Suppose that $m>2$, and let $P$ be the product of the positive integers less than $m$ that are relatively prime to $m$. Show that $P \equiv -1 \pmod{m}$ if $m=4$, $p^n$, or $2p^{n}$, where $p$ is an odd prime, and $P \equiv 1 \pmod{m}$ otherwise.

Let $g$ and $h$ be two distinct elements of a group $G$, and let $n$ be a positive integer. Consider a sequence $w=(w_1,w_2,\dots)$ which is not eventually periodic and where each $w_i$ is either $g$ or $h$. Denote by $H$ the subgroup of $G$ generated by all elements of the form $w_kw_{k+1}\dotsc w_{k+n-1}$ with $k \ge 1$. Prove that $H$ does not depend on the choice of the sequence $w$ (but may depend on $n$).

There are $ n$ sets having $ 4$ elements each. The difference set of any two of the sets is equal to one of the $ n$ sets. $ n$ can be at most ? (A difference set of $A$ and $B$ is $ (A\setminus B)\cup(B\setminus A) $) $\textbf{(A)}\ 3 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 5 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 7 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 15 \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ \text{None}$

Consider the group $ \{f:\mathbb{C}\setminus\mathbb{Q}\longrightarrow\mathbb{C}\setminus\mathbb{Q} | f\text{ is bijective}\} $ under the composition of functions. Find the order of the smallest subgroup of it that: $ \text{(1)} $ contains the function $ z\mapsto \frac{z-1}{z+1} . $ $ \text{(2)} $ contains the function $ z\mapsto \frac{z-3}{z+1} . $ $ \text{(3)} $ contain both of the above functions.

Let $G$ be a group and $A$ a nonempty subset of $G$. Let $AA=\{xy\mid x,y\in A\}$. [list=a] [*] Prove that if $G$ is finite, then $AA=A$ if and only if $|A|=|AA|$ and $e\in A$. [*] Give an example of a group $G$ and a nonempty subset $A$ of $G$ such that $AA\neq A$, $|AA|=|A|$ and $AA$ is a proper subgroup of $G$. [/list] [i]Mathematical Gazette - Robert Rogozsan[/i]

For what values of $ n$ does the group $ \textsl{SO}(n)$ of all orthogonal transformations of determinant $ 1$ of the $ n$-dimensional Euclidean space possess a closed regular subgroup?($ \textsl{G}<\textsl{SO}(n)$ is called $ \textit{regular}$ if for any elements $ x,y$ of the unit sphere there exists a unique $ \varphi \in \textsl{G}$ such that $ \varphi(x)\equal{}y$.) [i]Z. Szabo[/i]

For any $n\in \mathbb{N}^*$, let $H_n=\left\{\frac{k}{n!}\ |\ k\in \mathbb{Z}\right\}$. a) Prove that $H_n$ is a subgroup of the group $(Q,+)$ and that $Q=\bigcup_{n\in \mathbb{N}^*} H_n$; b) Prove that if $G_1,G_2,\ldots, G_m$ are subgroups of the group $(Q,+)$ and $G_i\neq Q,\ (\forall) 1\le i\le m$, then $G_1\cup G_2\cup \ldots \cup G_m\neq Q$ [i]Marian Andronache & Ion Savu[/i]

Define the operator " $ * $ " on $ \mathbb{R} $ as $ x*y=x+y+xy. $ [b]a)[/b] Show that $ \mathbb{R}\setminus\{ -1\} , $ along with the operator above, is isomorphic with $ \mathbb{R}\setminus\{ 0\} , $ with the usual multiplication. [b]b)[/b] Determine all finite semigroups of $ \mathbb{R} $ under " $ *. $ " Which of them are groups? [b]c)[/b] Prove that if $ H\subset_{*}\mathbb{R} $ is a bounded semigroup, then $ H\subset [-2, 0]. $

In the questions below: $G$ is a finite group; $H \leq G$ a subgroup of $G; |G : H |$ the index of $H$ in $G; |X |$ the number of elements of $X \subseteq G; Z (G)$ the center of $G; G'$ the commutator subgroup of $G; N_{G}(H )$ the normalizer of $H$ in $G; C_{G}(H )$ the centralizer of $H$ in $G$; and $S_{n}$ the $n$-th symmetric group. Let $H \leq G, |H | = 3.$ What can be said about $|N_{G}(H ) : C_{G}(H )|$?

We call a natural number 3-partite if the set of its divisors can be partitioned into 3 subsets each with the same sum. Show that there exist infinitely many 3-partite numbers.

Let be a group and two coprime natural numbers $ m,n. $ Show that if the applications $ G\ni x\mapsto x^{m+1},x^{n+1} $ are surjective endomorphisms, then the group is commutative.

$G$ is a set of non-constant functions $f$. Each $f$ is defined on the real line and has the form $f(x)=ax+b$ for some real $a,b$. If $f$ and $g$ are in $G$, then so is $fg$, where $fg$ is defined by $fg(x)=f(g(x))$. If $f$ is in $G$, then so is the inverse $f^{-1}$. If $f(x)=ax+b$, then $f^{-1}(x)= \frac{x-b}{a}$. Every $f$ in $G$ has a fixed point (in other words we can find $x_f$ such that $f(x_f)=x_f$. Prove that all the functions in $G$ have a common fixed point.

