) such distinct inequivalent irreducibles.
Theorem 4.15. The characters of all the distinct inequivalent irreducible representations of
G form an orthonormal basis for C(G).
Proof. Suppose α ∈ C(G) and for every irreducible ρ we have (α|χρ ) = 0. We will show
that α = 0.
Suppose that ρ : G −→ GLC (V ) is any representation of G. Then define ρα : V −→ V by
X
ρα (v) = α(g)ρg v.
g∈G
For any h ∈ G and v ∈ V we have

X
ρα (ρh v) = α(g)ρg (ρh v)
g∈G
 
X
= ρh  α(g)ρh−1 gh v 
g∈G
 
X
= ρh  α(h−1 gh)ρh−1 gh v 
g∈G
 
X
= ρh  α(g)ρg v 
g∈G
= ρh ρα (v).
Hence ρα ∈ HomC (V, V )G , i.e., ρα is G-linear.

Now if we apply this to an irreducible ρ of dimension n say, by Schur’s Lemma, Theorem 3.7,
there must be a λ ∈ C for which ρα = λ IdV .
Taking traces, we have Tr ρα = nλ. Also
X X
Tr ρα = α(g) Tr ρg = α(g)χρ (g) = |G|(α|χρ∗ ).
g∈G g∈G
Hence we obtain
|G|
λ= (α|χρ∗ ).
dimC V
If (α|χρ ) = 0 for all irreducible ρ, then as ρ∗ is irreducible whenever ρ is, we must have ρα = 0
for every such irreducible ρ.
Since every representation ρ decomposes into a sum of irreducible subrepresentations, it is
easily verified that for every ρ we also have ρα = 0 for such an α.
Now apply this to the regular representation ρ = ρreg on V = C[G]. Taking the basis vector
e ∈ C[G] we have
X X X
ρα (e) = α(g)ρg e = α(g)ge = α(g)g.
g∈G g∈G g∈G
But this must be 0, hence we have

X
α(g)g = 0
g∈G
in C[G] which can only happen if α(g) = 0 for every g ∈ G, since the g ∈ G form a basis of
C[G]. Thus α = 0 as desired.
Now for any α ∈ C(G), we can form the function
r
X
0
α =α− (α|χρi )χρi ,
i=1
4. CHARACTER TABLES 41
where ρ1 , ρ2 , . . . , ρr is a complete set of non-isomorphic irreducible representation of G. For

each k we have
r
X
(α0 |χρk ) = (α|χρk ) − (α|χρi )(χρi |χρk )
i=1
r
X
= (α|χρk ) − (α|χρi )δi k
i=1
= (α|χρk ) − (α|χρk ) = 0,
hence α0 = 0. So the characters χρi span C(G), and orthogonality shows that they are linearly
independent, hence they form a basis. ¤
Recall Theorem 3.10 which says that any representation V can be decomposed into irred-
ucible G-subspaces,
V = V1 ⊕ · · · ⊕ Vm .
Theorem 4.16. Let V = V1 ⊕ · · · ⊕ Vm be a decomposition into irreducible subspaces. If

ρk : G −→ GLC (Vk ) is the representation on Vk and ρ : G −→ GLC (V ) is the representation on
V , then (χρ |χρk ) = (χρk |χρ ) is equal to the number of the factors Vj G-equivalent to Vk .
More generally, if also W = W1 ⊕· · ·⊕Wn is a decomposition into irreducible subspaces with
σk : G −→ GLC (Wk ) the representation on Wk and σ : G −→ GLC (W ) is the representation on
W , then
(χσ |χρk ) = (χρk |χσ )
is equal to the number of the factors Wj G-equivalent to Vk , and
(χρ |χσ ) = (χσ |χρ )

X
= (χσ |χρk )
k
X
= (χσ` |χρ ).
`
4. Character tables
The character table of a finite group G is the array formed as follows. Its columns correspond
to the conjugacy classes of G while its rows correspond to the characters χi of the inequiva-
lent irreducible representations of G. The jth conjugacy class Cj is indicated by displaying a
representative cj ∈ Cj . In the (i, j)th entry we put χi (cj ).
c1 c2 ··· cn
χ1 χ1 (c1 ) χ1 (c2 ) · · · χ1 (cn )
χ2 χ2 (c1 ) χ2 (c2 ) · · · χ2 (cn )
.. ..
. .
χn χn (c1 ) χn (c2 ) · · · χn (cn )
Conventionally we take c1 = e and χ1 to be the trivial character corresponding to the trivial
1-dimensional representation. Since χ1 (g) = 1 for g ∈ G, the top of the table will always have
the form
e c2 · · · cn
χ1 1 1 · · · 1
Also, the first column will consist of the dimensions of the irreducibles ρi , χi (e).
For the symmetric group S3 we have
e (1 2) (1 2 3)
χ1 1 1 1
χ2 1 −1 1
χ3 2 0 −1
The representations corresponding to the χj will be discussed later. Once we have the character
table of a group G we can decompose an arbitrary representation into its irreducible constituents,
since if the distinct irreducibles have characters χj (1 6 j 6 r) then a representation ρ on V
has a decomposition
V ∼
= n1 V1 ⊕ · · · ⊕ nr Vr ,
∼
where nj Vj = Vj ⊕ · · · ⊕ Vj means a G-subspace isomorphic to the sum of nj copies of the
irreducible representation corresponding to χj . Theorem 4.16 now gives nj = (χρ |χj ). The
non-negative integer nj is called the multiplicity of the irreducible Vj in V . The following
irreducibility criterion is very useful.
Proposition 4.17. If ρ : G −→ GLC (V ) is a non-zero representation, then V is irreducible

if and only if (χρ |χρ ) = 1.
Proof. If V = n1 V1 ⊕ · · · ⊕ nr Vr , then by orthonormality of the χj ,

X X XX X
(χρ |χρ ) = ( ni χi | nj χj ) = ni nj (χi |χj ) = n2j .
i j i j j
So (χρ |χρ ) = 1 if and only if n21 + · · · + n2r = 1. Remembering that the nj are non-negative
integers we see that (χρ |χρ ) = 1 if and only if all but one of the nj is zero and for some k,
nk = 1. Thus V ∼
= Vk and so is irreducible. ¤
Notice that for the character table of S3 we can check that the characters satisfy this criterion
and are also orthonormal. Provided we believe that the rows really do represent characters we
have found an orthonormal basis for the class functions C(S3 ). We will return to this problem
later.
Example 4.18. Let us assume that the above character table for S3 is correct and let
ρ = ρreg be the regular representation of S3 on the vector space V = C[S3 ]. Let us take as a
basis for V the elements of S3 . Then
ρσ τ = στ,
hence the matrix [ρσ ] of ρσ relative to this basis has 0’s down its main diagonal, except when
σ = e for which it is the 6 × 6 identity matrix. The character is χ given by
(
6 if σ = e,
χ(σ) = Tr[ρσ ] =
0 otherwise.
Thus we obtain
1 X 1
(χρ |χ1 ) = χρ (σ)χ1 (σ) = 6 = 1,
6 6
σ∈S3
1 X 1
(χρ |χ2 ) = χρ (σ)χ2 (σ) = 6 = 1,
6 6
σ∈S3
1 X 1
(χρ |χ3 ) = χρ (σ)χ3 (σ) = (6 × 2) = 2.
6 6
σ∈S3
Hence we have
C[S3 ] ∼
= V1 ⊕ V2 ⊕ V3 ⊕ V3 = V1 ⊕ V2 ⊕ 2V3 .
4. CHARACTER TABLES 43
In fact we have seen the representation V3 already in Problem Sheet 2, Qu. 5(b). It is easily
verified that the character of that representation is χ3 .
Of course, in order to use character tables, we first need to determine them! So far we do
not know much about this beyond the fact that the number of rows has to be the same as
the number of conjugacy classes of the group G and the existence of the 1-dimensional trivial
character which we will always denote by χ1 and whose value is χ1 (g) = 1 for g ∈ G. The
characters of the distinct complex irreducible representations of G are the irreducible characters
of G.
Theorem 4.19. Let G be a finite group. Let χ1 , . . . , χr be the distinct complex irreducible
characters and ρreg the regular representation of G on C[G].
a) Every complex irreducible representation of G occurs in C[G]. Equivalently, for each
irreducible character χj , (χρreg |χj ) 6= 0.
b) The multiplicity nj of the irreducible Vj with character χj in C[G] is given by
nj = dimC Vj = χj (e).
So to find all the irreducible characters, we only have to decompose the regular representa-
tion!
Proof. Using the formualæ

