let $G$ be a group. Is it true that the only subgroup of $G$ that is conjugate to $G$ is $G$ itself? if $G$ is finite this is clear as conjugate subgroups have the same order but what about infinite groups?
conjugate subgroups to a given group
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group-theory
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0Assume that you conjugate with an element $x\in G$. Can you write an arbitrary element $y\in G$ in the form $y=x^{-1}zx$ for some $z\in G$? – 2011-07-02
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0@Jyrki Lahtonen: of course $y=x^{-1}(xy{x^-1})x$ but my question is why $G$ can't be conjuguate to another subgroup – 2011-07-02
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0If G is conjugate to H, so that H is the image of G under conjugation b $x$, and H is a proper subgroup of G, take $y$ in G\H. You've just proved that $y$ is in the image, so H cannot be proper. – 2011-07-02
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0@Mark Bennet: it is $xyx^{-1}$ that is in the image $H$ not $y$ – 2011-07-02
1 Answers
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Each conjugation induces a permutation of $G$ as a set. When you permute a set, proper subsets remain proper subsets.
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0you mean every $g_0\in G$ induces a permutation $G\rightarrow G;\, g\mapsto g_0gg_0^{-1}$ then what? – 2011-07-02
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0That's what I mean. Then if $H$ is a proper subgroup of $G$, in particular it's a proper subset, so the permutation sends it to another proper subset. That proper subset can't be $G$ itself. – 2011-07-02
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0you mean the restriction of the permutation to a subgroup $H$ of $G$ is never surjective? it's clear why it is never surjective by order argument but for infinite $G$ it is not clear for me – 2011-07-02
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1This is really a fact about sets and not groups, as I explicitly stated in my answer. If $\pi$ is a permutation of a set $X$, and $Y$ is a proper subset of $X$ (that is, there is some element of $X$ that is not in $Y$), then the pointwise image $\pi[Y]$ is also a proper subset of $X$. – 2011-07-02
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0thanks alot!! it's clear now – 2011-07-02