Let $ p$ be a prime number. Let $ h(x)$ be a polynomial with integer coefficients such that $ h(0),h(1),\dots, h(p^2\minus{}1)$ are distinct modulo $ p^2.$ Show that $ h(0),h(1),\dots, h(p^3\minus{}1)$ are distinct modulo $ p^3.$

Let $N(n)$ denote the smallest positive integer $N$ such that $x^N =e$ for every element $x$ of the symmetric group $S_n$, where $e$ denotes the identity permutation. Prove that if $n>1,$ $$\frac{N(n)}{N(n-1)} =\begin{cases} p \;\text{if}\; n\; \text{is a power of a prime } p\\ 1\; \text{otherwise}. \end{cases}$$

[b]7.[/b] Find the finite groups having only one proper maximal subgroup. [b](A.12)[/b]

Let be a natural number $ n\ge 2, $ a real number $ \lambda , $ and let be the set $$ H_{\lambda }=\left\{ \left( h_k^l \right)_{1\le k\le n}^{1\le l\le n}\in\mathcal{M}_n\left(\mathbb{R}\right) \bigg| \lambda =\sum_{k,l=1}^n h_k^l \right\} . $$ Prove the following statements. [b]a)[/b] The sets of symmetric and antisymmetric matrices from $ \mathcal{M}_n\left(\mathbb{R}\right) $ are subgroups of the additive subgroup $ \mathcal{M}_n\left(\mathbb{R}\right) , $ and any matrix from $ \mathcal{M}_n\left(\mathbb{R}\right) $ is a sum of a symmetric and antisymmetric matrix from $ \mathcal{M}_n\left(\mathbb{R}\right) . $ [b]b)[/b] $ \left( H_{\lambda },+\right)\le\left( \mathcal{M}_n\left(\mathbb{R}\right) ,+ \right)\iff \lambda =0 $ [b]c)[/b] There is a commutative group formed with the elements of $ H_{\lambda } $ if $ \lambda\neq 0. $ [i]Dan Negulescu[/i]

Consider a group $ G $ which has the property that any element of it, with the exception of the identity, has order $ p\ge 2. $ Prove that [b]a)[/b] $ p $ is prime. [b]b)[/b] $ G $ is commutative if any subset of $ G $ having $ p^2-1 $ elements contains at least $ p $ elements that commute between themselves pairwise.

A permutation f of the set of integers is called bounded if | x - f (x) | is bounded. Bounded permutations with permutation multiplication form a group W. Show that the additive group of rational numbers is not isomorphic to any subgroup of W.

Show that there is an unique group $ G $ (up to isomorphism) of order $ 1986 $ which has the property that there is at most one subgroup of it having order $ n, $ for every natural number $ n. $

Describe all groups $ G $ which have the property that: $$ (\forall H\le G)(\forall x,y\in G)(xy\in H\implies (x,y\in H\vee xy=1)) $$

Find the number of pairs of elements, from a group of order $ 2011, $ such that the square of the first element of the pair is equal to the cube of the second element. [i]Teodor Radu[/i]

Let $ G$ be a group such that $ G'$ is abelian and each normal and abelian subgroup of $ G$ is finite. Prove that $ G$ is finite.

a) Find two sets $X,Y$ such that $X\cap Y =\emptyset$, $X\cup Y = \mathbb Q^{\star}_{+}$ and $Y = \{a\cdot b \mid a,b \in X \}$. b) Find two sets $U,V$ such that $U\cap V =\emptyset$, $U\cup V = \mathbb R$ and $V = \{x+y \mid x,y \in U \}$.

Denote by $S_n$ the group of permutations of the sequence $(1,2,\dots,n).$ Suppose that $G$ is a subgroup of $S_n,$ such that for every $\pi\in G\setminus\{e\}$ there exists a unique $k\in \{1,2,\dots,n\}$ for which $\pi(k)=k.$ (Here $e$ is the unit element of the group $S_n.$) Show that this $k$ is the same for all $\pi \in G\setminus \{e\}.$

We define a relation between subsets of $\mathbb R ^n$. $A \sim B\Longleftrightarrow$ we can partition $A,B$ in sets $A_1,\dots,A_n$ and $B_1,\dots,B_n$(i.e $\displaystyle A=\bigcup_{i=1} ^n A_i,\ B=\bigcup_{i=1} ^n B_i, A_i\cap A_j=\emptyset,\ B_i\cap B_j=\emptyset$) and $A_i\simeq B_i$. Say the the following sets have the relation $\sim$ or not ? a) Natural numbers and composite numbers. b) Rational numbers and rational numbers with finite digits in base 10. c) $\{x\in\mathbb Q|x<\sqrt 2\}$ and $\{x\in\mathbb Q|x<\sqrt 3\}$ d) $A=\{(x,y)\in\mathbb R^2|x^2+y^2<1\}$ and $A\setminus \{(0,0)\}$