(
|G| if g = e,
χρreg (g) =
0 if g 6= e,
we have
1 X 1
nj = (χρreg |χj ) = χρreg (g)χj (g) = χρ (e)χj (e) = χj (e). ¤
|G| |G| reg
g∈G
Corollary 4.20. We have

r
X r
X
|G| = n2j = (χρreg |χj )2 .
j=1 j=1
The following result also holds but the proof requires some Algebraic Number Theory.
Proposition 4.21. For each irreducible character χj , nj = (χρreg |χj ) divides the order of
G, i.e., nj | |G|.
The following row and column orthogonality results for the character table of a group G are
very important.
Theorem 4.22. Let χ1 , . . . , χr be the distinct complex irreducible characters of G and e =

g1 , . . . , gr be a collection of representatives for the conjugacy classes of G and for each k, let
CG (gk ) be the centralizer of gk .
a) Row orthogonality: For 1 6 i, j 6 r,
r
X χi (gk )χj (gk )
= (χi |χj ) = δij .
| CG (gk )|
k=1
b) Column orthogonality: For 1 6 i, j 6 r,

r
X χk (gi )χk (gj )
= δij .
| CG (gi )|
k=1
Proof.
a) We have
1 X
δij = (χi |χj ) = χi (g)χj (g)
|G|
g∈G
Xr
1 |G|
= χi (gk )χj (gk )
|G| | CG (gk )|
k=1
(since the conjugacy class of gk contains |G|/| CG (gk )| elements)

r
X χi (gk )χj (gk )
= .
| CG (gk )|
k=1
b) Let ψs : G −→ C be the function given by

(
1 if g is conjugate to gs ,
ψs (g) =
0 if g is not conjugate to gs .
By Theorem 4.15, there are λk ∈ C such that
r
X
ψs = λk χk .
k=1
But then λj = (ψs |χj ). We also have

1 X
(ψs |χj ) = ψs (g)χj (g)
|G|
g∈G
r
X ψs (gk )χj (gk )
=
| CG (gk )|
k=1
χj (gs )
= ,
| CG (gs )|
hence
r
X χj (gs )
ψs = χj .
| CG (gs )|
j=1
Thus we have the required formula

r
X χj (gt )χj (gs )
δst = ψs (gt ) = . ¤
| CG (gs )|
j=1
5. Examples of character tables

Equipped with the results of the last section, we can proceed to find some character tables.
For abelian groups we have the following result which follows from what we have seen already
together with the fact that in an abelian group every conjugacy class has exactly one element.
Proposition 4.23. Let G be a finite abelian group. Then there are |G| distinct complex
irreducible characters, each of which is 1-dimensional. Moreover, in the regular representation
each irreducible occurs with multiplicity 1, i.e.,
C[G] ∼
= V1 ⊕ · · · ⊕ V|G| .
5. EXAMPLES OF CHARACTER TABLES 45
Example 4.24. Let G = hg0 i ∼ = Z/n be cyclic of order n. Let ζn = e2πi/n , the ‘standard’
primitive nth root of unity. Then for each k = 0, 1, . . . , (n − 1) we may define a 1-dimensional
representation ρk : G −→ C× by
ρk (g0r ) = ζnrk .
The character of ρk is χk given by
χk (g0r ) = ζnrk .
Clearly these are all irreducible and non-isomorphic.
Let us consider the orthogonality relations for these characters. We have

n−1
1X
(χk |χk ) = χk (g0r )χk (g0r )
n
r=0
n−1
X
1
= ζnkr ζnkr
n
r=0
n−1
X
1 n
= 1= = 1.
n n
r=0
For 0 6 k < ` 6 (n − 1) we have

n−1
1X
(χk |χ` ) = χk (g0r )χ` (g0r )
n
r=0
n−1
X
1
= ζnkr ζn`r
n
r=0
n−1
X
1
= ζn(k−`)r .
n
r=0
By row orthogonality this sum is 0. This is a special case of the following identity which is often
used in many parts of Mathematics.
Lemma 4.25. Let d ∈ N, m ∈ Z and ζd = e2πi/d . Then

d−1
(
X d if d | m,
mr
ζd =
r=0 0 otherwise.
Proof. We give a proof which does not use character theory!
If d - m, then ζdm 6= 1. Then we have
d−1
X d−1
X m(r+1)
ζdm ζdmr = ζd
r=0 r=0
d
X
= ζdms
s=1
d−1
X
= ζdmr ,
r=0
hence
d−1
X
(ζdm − 1) ζdmr = 0,
r=0
and so
d−1
X
ζdmr = 0.
r=0
If d | m then
d−1
X d−1
X
ζdmr = 1 = d. ¤
r=0 r=0
As a special case of Exercise 4.24, consider the case where n = 3 and G = hg0 i ∼
= Z/3. The
character table of G is
e g0 g02
χ1 1 1 1
χ2 1 ζ3 ζ32
χ3 1 ζ32 ζ3
Example 4.26. Let G = ha0 , b0 i be abelian of order 4, so G ∼
= Z/2 × Z/2. The character
table of G is as follows.
e a0 b0 a0 b0
χ1 = χ00 1 1 1 1
χ10 1 −1 1 −1
χ01 1 1 −1 −1
χ11 1 −1 −1 1
Example 4.27. The character table of the quaternion group of order 8, Q8 is as follows.
1 −1 i j k
χ1 1 1 1 1 1
χi 1 1 1 −1 −1
χj 1 1 −1 1 −1
χk 1 1 −1 −1 1
χ2 2 −2 0 0 0
Proof. There are 5 conjugacy classes:
{1}, {−1}, {i, −i}, {j, −j}, {k, −k}.
As always we have the trivial character χ1 . There are 3 homomorphisms Q8 −→ C× given by
ρi (ir ) = 1 and ρi (j) = ρi (k) = −1,
r
ρj (j ) = 1 and ρj (i) = ρi (k) = −1,
r
ρk (k ) = 1 and ρk (i) = ρk (j) = −1.
These provide three 1-dimensional representations with characters χi , χj , χk taking values
χi (ir ) = 1 and χi (j) = χi (k) = −1,
r
χj (j ) = 1 and χj (i) = χi (k) = −1,
χk (kr ) = 1 and χk (i) = χk (j) = −1.
Since |Q8 | = 8, we might try looking for a 2-dimensional complex representation. But the defini-
tion of Q8 provides us with the inclusion homomorphism j : Q8 −→ GLC (C2 ), where we interpret
the matrices as taken in terms of the standard basis. The character of this representation is χ2
given by
χ2 (1) = 2, χ2 (−1) = −2, χ2 (±i) = χ2 (±j) = χ2 (±k) = 0.
This completes the determination of the character table of Q8 . ¤
5. EXAMPLES OF CHARACTER TABLES 47
Example 4.28. The character table of the dihedral group of order 8, D8 , is as follows.
e α2 α β αβ
χ1 1 1 1 1 1
χ2 1 1 1 −1 −1
χ3 1 1 −1 1 −1
χ4 1 1 −1 −1 1
χ5 2 −2 0 0 0
Proof. The elements of D8 are
e, α, α2 , α3 , β, αβ, α2 β, α3 β
and these satisfy the relations
α4 = e = β 2 , βαβ = α−1 .
The conjugacy classes are the sets
{e}, {α2 }, {α, α3 }, {β, α2 β}, {αβ, α3 β}.
There are two obvious 1-dimensional representations, namely the trivial one ρ1 and also ρ2 ,
where
ρ2 (α) = 1, ρ2 (β) = −1.
The character of ρ2 is determined by
χ2 (αr ) = 1, χ2 (βαr ) = −1.
A third 1-dimensional representation comes from the homomorphism ρ3 : D8 −→ C× given by
ρ3 (α) = −1, ρ3 (β) = 1.
The fourth 1-dimensional representation comes from the homomorphism ρ4 : D8 −→ C× for
which
ρ4 (α) = −1, ρ4 (β) = −1.
The characters χ1 , χ2 , χ3 , χ4 are clearly distinct and thus orthonormal.
Before describing χ5 as the character of a 2-dimensional representation, we will determine
it up to a scalar factor. Suppose that
χ5 (e) = a, χ5 (α2 ) = b, χ5 (α) = c, χ5 (β) = d, χ5 (βα) = e
for a, b, c, d, e ∈ C. The orthonormality conditions give (χ5 |χj ) = δj 5 . For j = 1, 2, 3, 4, we
obtain the following linear system:
 
  a  
1 1 2 2 2   0
1 1 2 −2 −2  b  
  c 0
(5.1) 1 1 −2 2 −2  = 
  0
d
1 1 −2 −2 2 0
e
which has solutions
b = −a, c = d = e = 0.
If χ5 is an irreducible character we must also have (χ5 |χ5 ) = 1, giving
1¡ 2 ¢ a2
1= a + a2 = ,
8 4
and so a = ±2. So we must have the stated bottom row. The corresponding representation is
that of Example 3.5, viewed as a complex representation. This is easily seen to have χ5 as its
character. ¤
Remark: The groups Q8 and D8 have identical character tables even though they are non-
isomorphic! Thus character tables cannot always tell non-isomorphic groups apart.
Example 4.29. The character table of the symmetric group S4 , is as follows.

