2.7 Groups of Motions and Symmetries

1. Label the figure as shown. Clearly (1 3) and (2 4) are motions, as is their product. Hence the group of motions is {ε, (13), (24), (13)(24)}, isomorphic to the Klein group K4.

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3. Label the figure as shown. Then (123) and (132) are motions (rotations of 120img and 240img about a line through vertex 4 and the center of the triangle base). Clearly every motion (indeed every symmetry) must fix vertex 4. Hence the group of motions is G = {ε, (123), (132)}. However (12), (13) and (23) are all symmetries (which are not motions), so the group of symmetries if S3.

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5. Label the figure as shown. Clearly (12)(34) and (14)(23) are such symmetries, and hence their product is (13)(24). The rest of the symmetries of the square do not preserve blue edges, so the group is {ε, (12)(34), (13)(24), (14)(23)} ≅ K4.

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7. Label the vertices as shown. Let λ = (1 3)(2 4)(5 7)(6 8) and μ = (1 6)(2 5)(3 8)(4 7). These are motions (rotations of π radians about axes through the sides). Also λμ = μλ = (1 8)(2 7)(3 6)(4 5) is the sides). Also λμ = μλ = (1 8)(2 7)(3 6)(4 5) is the rotation about a vertical axis. The group of motions is {ε, λ, μ, λμ} ≅ K4. However, there are symmetries which are not motions. We have

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which are reflections in various planes of symmetry. Now compute

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Call these last two γ = λτ and δ = λσ. Then the group of symmetries is

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The fact that x2 = ε for all x img G gives the following multiplication table:

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The group is abelian and x2 = ε for all x. These are called elementary abelian groups.
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