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CorollaryStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedSession-authored (Fable 5 assisted)precheck passaudited 2026-08-11
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Every finite subgroup of the unit group of an integral domain is cyclic

Statement

Let DD be an integral domain. Every finite subgroup GD×G\le D^\times of the unit group of DD is cyclic.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: An integral domain DD and a finite subgroup GD×G\le D^\times.

[L1]

An integral domain is a commutative ring with no zero divisors and with 010\ne1 (Zero divisor, and integral domain: a commutative ring with 101 \ne 0 and no zero divisors).

[L3]

A subgroup contains the identity and is closed under multiplication and inverses (Subgroup).

[L4]
[L5]

A finite set has a natural-number cardinality G|G| (The cardinality A\lvert A\rvert of a finite set).

[L6]

The exponent ee of a finite group is the least positive integer such that ge=1g^e=1 for every group element gg (The exponent of a finite group).

[L7]

If GCn1××CnrG\cong C_{n_1}\times\cdots\times C_{n_r} with 1<n1nr1<n_1\mid\cdots\mid n_r, then G=n1nr|G|=n_1\cdots n_r and exp(G)=nr\exp(G)=n_r (Invariant factors determine the order and exponent of a finite abelian group).

[L8]

A nontrivial finite abelian group is cyclic exactly when its invariant-factor list has one entry (A nontrivial finite abelian group is cyclic if and only if it has one invariant factor).

[L9]

A monic polynomial has leading coefficient 11, and a nonzero polynomial has a natural-number degree (Degree, leading coefficient and monic polynomial, with the zero polynomial having no degree).

[L10]

Evaluation substitutes a ring element into a formal polynomial, and a root is an element with value zero (Evaluation and roots of a polynomial in a commutative target ring).

[L11]

A nonzero polynomial of degree nn over an integral domain has at most nn distinct roots (A nonzero polynomial of degree nn over an integral domain has at most nn distinct roots).

[L12]

Every finite abelian group has a unique invariant-factor list 1<n1nr1<n_1\mid\cdots\mid n_r, with the trivial group corresponding to the empty list (Fundamental theorem of finite abelian groups: invariant-factor form).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1

If G={1}G=\{1\}, then G=1G=\langle1\rangle and [L4] makes it cyclic.

givenL2L3L4
1.2

Suppose GG is nontrivial. Since DD is commutative by [L1], [L2] and [L3] make GG a finite abelian group; let e1e\ge1 be its exponent from [L6].

givenL1L2L3L5L6
2.1

Every gGg\in G satisfies ge=1g^e=1, so all G|G| distinct elements of GG are roots, in the sense of [L10], of the nonzero monic polynomial Te1T^e-1, whose degree is ee by [L9]; [L11] gives Ge|G|\le e.

step 1.2L5L6L9L10L11
3.1

By [L12], write the invariant-factor list of GG as 1<n1nr1<n_1\mid\cdots\mid n_r. By [L7], G=n1nr|G|=n_1\cdots n_r and e=nre=n_r, so eGe\le |G|; step 2.1 gives equality. Hence n1nr=nrn_1\cdots n_r=n_r, and because every ni>1n_i>1, this forces r=1r=1. Fact [L8] makes GG cyclic, while step 1.1 covers the trivial case.

step 1.1step 2.1L7L8L12

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