e (12) (12)(34) (123) (1234)
[1] [6] [3] [8] [6]
χ1 1 1 1 1 1
χ2 1 −1 1 1 −1
χ3 3 1 −1 0 −1
χ4 3 −1 −1 0 1
χ5 2 0 2 −1 0
Proof. Recall that the conjugacy classes correspond to the different cycle types of which
are represented by the following list of elements where the numbers in brackets give the sizes of
the conjugacy classes:
e [1], (12) [6], (12)(34) [3], (123) [8], (1234) [6].
So there are 5 rows and columns in the character table. The sign representation sign : S4 −→ C×
is 1-dimensional and its character is
χ2 (e) = χ2 ((12)(34)) = χ2 (123) = 1 and χ2 (12) = χ2 (1234) = −1.
The 4-dimensional permutation representation ρ̃4 corresponding to the action on 4 = {1, 2, 3, 4}
has character χρ̃4 given by
χρ̃4 (σ) = number of fixed points of σ.
So we have
χρ̃4 (e) = 4, χρ̃4 ((12)(34)) = χρ̃4 (1234) = 0, χρ̃4 (123) = 1, χρ̃4 (12) = 2.
We know that this representation has the form
C[4] = C[4]S4 ⊕ W
where W is a S4 -subspace of dimension 3, for which the character χ3 is determined by
χ1 + χ3 = χρ̃4 ,
and hence
χ3 = χρ̃4 − χ1 .
So we obtain the following values for χ3
χ3 (e) = 3, χ3 ((12)(34)) = χ3 (1234) = −1, χ3 (123) = 0, χ3 (12) = 1.
Calculating the inner product of this with itself gives
1
(χ3 |χ3 ) = (9 + 6 + 3 + 0 + 6) = 1,
24
and so χ3 is the character of an irreducible representation.
From this information we can deduce that the two remaining irreducibles must have dimen-
sions n4 , n5 satisfying
n24 + n25 = 24 − 1 − 1 − 9 = 13,
and thus we can take n4 = 3 and n5 = 2, since these are the only possible values up to order.
If we form the tensor product ρ2 ⊗ ρ3 we get a character χ4 given by
χ4 (g) = χ2 (g)χ3 (g),
hence the 4th line in the table. Then (χ4 |χ4 ) = 1 and so χ4 really is an irreducible character.
6. RECIPROCITY FORMULÆ 49
For χ5 , recall that the regular representation ρreg has character χρreg decomposing as
χρreg = χ1 + χ2 + 3χ3 + 3χ4 + 2χ5 ,
hence we have
1¡ ¢
χ5 = χρreg − χ1 − χ2 − 3χ3 − 3χ4 ,
2
which gives the last row of the table. ¤
Notice that in this example, the tensor product ρ3 ⊗ρ5 which is a representation of dimension
6 cannot be irreducible. Its character χρ3 ⊗ρ5 must be a linear combination of the irreducibles,
5
X
χρ3 ⊗ρ5 = (χρ3 ⊗ρ5 |χj )χj .
j=1
Recall that for g ∈ S4 ,

χρ3 ⊗ρ5 (g) = χρ3 (g)χρ5 (g).
For the values of the coefficients we have
1
(χρ3 ⊗ρ5 |χ1 ) = (6 + 0 − 6 + 0 + 0) = 0,
24
1
(χρ3 ⊗ρ5 |χ2 ) = (6 + 0 − 6 + 0 + 0) = 0,
24
1
(χρ3 ⊗ρ5 |χ3 ) = (18 + 0 + 6 + 0 + 0) = 1,
24
1
(χρ3 ⊗ρ5 |χ4 ) = (18 + 0 + 6 + 0 + 0) = 1,
24
1
(χρ3 ⊗ρ5 |χ5 ) = (12 + 0 − 12 + 0 + 0) = 0.
24
Thus we have
χρ3 ⊗ρ5 = χ3 + χ4 .
In general it is hard to predict how the tensor product of two representations decomposes in
terms of irreducibles.
6. Reciprocity formulæ
Let H 6 G, ρ : G −→ GLC (V ) a representation of G and σ : H −→ GLC (W ) a representation
of H. Recall that the induced representation σ ↑G H is of dimension |G/H| dimC W , while the
restriction ρ ↓G
H has dimension dimC V . We will write χρ ↓G G
H and χσ ↑H for the characters of
these representations. First we show how to calculate the character of an induced representation.
Lemma 4.30. The character of the induced representation σ ↑G H is given by

1 X
χσ ↑GH (g) = χσ (x−1 gx).
|H|
x∈G
g∈xHx−1
Proof. See §16 of [A&B]. ¤
Example 4.31. Let H = {e, α, α2 , α3 } 6 D8 . Let σ : H −→ C× be the 1-dimensional

representation of H given by
σ(αk ) = ik .
Decompose the induced representation σ ↑D
H into its irreducible summands over the group D8 .
8
Proof. We will use the character table of D8 given in Example 4.28. Notice that H / D8 ,
hence for x ∈ D8 we have xHx−1 = H. Let χ = χσ ↑D H be the character of this induced
8
representation. We have
1 X
χ(g) = χσ (x−1 gx)
4
x∈D8
g∈xHx−1
 X
 1
 χσ (x−1 gx) if g ∈ H,
= 4
x∈D8

0 if g ∈
/ H.
Thus if g ∈ H we find that
 ¡ ¢
 1 3 3

 4 4χσ (α) + 4χσ (α ) if g = α, α ,


 ¡ ¢
1
χ(g) = 8χσ (α2 ) if g = α2 ,

 4


 1 (8χσ (e))

if g = e.
4
Hence we have 

 i + i3 = 0 if g = α, α3 ,


−2 if g = α2 ,
χ(g) =

 2 if g = e,



0 if g ∈
/ H.
Taking inner products with the irreducible characters χj we obtain the following.
1
(χ|χ1 )D8 = (2 − 2 + 0 + 0 + 0) = 0,
8
1
(χ|χ2 )D8 = (2 − 2 + 0 + 0 + 0) = 0,
8
1
(χ|χ3 )D8 = (2 − 2 + 0 + 0 + 0) = 0,
8
1
(χ|χ4 )D8 = (2 − 2 + 0 + 0 + 0) = 0,
8
1
(χ|χ5 )D8 = (4 + 4 + 0 + 0 + 0) = 1.
8
Hence we must have χ = χ5 , giving another derivation of the representation ρ5 . ¤
Theorem 4.32 (Frobenius Reciprocity). There is a linear isomorphism
HomG (W ↑G ∼ G
H , V ) = HomH (W, V ↓H ).
Equivalently on characters we have

(χσ ↑G G
H |χρ )G = (χσ |χρ ↓H )H .
Proof. See §16 of [A&B]. ¤

Example 4.33. Let σ be the irreducible representation of S3 with character χ3 and un-
derlying vector space W . Decompose the induced representation W ↑SS43 into its irreducible
summands over the group S4 .
Proof. Let
W ↑SS43 ∼
= n1 V1 ⊕ n2 V2 ⊕ n3 V3 ⊕ n4 V4 ⊕ n5 V5 .
Then
nj = (χj |χσ ↑SS43 )S4 = (χj ↓SS43 |χσ )S3 .
7. REPRESENTATIONS OF SEMI-DIRECT PRODUCTS 51
To evaluate the restriction χj ↓SS43 we take only elements of S4 lying in S3 . Hence we have
1
n1 = (χ1 ↓SS43 |χσ )S3 = (2 + 0 − 2) = 0,
6
1
n2 = (χ2 ↓SS43 |χσ )S3 = (1 · 2 + 0 + 1 · −2) = 0,
6
1
n3 = (χ3 ↓SS43 |χσ )S3 = (3 · 2 + 0 + 0 · −2) = 1,
6
1
n4 = (χ4 ↓SS43 |χσ )S3 = (3 · 2 + 0 + 0 · −2) = 1,
6
1 6
n5 = (χ5 ↓SS43 |χσ )S3 = (2 · 2 + 0 + −2 · −1) = = 1.
6 6
Hence we have
W ↑SS43 ∼
= V3 ⊕ V4 ⊕ V5 . ¤
7. Representations of semi-direct products

Recall the notion of a semi-direct product group G = N o H; this has N / G, H 6 G,
H ∩ N = {e} and HN = N H = G. We will describe a way to produce the irreducible
characters of G from those of the groups N / G and H 6 G.
Proposition 4.34. Let ϕ : Q −→ G be a homomorphism and ρ : G −→ GLC (V ) be a
representation of G. Then the composite ϕ∗ ρ = ρ ◦ ϕ is a representation of Q on V . Moreover,
if ϕ∗ ρ is irreducible over Q, then ρ is irreducible over G.
Proof. The first part is clear.
For the second, suppose that W ⊆ V is a G-subspace. Then for h ∈ Q and w ∈ W we have
(ϕ∗ ρ)h w = ρϕ(h) w ∈ W.
Hence W is a Q-subspace. By irreducibility of ϕ∗ ρ, W = {0} or W = V , hence V is irreducible
over G. ¤
The representation ϕ∗ ρ is called the representation on V induced by ϕ and we often denote
the underlying Q-module by ϕ∗ V . If j : Q −→ G is the inclusion of a subgroup, then j ∗ ρ = ρ ↓G
Q,
the restriction of ρ to Q.
In the case of G = N o H, there is a surjection π : G −→ H given by
π(nh) = h (n ∈ N, h ∈ H),
as well as the inclusions i : N −→ G and j : H −→ G. We can apply the above to each of these
homomorphisms.
Now let ρ : G −→ GLC (V ) be an irreducible representation of the semi-direct product G =
N o H. Then i∗ V decomposes as
i∗ V = W1 ⊕ · · · ⊕ Wm
where Wk is a non-zero irreducible N -subspace. For each g ∈ G, notice that if x ∈ N and
w ∈ W1 , then
ρx (ρg w) = ρxg w = ρg ρg−1 xg w = ρg w0
for w0 = ρg−1 xg w. Since g −1 xg ∈ g −1 N g = N ,
gW1 = {ρg w : w ∈ W1 }
is an N -subspace of i∗ V . If we take
 
X 
W̃1 = ρg wg : wg ∈ W1 ,
 
g∈G
then we can verify that W̃1 is a non-zero N -subspace of i∗ V and in fact is also a G-subspace of
V . Since V is irreducible, this shows that V = W̃1 .
Now let
H1 = {h ∈ H : hW1 = W1 } ⊆ H.
Then we can verify that H1 6 H 6 G. The semidirect product
G1 = N o H1 = {nh ∈ G : n ∈ N, h ∈ H1 } 6 G
also acts on W1 since for nh ∈ G1 and w ∈ W1 ,
ρnh w = ρn ρh w = ρn w00 ∈ W1
where w00 = ρh w; hence W1 is a G1 -subspace of V ↓G
G1 . Notice that by the second part of
Proposition 4.34, W1 is irreducible over G1 .
Lemma 4.35. There is a G-isomorphism
W1 ↑G ∼
G1 = V.
Proof. See the books [J&L] and [J-PS]. ¤

Thus every irreducible of G = N o H arises from an irreducible of N which extends to a
representation (actually irreducible) of such a subgroup N o K 6 N o H = G for K 6 H but
to no larger subgroup.
Example 4.36. Let D2n be the dihedral group of order 2n. Then every irreducible repre-
sentation of D2n has dimension 1 or 2.
Proof. We have D2n = N o H where N = hαi ∼ = Z/n and H = {e, β}. The n distinct
irreducibles ρk of N are all 1-dimensional by Example 4.24. Hence for each of these we have a
subgroup Hk 6 H such that the action of N extends to N oHk and so the corresponding induced
representation Vk ↑D 2n
Hk is irreducible over D2n with dimension |D2n /(N o Hk )| = 2/|Hk |. Every
irreducible of D2n occurs this way. ¤
For n = 4, it is a useful exercise to identify all the irreducibles in the character table in this
way.
CHAPTER 5
Some applications to group theory
In this chapter we will see some applications of representation theory to Group Theory.
1. Characters and the structure of groups

In this section we will give some results relating the character table of a finite group to its
subgroup structure.
Let ρ : G −→ GLC (V ) be a representation for which dimC V = n. Define the subset
ker χρ = {g ∈ G : χρ (g) = χρ (e)}
Proposition 5.1. ker χρ = ker ρ and hence ker χρ is a normal subgroup of G.
Proof. For g ∈ ker χρ , let v = {v1 , . . . , vn } be a basis of V consisting of eigenvectors of ρg ,

so ρg vk = λk vk for suitable λk ∈ C, and indeed each λk is a root of unity and so has the form
λk = etk i for tk ∈ R. Then
Xn
χρ (g) = λk .
k=1
Recall that for t ∈ R, eti = cos t + i sin t. Hence
n
X n
X
χρ (g) = cos tk + i sin tk .
k=1 k=1
Since χρ (e) = n,
n
X
cos tk = n,
k=1
which can only happen if each cos tk = 1, but then sin tk = 0. So we have all λk = 1 which
implies that ρg = IdV . Thus ker χρ = ker ρ as claimed. ¤
Now let χ1 , . . . , χr be the distinct irreducible characters of G and r = {1, . . . , r}.
T
Proposition 5.2. rk=1 ker χk = {e}.
T
Proof. Set K = rk=1 ker χk 6 G. By Proposition 5.1, for each k, ker χk = ker ρk , hence
N / G. Indeed, since N 6 ker ρk there is a factorisation of ρk : G −→ GLC (Vk ),
p ρ0
G→ k
− G/K −→ GLC (Vk ),
where p : G −→ G/K is the quotient homomorphism. As p is surjective, it is easy to check
that ρ0k is an irreducible representation of G/K, with character χ0k . Clearly the χ0k are distinct
irreducible characters of G/K and nk = χk (e) = χ0k (eK) are the dimensions of the corresponding
irreducible representations.
By Corollary 4.20, we have
n21 + · · · + n2r = |G|
since the χk are the distinct irreducible characters of G. But we also have
n21 + · · · + n2r 6 |G/K|
53
54 5. SOME APPLICATIONS TO GROUP THEORY
since the χ0k are some of the distinct irreducible characters of G/K. Combining these we have
|G| 6 |G/K| which can only happen if |G/K| = |G|, i.e., if K = {e}. So in fact
r
\
ker χk = {e}. ¤
k=1
Proposition 5.3. A subgroup N 6 G is normal if and only it has the form

\
N= ker χk
k∈S
for some subset S ⊆ r.
Proof. Let N / G and suppose the quotient group G/N has s distinct irreducible repre-
sentations σk : G/N −→ GLC (Wk ) (k = 1, . . . , s) with characters χ̃k . Each of these gives rise to
a composite representation of G
q σ
σk0 : G − k
→ G/N −→ GLC (Wk )
and again this is irreducible because the quotient homomorphism q : G −→ G/N is surjective.
This gives s distinct irreducible characters of G, so each χσk0 is actually one of the χj .
By Proposition 5.2 applied to the quotient group G/N ,
s
\ s
\
ker σk = ker χ̃k = {eN },
k=1 k=1
hence since ker σk0 = q −1 ker σk , we have

s
\ s
\
ker χσk0 = ker σk0 = N.
k=1 k=1
T
Conversely, for any S ⊆ r, k∈S ker χk / G since for each k, ker χk / G. ¤
Corollary 5.4. G is simple if and only if for every irreducible character χk 6= χ1 and
e 6= g ∈ G, χk (g) 6= χk (e). Hence the character table can be used to decide whether G is simple.
Corollary 5.5. The character table can be used to decide whether G is solvable.
Proof. G is solvable if and only if there is a sequence of subgroups
{e} = G` / G`−1 / · · · / G1 / G0 = G
for which the quotient groups Gs /Gs+1 are abelian. This can be seen from the character table.
For a solvable group we can take the subgroups to be the lower central series given by G(0) = G,
and in general G(s+1) = [G(s) , G(s) ]. It is easily verified that G(s) / G and G(s) /G(s+1) is abelian.
By Proposition 5.3 we can now check whether such a sequence of normal subgroups exists using
the character table. ¤
We can also define the subset
ker |χρ | = {g ∈ G : |χρ (g)| = χρ (e)}.
Proposition 5.6. ker |χρ | is a normal subgroup of G.

2. A RESULT ON REPRESENTATIONS OF SIMPLE GROUPS 55
Proof. If g ∈ ker |χρ |, then using the notation of the proof of Proposition 5.1, we find that
n
X n
X
|χρ (g)|2 = | cos tk + i sin tk |2
k=1 k=1
Ã n
!2 Ã n !2
X X
= cos tk + sin tk
k=1 k=1
n
X n
X X
= cos2 tk + sin2 tk + 2 (cos tk cos t` + sin tk sin t` )
k=1 k=1 6 6
1 k<` n
X
=n+2 cos(tk − t` )
6
1 k<` n 6
µ ¶
n
6n+2 = n + n(n − 1) = n2 .
2
with equality if and only if cos(tk − t` ) = 1 whenever 1 6 k < ` 6 n. But if |χρ (g)| = χρ (e) = n,
then we must have n2 6 n2 with equality if and only if cos(tk − t` ) = 1 for all k, `. Assuming
that tj ∈ [0, 2π) for each j, we must have t` = tk , since we do indeed have equality here. Hence
ρ(g) = λg IdV . In fact we have |λg | = 1 since eigenvalues of ρg are roots of unity.
If g1 , g2 ∈ ker |χρ |, then
ρg1 g2 = λg1 λg2 IdV
and so g1 g2 ∈ ker |χρ |, hence ker |χρ | is a subgroup of G. Normality is also easily verified. ¤
2. A result on representations of simple groups

Let G be a finite non-abelian simple group (hence of order |G| > 1). We already know that
G has no non-trivial 1-dimensional representations.
Theorem 5.7. An irreducible 2-dimensional representation of a finite non-abelian simple
group G is trivial.
Proof. Suppose we have a non-trivial 2-dimensional irreducible representation ρ of G. By
choosing a basis we can assume that we are considering a representation ρ : G −→ GLC (C2 ). We
can form the composite det ◦ρ : G −→ C× which is a homomorphism whose kernel is a proper
normal subgroup of G, hence must equal G. Hence ρ : G −→ SLC (C2 ), where
SLC (C2 ) = {A ∈ GLC (C2 ) : det A = 1}.
Now notice that since ρ is irreducible and 2-dimensional, Proposition 4.21 tells us that |G|
is even (this is the only time we have actually used this result!) Now by Cauchy’s Lemma,
Theorem 2.13, there is an element t ∈ G of order 2. Hence ρt ∈ SLC (C2 ) also has order 2 since
ρ is injective. Since ρt satisfies the polynomial identity
ρ2t − I2 = O2 ,
its eigenvalues must be ±1. But by Theorem 4.5 we know that we can diagonalise ρt , hence at
least one eigenvalue must be −1. If one eigenvalue were 1 then for a suitable invertible matrix
P we would have · ¸
1 0
P ρt P −1 =
0 −1
implying det ρt = −1, which contradicts the fact that det ρt = 1. Hence we must have −1 as a
repeated eigenvalue and so for suitable invertible matrix P ,
· ¸
−1 −1 0
P ρt P = = −I2
0 −1
and hence
ρt = P −1 (−I2 )P = −I2 .
For g ∈ G,
ρgtg−1 = ρg ρt ρ−1 −1
g = ρg (−I2 )ρg = −I2 = ρt ,
and since ρ is injective, gtg −1 = t. Thus e 6= t ∈ Z(G) = {e} since Z(G) / G. This provides a
contradiction. ¤
3. A Theorem of Frobenius
Let G be a finite group and H 6 G a subgroup which has the following property:
For all g ∈ G − H, gHg −1 ∩ H = {e}.
Such a subgroup H is called a Frobenius complement.
Theorem 5.8 (Frobenius’s Theorem). Let H 6 G be a Frobenius complement and let

[
K =G− gHg −1 ⊆ G,
g∈G
the subset of G consisting of all elements of G not conjugate to elements of H. Then N = K∪{e}
is a normal subgroup of G which is the semidirect product G = N o H.
Such a subgroup N is said to be a Frobenius kernel of G.

The remainder of this section will be devoted to giving a proof of this theorem using Char-
acter Theory. We begin by showing that
|G|
(3.1) |K| = − 1.
|H|
First observe that if e 6= g ∈ xHx−1 ∩ yHy −1 , then e 6= x−1 gx ∈ H ∩ x−1 yHy −1 x; the latter
can only occur if x−1 y ∈ H. Notice that the normalizer NG (H) is no bigger than H, hence
NG (H) = H. Thus there are exactly |G|/| NG (H)| = |G|/|H| distinct conjugates of H, with
only one element e in common to two or more of them. So there are exactly
|G|
(|H| − 1) + 1
|H|
elements of G which are conjugate to elements of H. Hence,
|G| |G|
|K| = |G| − (|H| − 1) − 1 = − 1.
|H| |H|
Now let α ∈ C(H) be a class function on the group H. Then we can define a function
α̃ : G −→ C by
(
α(xgx−1 ) if xgx−1 ∈ H,
α̃(g) =
α(e) if g ∈ K.
This is well defined and also a class function on G. We also have
(3.2) α̃ = α ↑G G G
H −α(e)(χ ↑H −χ1 ),
where we use the notation of Ex. Sh. 4 Qu. 3. In fact, χ ↑G G

H −χ1 is the character of a
representation of G.
3. A THEOREM OF FROBENIUS 57
Given two class functions α, β on H,

 
1 X
(α̃|β̃)G = α̃(g)β̃(g)
|G|
g∈G
 
1  X
= (|K| + 1)α(e)β(e) + α̃(g)β̃(g)
|G|
g∈G−N
 
1  |G| |G| X
= α(e)β(e) + α̃(h)β̃(h) (by Equation (3.1))
|G| |H| |H|
e6=h∈H
Ã !
1 X
= α̃(h)β̃(h)
|H|
h∈H
= (α̃|β̃)H .
If χ is an irreducible character of H, then by Proposition 4.17 we have
(χ̃|χ̃)G = (χ|χ)H = 1.
Also, Equation (3.2) implies that
X
χ̃ = mj χG
j ,
j
where mj ∈ Z and the χG

j are the distinct irreducible characters of G. Using Frobenius Reci-
procity (Theorem 4.32), these coefficients mj are given by
mj = (χ̃|χG G G
j )G = (χ|χj ↓H )H > 0
since χ, χG G
j ↓H are characters of H. As χ̃(e) = χ(e) > 0, χ̃ is itself the character of some
representation ρ of G, i.e., χ̃ = χρ . Notice that
N = {g ∈ G : χρ (g) = χρ (e)} = ker ρ.
Hence, by Proposition 5.1, N is a normal subgroup of G.
Now H ∩ N = {e} by construction. Moreover,
|N H| > |H|| |N | = |G|,
hence N H = N H = G. So G = N o H. This completes the proof of Theorem 5.8.
An equivalent formulation of this result is the following which can be found in Chapter 6 of
[A&B].
Theorem 5.9 (Frobenius’s Theorem: group action version). Let the finite group G
act transitively on the set X, and suppose that each element g 6= e fixes at most one element of
X, i.e., |X g | 6 1. Then
N = {g ∈ G : |X g | = 0} ∪ {e}
is a normal subgroup of G.
Proof. Let x ∈ X be fixed by some element of G not equal to the identity element e, and
let H = StabG (x). Then for k ∈ G − H, k · x 6= x has
StabG (k · x) = k StabG (x)k −1 = kHk −1 .
If e 6= g ∈ H ∩ kHk −1 , then g stabilizes x and k · x, but this contradicts the assumption on the
number of fixed points of elements in G. Hence H is a Frobenius complement. The result then
follows from Theorem 5.8. ¤
Example 5.10. The subgroup H = {e, (12)} 6 S3 satisfies the conditions of Theorem 5.8.
Then [
gHg −1 = {e, (12), (13), (23)}
g∈S3
and N = {e, (123), (132)} is a Frobenius kernel.
CHAPTER 6
Automorphisms and extensions
In this chapter we will study how a finite group G with a normal subgroup N / G is ‘built
up’ from N and the quotient group Q = G/N . We will also study actions of one group on
another by automorphisms.
1. Automorphisms
Let G be a group. A homomorphism ϕ : G −→ G is called an endomorphism of G, and an
automorphism if it is invertible. The set of all automorphisms of G is denoted Aut(G), and
forms a group under composition of functions.
If g ∈ G, then conjugation by g gives rise to a function
conjg : G −→ G; conjg (x) = gxg −1 ,
which satisfies the conditions
conjg (xy) = conjg (x) conjg (y),
conjg ◦ conjg−1 = IdG = conjg−1 ◦ conjg ,
conjg ◦ conjh = conjgh .
Hence, conjg ∈ Aut(G) with inverse conjg−1 . Such automorphisms are called inner and form a
subgroup Inn(G) 6 Aut(G). There is also the conjugation homomorphism
conj : G −→ Aut(G); conj(g) = conjg .
The image of conj is Inn(G), while its kernel is the centre of G,
Z(G) = {c ∈ G : ∀g ∈ G, cg = gc}.
Theorem 6.1. For a group G, and its conjugation homomorphism conj : G −→ Aut(G), we
have the following.
a) There is an isomorphism
G/ Z(G) ∼
= Inn(G).
b) Inn(G) is a normal subgroup of Aut(G).
Proof. a) This follows from the above observations that ker conj = Z(G) and im conj =
Inn(G).
b) Let θ ∈ Aut(G) be any automorphism and g ∈ G. Then
θ ◦ conjg ◦θ−1 (x) = θ(gθ−1 (x)g −1 )
= θ(gθ−1 (x)g −1 )
= θ(g)θ(θ−1 (x))θ(g −1 )
= θ(g)(x)θ(g)−1
= conjθ(g) (x),
Hence
θ ◦ conjg ◦θ−1 = conjθ(g) . ¤
59
60 6. AUTOMORPHISMS AND EXTENSIONS
The quotient group Aut(G)/ Inn(G) is called the group of outer automorphisms of G, and is
denoted Out(G). An automorphism θ ∈ Aut(G) − Inn(G) is often referred to as outer, although
strictly speaking we should refer to its coset θ ∈ Inn(G) as an outer automorphism.
Example 6.2. Let G = hγi ∼ = Z/n, a cyclic group of order n > 1. Then as G is abelian,
Inn(G) = {IdG } since Z(G) = G. On the other hand, we have many outer automorphisms of G
as is shown in the following result which may be familiar; proofs can be found in many books,
including [JBF].
Theorem 6.3. Let G = hγi ∼

= Z/n be cyclic of order n > 1.
a) If n = ab where a, b > 1 and (a, b) = 1, then
G∼
= Z/a × Z/b.
Hence
Aut(G) ∼
= Aut(Z/a) × Aut(Z/b).
b) If n = pk where p is a prime and k > 1, then


 Z/(p − 1) × Z/pk−1 if p is odd,


Z/2 × Z/2k−2 if p = 2 and k > 2,
Aut(G) = ∼

 Z/2 if n = 4,



{0} if n = 2.
c) In general, Aut(Z/n) ∼
= (Z/n)× , the group of units in Z/n, and
| Aut(G)| = ϕ(n),
where ϕ is the Euler ϕ-function.
Example 6.4. The automorphism group of G = Z/2 × Z/2 has order 6 and is isomorphic
to S3 .
Proof. Let
0 = (0, 0), u = (1, 0), v = (0, 1), w = (1, 1).
Then for an endomorphism θ of G, the effect of θ on any element is given by its effect on u and
v since every element is of the form ru + sv and hence
θ(ru + sv) = rθ(u) + sθ(v).
Moroever, such an endomorphism is an automorphism if and only if it is injective, which is true
if and only if
θ(u) 6= 0 and θ(v) ∈/ {θ(u), 0}.
Equivalently, an automorphism must permute the three elements u, v, w. In fact every permu-
tation of these extends uniquely to an automorphism (it must send (0, 0) to itself). Thus, we
see that there is a one-one correspondence between Aut(Z/2 × Z/2) and Perm({u, v, w}), which
is in fact a group isomorphism. But the latter has 6 elements. ¤
The group Aut(Z/2 × Z/2) is called the 2 × 2 general linear group over Z/2 and is usually
written GL2 (Z/2) or just GL2 (2).
Definition 6.5. For a prime p, the automorphism group of (Z/p)n = Z/p × · · · × Z/p (p
factors) is called the n × n general linear group over Z/p and is denoted GLn (Z/p) or GLn (p).
The following result will not be used in it general form, but is nevertheless important.
1. AUTOMORPHISMS 61
Theorem 6.6. For a prime p, GLn (p) is isomorphic to the group of all n × n matrices over
Z/p. The order of GLn (p) is
n
|GLn (p)| = (pn − 1)(pn − p)(pn − p2 ) · · · (pn − pn−1 ) = p( 2 ) (pn − 1)(pn−1 − 1) · · · (p − 1).
To see where the first part of this comes from, notice that if we write elements of (Z/p)n as
column vectors with entries in Z/p. Let ek be the column vector with all entries 0 except for 1p
in the kth place. Then for any ϕ ∈ GLn (p), we can form the n × n matrix [ϕ] with
[ϕ]ij = aij
where
n
X
ϕ(ej ) = arj er .
r=1
It turns out that
[ϕ ◦ ϕ0 ] = [ϕ][ϕ0 ]
and so this gives a homomorphism from GLn (p) to the group of all invertible n × n matrices;
this is in fact an isomorphism. The order of this group is obtained by a counting argument.
One reason for being interested in such groups is the following result. There is a determinant
homomorphism det : GLn (p) −→ Z/p× , where the latter is the group of units in the ring Z/p
and is of order (p − 1). The kernel of det, ker det is called special linear group of n × n matrices
over Z/p and denoted SLn (p). Notice that the order of SLn (p) is |GLn (p)|/(p − 1) since det is
surjective.
Theorem 6.7. For each prime p and n > 1, the centre of SLn (p) is given by
Z(SLn (p)) = {λIn ∈ SLn (p) : λ ∈ (Z/p)× , λn = 1}.
which is cyclic of order equal to the highest common factor of n and (p − 1), (n, p − 1).
For n > 2 and p 6= 2, 3, the quotient group SLn (p)/ Z(SLn (p)) is simple.
Notice that the order of SLn (p)/ Z(SLn (p)) is |GLn (p)|/(p − 1)(n, p − 1). For example, if
p = 7 and n = 2, the order is
2
7(2) (72 − 1)(7 − 1)/((7 − 1) × 2) = 7 × 48/2 = 168.
Definition 6.8. A subgroup H 6 G is called a characteristic subgroup of G if ϕ(H) = H

for each automorphism ϕ ∈ Aut(G).
Proposition 6.9. A characteristic subgroup H 6 G is a normal subgroup.
Proof. For each g ∈ G, conjugation by g gives an automorphism conjg : G −→ G. But

then conjg (H) = H. Expanding the definition of conjg (H), we get
conjg (H) = {ghg −1 : h ∈ H} = gHg −1 ,
hence gHg −1 = H for every g ∈ G. Thus H / G. ¤
Proposition 6.10. The centre Z(G) and commutator subgroup [G, G] are characteristic
subgroups. More generally, the subgroups G(r) , G(r) , Zr (G) in the derived, lower central and
upper central series are all characteristic subgroups.
Proof. Let c ∈ Z(G). Then for any ϕ ∈ Aut(G) and g ∈ G we have

¡ ¢ ¡ ¢ ¡ ¢ ¡ ¢
ϕ(c)g = ϕ(c)ϕ ϕ−1 (g) = ϕ cϕ−1 (g) = ϕ ϕ−1 (g)c = ϕ ϕ−1 (g) ϕ(c) = gϕ(c).
Hence ϕ(Z(G)) 6 Z(G). A similar argument with ϕ−1 gives ϕ−1 (Z(G)) 6 Z(G), hence Z(G) 6
ϕ(Z(G)). Combining these results gives ϕ(Z(G)) = Z(G).
The commutator subgroup [G, G] is generated by all elements of the form [x, y] = xyx−1 y −1
for x, y ∈ G. For ϕ ∈ Aut(G), we have
ϕ([x, y]) = ϕ(xyx−1 y −1 ) = ϕ(x)ϕ(y)ϕ(x−1 )ϕ(y −1 ) = ϕ(x)ϕ(y)ϕ(x)−1 ϕ(y)−1 = [ϕ(x), ϕ(y)].
Hence, ϕ([G, G]) 6 [G, G]. Similarly, we have ϕ−1 ([G, G]) 6 [G, G]. Combining these we obtain
ϕ([G, G]) = [G, G].
The remaining cases follow by inductive arguments and are left as exercises. ¤
2. Extensions
Let G be a group and N / G a normal subgroup. Then every element g ∈ G acts on N by
conjugation,
g · n = gng −1 .
Equivalently, the conjugation map conjg : G −→ G restricts to an automorphism conjN
g : N −→
N of the group N . This will not be an inner automorphism of the group N in general. Thus
we have a homomorphism
conjN : G −→ Aut(N ); g 7→ conjN
g .
From now on, to ease the technical details we will assume that N = A is an abelian group.
Definition 6.11. Given groups Q and N together with a homomorphism ϕ : Q −→ Aut(N ),
we say that a group G is an extension of N by Q with action ϕ and sometimes write
j π
1 −→ N −
→G−
→ Q −→ 1,
if the following conditions apply.
Extn-1 there is an injective homomorphism j : N −→ G whose image j(N ) is a normal sub-
group of G, hence we can interpret N as a normal subgroup of G with j being the
inclusion map;
Extn-2 there is a surjective homomorphism π : G −→ Q with kernel equal to N ;
Extn-3 the action ϕ satisfies the equation
conjN
g = ϕ(π(g)) (g ∈ G).
Given such an extension, notice the following. The homomorphism π gives rise to an iso-
morphism π : G/N ∼ = Q, thus we will often identify Q with G/N . If we choose for each el-
ement gN = N g ∈ G/N a representative s(gN ) ∈ gN , this amounts to defining a function
s : G/N −→ G such that π ◦ s = IdQ , i.e., π(s(gN )) = gN ; we can even choose s so that
s(eN ) = e. Then every element g ∈ G can be uniquely written in the form g = ns(gN ) where
n ∈ N . Let us consider what happens when we write the product of two elements in this form.
We have
(n1 s(g1 N ))(n2 s(g2 N )) = n1 s(g1 N )n2 s(g1 N )−1 s(g1 N )s(g2 N )
= n1 ϕ(s(g1 N ))(n2 ) s(g1 N g2 N )
= n1 ϕ(s(g1 N ))(n2 )ν(g1 N, g2 N )s(g1 g2 N ),
where ν(g1 N, g2 N ) ∈ N is an element depending on g1 N and g2 N , which we will view as
determined by a function ν : Q × Q −→ N .
In fact, given the data consisting of two groups N, Q, a homomorphism ϕ : Q −→ Aut(N )
and a function ν : Q × Q −→ N , we can build an extension E of N by Q with action ϕ as
follows, provided that ν satisfies certain conditions which will be discussed in the next section.
Here is an example, where we take ν(b1 , b2 ) = eN for all b1 , b2 ∈ Q. To simplify the notation,
we will often put b a = ϕ(b)(a). We take
Eϕ = N × Q = {(a, b) : a ∈ N, b ∈ Q}
2. EXTENSIONS 63
and define a product on Eϕ by

(2.1) (a1 , b1 )(a2 , b2 ) = (a1 b1 a2 , b1 b2 ).
This is associative since
((a1 , b1 )(a2 , b2 )) (a3 , b3 ) = (a1 b1 a2 , b1 b2 )(a3 , b3 )
= (a1 b1 a2 b1 b2 a3 , b1 b2 b3 )
= (a1 b1 (a2 b2 a3 ), b1 b2 b3 )
= (a1 , b1 )(a2 b2 a3 , b2 b3 )
= (a1 , b1 ) ((a2 , b2 )(a3 , b3 )) .
We also have
(eN , eQ )(a, b) = (eN eQ a, eQ b) = (a, b),
and similarly
(a, b)(eN , eQ ) = (a, b),

thus (eN , eQ ) is an identity. Finally,
−1 −1 −1
(b (a−1 ), b−1 )(a, b) = (b (a−1 )b a, b−1 b)
−1 −1
= (b (a−1 )b a, eQ )
−1
= (b (a−1 a), eQ )
−1
= (b eN , eQ )
= (eN , eQ )
= (aa−1 , eQ )
= (aeQ (a−1 ), eQ )
−1
= (abb (a−1 ), eQ )
−1
= (ab (b (a−1 )), bb−1 )
−1
= (a, b)(b (a−1 ), b−1 ),
which implies that (a, b) has inverse
−1
(a, b)−1 = (b (a−1 ), b−1 ).
Combining these results we see that Eϕ is a group. There is an inclusion map j : N −→ Eϕ
defined by
j(a) = (a, eQ ),
and a quotient map π : Eϕ −→ Q defined by
π(a, b) = b,
both of which are homomorphisms.
This extension Eϕ is called the semi-direct product of N and Q for the action ϕ and written
Eϕ = N o H.
ϕ
If ϕ(b) = IdN for all b ∈ Q we have Eϕ = N × Q, the direct product of N and Q. So the
semi-direct product generalises the direct product.
Proposition 6.12. Let G be a group, N / G, H 6 G and suppose that G = HN = N H and
H ∩ N = {e}. Then G is an extension of H by N and moreover, G ∼
= N oϕ H.
Proof. Here we use the notation

AB = {ab : a ∈ A, b ∈ B}
for two subgroups A, B 6 G. Warning: in general this is not a subgroup of G! If A or B is
normal in G, then AB = BA and this is a subgroup of G.
We will define a homomorphism ϕ : H −→ Aut(N ). Notice that since N is normal in G, for
each h ∈ H, hN h−1 = N , hence we can take
ϕ(h) = conjN
h ∈ Aut(N ).
We take j : N −→ G to be the inclusion map and define q : G −→ H by using the fact that
there is a composite homomorphism
θ : H −→ G −→ G/N
defined by
h 7−→ hN.
This is an injection since hN = eN if and only if h ∈ H ∩ N = {e}. It is surjective since for
every g ∈ G, g = hn with h ∈ H and n ∈ N , hence gN = hnN = hN . Thus we can take
q : G −→ H to be the composite
θ−1
G −→ G/N −−→ H
which is surjective since the quotient map G −→ G/N is. It is now straightforward to verify
that the above conditions for an extension hold. ¤
Given an action homomorphism ϕ : Q −→ Aut(N ), two extensions

j1 1 π j2 2 π
1 −→ N −→ G1 −→ Q −→ 1, 1 −→ N −→ G2 −→ Q −→ 1,
are said to be equivalent if there is a homomorphism θ : G1 −→ G2 for which the following
diagram commutes
j1 π
N −−−−→ G1 −−−1−→ Q
  

=y
 
θy =y
j2 π
N −−−−→ G2 −−−2−→ Q
in the sense that θ ◦ j1 = j2 and π2 ◦ θ = π1 . Note that such a homomorphism is necessarily an
isomorphism. An extension which is equivalent to a semi-direct product is called split.
Example 6.13. The symmetric group S3 is a split extension of Z/3 by Z/2 with the non-
trivial action of Z/2 ∼
= (Z/3)× .
Proof. We will use Proposition 6.12. For the normal subgroup N take N = h(123)i ∼
= Z/3,
∼
and for H take H = h(12)i = Z/2. Then the action of H on N is given by
(12)
((123)k ) = (123)2k = (123)−k .
Clearly we have N ∩ H = {e}. Hence S3 ∼
= N o H with the above action. ¤
Example 6.14. The dihedral group of order 2n is generated by D2n two elements α, β of
orders |α| = n and |β| = 2 which satisfy the relation
βαβ = α−1 .
Then D2n is split extension of Z/n ∼
= hαi by Z/2 ∼
= hβi with the action given by
β
(αk ) = α−k .
3. CLASSIFYING EXTENSIONS [OPTIONAL EXTRA MATERIAL] 65
Proof. Again we will use Proposition 6.12.

For the normal subgroup N take N = hαi ∼= Z/n, and for H take H = hβi ∼
= Z/2. Clearly
∼
we have N ∩ H = {e}. Hence D2n = hαi o hβi. ¤
Example 6.15. Let Q8 be the quaternion group of order 8, discussed in Subsection 7.1,
with elements
±1, ±i, ±j, ±k.
In this group, the centre is Z(Q8 ) = {±1}.
If we let Z/2 × Z/2 act trivially on Z(Q8 ) ∼
= Z/2, then Q8 is a non-split extension of Z/2 by
Z/2 × Z/2.
Proof. If Q8 = {±1} o H for some H 6 Q8 , we would have H ∼ = Z/2 × Z/2. Notice that
apart from the identity element every element of this group is of order 2. But the elements of
Q8 − {±1} are all of order 4, hence there can be no such subgroup H. ¤
3. Classifying extensions [optional extra material ]

We will now discuss the classification of extensions of N by Q for a given action ϕ : Q −→
Aut(N ). To ease the technical details we will assume that N = A is an abelian group. We will
continue to use the notation b a = ϕ(b)(a) for a ∈ Q and a ∈ A. Using properties of the action
ϕ we obtain the identities
b
(a1 a2 ) = b a1 b a2 ,
³ ´
b1 b2
a = b1 b2 a .
So suppose that we have an extension

j π
1 −→ A →
− G−
→ Q −→ 1
with action ϕ : Q −→ Aut(A). We will view j as the inclusion of a normal subgroup and also
interpret Q as the quotient group G/A with π the projection given by π(g) = gA.
Suppose that we have a function s : Q −→ G with the following properties:
(i) π(s(x)) = x (x ∈ Q);
(ii) s(eQ ) = eG .
The function s is called a section and its image im s is called a transversal of A in G. Since G
is the disjoint union of the distinct cosets Ag = gA and these have empty intersection, the first
of these conditions amounts to the fact that any g ∈ G has a unique expression as
g = as(π(g)) (a ∈ A).
For a ∈ A and b ∈ Q we have
b
a = s(b)as(b)−1 .
Notice that this is independant of the actual function s used, since A is abelian and hence for
a second section s0 , we have s0 (b)s(b)−1 ∈ A, giving
s0 (b)as0 (b)−1 = (s0 (b)s(b)−1 )s(b)as(b)−1 (s0 (b)s(b)−1 ) = s(b)as(b)−1 .
For b1 , b2 ∈ Q we also have
s(b1 )s(b2 ) ∈ As(b1 b2 )
since s(b1 b2 ) ∈ Ab1 b2 = Ab1 Ab2 . Hence we can define a function ν : Q × Q −→ A by the
equation
ν(b1 , b2 ) = s(b1 )s(b2 )s(b1 b2 )−1 .
The following equations are then satisfied by ν:

s(b1 )s(b2 ) = ν(b1 , b2 ) + s(b1 b2 )
and
ν(eQ , b) = eA = ν(b, eQ ) (b ∈ Q).

A function f : Q × Q −→ A is called a factor set or 2-cocycle with respect to the action ϕ
if the following hold.
(CoCy-1) f (eQ , x) =0 = f (x, eQ ) (b ∈ Q);
x
(CoCy-2) f (y, z) + f (x, yz) = f (xy, z) + f (x, y) (x, y, z ∈ Q).
Then the function ν discussed above is a 2-cocycle. Given two 2-cocycles f1 , f2 the function
f1 · f2 defined by
(f1 · f2 )(x, y) = f1 (x, y)f2 (x, y)
is easily be verified to be another 2-cocycle (this uses the fact that A is abelian). In fact, the
set of all 2-cycles Zϕ2 (Q, A) (with respect to the given action ϕ) becomes an abelian group,
with identity element the constant function taking the value eA , and the inverse of f being the
function f (−1) for which
f (−1) (b1 , b2 ) = f (b1 , b2 )−1 .
A 2-cocycle f is a 2-coboundary with respect to the action ϕ if there is a function F : Q −→ A
for which
(CoCy) f (b1 , b2 ) = b1 F (b2 )F (b1 b2 )−1 F (b1 ) = δF (b1 , b2 ).
The set of all 2-cocyles Bϕ2 (Q, A) also a forms an abelian group which is a subgroup of Zϕ2 (Q, A).
We define the 2nd cohomology group with respect to the action ϕ to be the quotient group
Hϕ2 (Q, A) = Zϕ2 (Q, A)/Bϕ2 (Q, A).
To see why 2-coboundaries are of interest, consider what happens if we change the section s
above to another s0 . Then the function F : Q −→ A given by
F (b) = s0 (b)s(b)−1 ∈ A
and the 2-cocycle ν 0 associated with s0 satisfy
ν 0 (b1 , b2 ) = δF (b1 , b2 )ν(b1 , b2 ),
hence they represent the same element of Hϕ2 (Q, A).
Theorem 6.16. Let ϕ : Q −→ Aut(A) be an action with A abelian.

j q
Let 1 −→ A →− G −→ Q → − 1 be an extension with associated action ϕ of Q on A. Then the
2 2
coset ν Bϕ (Q, A) ∈ Hϕ (Q, A) is independent of the section s used to define it. This element of
Hϕ2 (Q, A) only depends on the extension up to equivalence of extensions.
Conversely, given an element ν Bϕ2 (Q, A) ∈ Hϕ2 (Q, A), any representative ν defines an
j q
extension 1 −→ A −→ G −→ Q − → 1, which is unique up to equivalence of extensions.
These constructions set up a bijection
j π
equivalence classes of extensions 1 −→ A →
− G−
→ Q −→ 1 elements of Hϕ2 (Q, A).
Corollary 6.17. In this correspondence, the split extensions correspond to the identity
element in Hϕ2 (Q, A).
Proof. For a split extension we can take ν(b1 , b2 ) = eA . ¤

3. CLASSIFYING EXTENSIONS [OPTIONAL EXTRA MATERIAL] 67
Theorem 6.18. Let A and G be finite groups with A abelian. If |A| = m and |Q| = n with
m, n coprime, i.e., (m, n) = 1, then any extension of A by Q is split.
Proof. We give an outline of the proof.

First note that in A the equation xn = a always has a solution, since m and n are coprime,
hence for some r, s ∈ Z, rm + sn = 1 in A. As |a| | |A| we have a = arm asn = (as )n . This
solution is unique since if xn = y n = a then (yx−1 )n = eA and as |yx−1 | | m, this implies y = x.
Let ν be a two cocycle. For each b ∈ Q there is a unique solution in A of the equation
Y
xn = ν(b, b0 ),
b0 ∈Q
hence there is a unique function F : Q −→ A for which

Y
F (b)n = ν(b, b0 ).
b0 ∈Q
Now we have
δF (b1 , b2 ) = ν(b1 , b2 )
and hence ν ∈ Bϕ2 (Q, A), which implies that the extension is trivial. ¤
A more general version of this is contained in the following result for which a proof can be
found in [A&B], chapter 3, §9.
A subgroup H 6 G is called a Hall subgroup if |H| and |G : H| are coprime. If N / G is a
normal subgroup, then a subgroup Q 6 G for which G = N o Q is called a complement of N
in G (notice that G is then a split extension of N by Q).
Theorem 6.19 (Schur–Zassenhaus Theorem). Let G be finite group with a normal Hall
subgroup N / G. Then N has a complement Q 6 G in G. Moreover, any other such complement
Q0 is conjugate to Q in G.
We end with some information about extensions of the form

1 −→ Z/2n −→ G −→ Z/2 −→ 1
for n > 1. Let ε : Z/2 −→ Aut(Z/2n ) denote the trivial action and τ : Z/2 −→ Aut(Z/2n ) the
action given by
τ (1)(t) = −t.
Lemma 6.20. We have

Hε2 (Z/2, Z/2n ) ∼
= Z/2 ∼
= Hτ2 (Z/2, Z/2n ).
For the case trivial action, it is easy to see that two inequivalent extensions are
1 −→ Z/2n −→Z/2n × Z/2 −→ Z/2 −→ 1,
and
1 −→ Z/2n −→Z/2n+1 −→ Z/2 −→ 1

and these can be formed with the 2-cocycles for which
ν(1, 1) = 0,
ν(1, 1) = 2.
For the action τ , we have extensions
1 −→ Z/2n −→D2n+1 × Z/2 −→ Z/2 −→ 1
and
1 −→ Z/2n −→Qn+1 −→ Z/2 −→ 1

with 2-cocycles for which
ν(1, 1) = 0
and
ν(1, 1) = 2n−1 .
The first type of group is a dihedral group of order 2n+1 , while the second is a quaternion group
of order 2n+1 . If n = 2, these are the familiar dihedral and quaternion groups.
CHAPTER 7
Some further applications
In this chapter we will see some other applications of representation theory in mathematics
and in other subject areas.
1. Fourier series and the circle group

A ‘reasonable’ function f : R −→ C which is periodic of period 2π can be expended in a
Fourier series
∞
X
F (t) = cn eti ,
−∞
where the Fourier coefficients cn ∈ C are given by
Z π
1
cn = f (t)e−ti dt.
2π −π
Such a function can be viewed as defining a function f˜: T −→ C on the unit circle
T = {z ∈ C : |z| = 1}
which is an abelian group under multiplication (in fact, the multiplication and inverse maps are
continuous and even differentiable functions). This function is given by
f˜(eti ) = f (t).
A natural question to ask is whether there is a some sort of representation theory for such a
group.
Let us first consider the set of all ‘square integrable’ functions T −→ C, L2 (T). Such a
Rπ
function f is required to have integrals such as −π |f (eti )|2 dt. There is an inner product on
L2 (T), Z π
1
(f |g) = f (eti )g(eti ) dt
2π −π
which is Hermitian. Notice that
Z π
1
(f |f ) = |f (eti )|2 dt > 0,
2π −π
with equality if and only if f = 0. Since T is abelian, L2 (T) can be thought of as the set of
class functions on T. However, unlike the case of a finite group, L2 (T) is an infinite dimensional
vector space over C (in fact it is a Hilbert space). The functions χn (t) = eti (n ∈ Z) form an
orthonormal set since
(χm |χn ) = δm,n .
Moreover, since any function in L2 (T) has a Fourier expansion, the χn actually span in the sense
that every f ∈ L2 (T) can be expressed in the form
∞
X
f= cn χn .
n=−∞
Thus the χn form an orthonormal basis for L2 (T) (in the sense of Hilbert space theory).
69
70 7. SOME FURTHER APPLICATIONS
What about representations of T? For each n ∈ Z, there is a (continuous) 1-dimensional

representation ρn : T −→ C× given by
ρn (z) = z n .
The character of this is the function χn . In fact, these ρn are the only irreducible (continuous)
representations of T. It can be shown that any ‘reasonable’ representation can be decomposed
into something like a direct sum of copies of the representations ρn . Moreover, the rôle of the
regular representation is played by the vector space L2 (T) on which T acts by
w · f (z) = f (w−1 z) (z, w ∈ T).
The multiplicity of ρn in L2 (T) is 1.
Thus Fourier expansions are intimately related to representation theory. In fact, any com-
pact subgroup G of a group GLC (Cn ) is a compact Lie group and there is similarly a good
theory of continuous representations of G. This is the subject of Harmonic analysis on compact
Lie groups. It can even be extended to noncompact groups such as GLC (Cn ) and is a major
area of research.

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Finite Groups and their Representations

Chapter 1. Linear and multilinear algebra 1

Chapter 2. Recollections and reformulations on basic group theory 13

Chapter 3. Representations of finite groups 21

Chapter 4. Character theory 35

Chapter 5. Some applications to group theory 53

Chapter 6. Automorphisms and extensions 59

Chapter 7. Some further applications 69

Linear and multilinear algebra

1. Basic linear algebra

Proof. The definition of Φ is

Proposition 1.2. The set of functions ϕij : V −→ W (1 6 i 6 m, 1 6 j 6 n) is a basis

A particular and very important case of this is the dual space of V ,

vi∗ (vk ) = δik ,

dim| End| (V ) = (dim| V )2 .

Now suppose we have a second pair of bases for V and W , v0 = {v10 , . . . , vm

{w10 , . . . , wn0 }. Then we can write

w0 [ϕ]v0 = Qw [ϕ]v P −1 = Q[aij ]P −1 .

In particular, if W = V , w = v and w0 = v0 , then

v0 [ϕ]v0 = P v [ϕ]v P −1 = P [aij ]P −1 .

1.2. Quotients and complements. Let W ⊆ V be a vector subspace. Then we define

Theorem 1.4. Let f : V −→ U be a linear transformation with W ⊆ ker f . Then there is a

We often write V = W ⊕ W 0 whenever W 0 is a linear complement of W . The maps p, p0 of

and we inductively have that Vk is a linear complement of (V1 ⊕ · · · ⊕ Vk−1 ) in (V1 + · · · + Vk ).

2. Class functions and the Cayley-Hamilton Theorem

where In is the n × n identity matrix.

Theorem 1.7 (Cayley-Hamilton Theorem: matrix version). The matrix A satisfies

Example 1.8. Let · ¸

Lemma 1.9. Let A = [aij ] and P be an n × n matrix with coefficients in k. Then if P is

Recall that for an n × n matrix A = [aij ], the trace of A, Tr A ∈ k, is defined by

Proposition 1.10. For any n × n matrix over k we have

cn−1 (A) = − Tr A and cn (A) = (−1)n det A.

Proof. Calculating the coefficient of X n−1 in det(XIn − [aij ]) we get

Now let ϕ : V −→ V be a linear transformation on a finite dimensional k-vector space with

charϕ (X) = char[ϕ]v (X)

Tr ϕ = cn−1 (ϕ) and det ϕ = (−1)n det A.

Theorem 1.11 (Cayley-Hamilton Theorem: linear transformation version).

Proposition 1.12. We have

We can also apply the above discussion to a linear transformation ϕ : V −→ V , where an

Lemma 1.13. For an n × n matrix A or a linear transformation ϕ : V −→ V , let f (X) be a

i.e., for every v ∈ V

4. Basic notions of multilinear algebra

and is alternating or skew-symmetric if

(ML-A) F (vσ(1) , . . . , vσ(k) , . . . , vσ(r) ) = sign(σ)F (v1 , . . . , vk , . . . , vr ),

UP-TP: For any k-vector space W and multilinear map F : V1 × · · · × Vr −→ W , there is a

In diagram form this becomes

When V1 = V2 = · · · = Vr = V , we call V ⊗ · · · ⊗ V the rth tensor power and write Tr V .

Proposition 1.15. If the finite dimensional k-vector space Vk (1 6 k 6 r) has a basis

More generally, for any sequence w1 ∈ V1 , . . . wr ∈ Vr , we set

(MLF-1) w1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ wk−1 ⊗ (wk + wk0 ) ⊗ wk+1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ wr =

Proposition 1.16. Let V1 , . . . , Vr be finite dimensional k-vector spaces. Then there is a

Proof. The function W × V ∗ −→ Hom| (V, W ) given by (w, α) 7→ wα is bilinear, and

Recollections and reformulations on basic group theory

1. The Isomorphism and Correspondence Theorems

is a surjective homomorphism with kernel ker π = N .

Theorem 2.1 (1st Isomorphism Theorem). Let ϕ : G −→ H be a homomorphism with

In diagram form this becomes

Theorem 2.2 (2nd Isomorphism Theorem). Let H 6 G and N / G. Then there is an