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Commutator identities in a group whose derived subgroup is central
Statement
Let be a group (Group and abelian group) whose derived subgroup is contained in the centre (Commutators and the commutator subgroup , The center of a group). If then , , and for every integer and all , integer powers being those of Powers : natural exponents in a monoid and integer exponents in a group, with .
Facts & Assumptions
Given: A group with , and elements .
For the commutator is , and is the subgroup generated by all commutators (Commutators and the commutator subgroup ).
For all one has and (Exponent laws in a group: and for all , and when and commute).
Proof
Every commutator lies in , hence in , so it commutes with every element of and may be moved to any position in a product without changing that product.
Expanding, , the last two equalities moving the central factor past and then past .
Expanding in the second variable, , where the central factor is moved past and then past .
For the identity follows by induction: at both sides are the identity, since is the identity and , and .
For a negative integer put ; then by step 2.1, so , and the identity is obtained the same way from step 2.2.
Remarks
The hypothesis is exactly the vanishing of the third term of the lower central series: is trivial precisely when every commutator commutes with every element of (Subgroup commutators and the lower central series).
The first two identities are additivity in each variable separately, and they fail without the hypothesis: in general , and the conjugating factor is what the hypothesis removes.
Depends on
- Commutators $[g,h]=ghg^{-1}h^{-1}$ and the commutator subgroup $[G,G]$
- The center $Z(G)$ of a group
- Group and abelian group
- Subgroup commutators and the lower central series
- Powers $g^{n}$: natural exponents in a monoid and integer exponents in a group, with $g^{0} = e$
- Exponent laws in a group: $g^{m+n} = g^{m}g^{n}$ and $(g^{m})^{n} = g^{mn}$ for all $m, n \in \mathbb{Z}$, and $(gh)^{n} = g^{n}h^{n}$ **when $g$ and $h$ commute**
- In a group $e^{-1} = e$, $(g^{-1})^{-1} = g$ and $(gh)^{-1} = h^{-1}g^{-1}$, the order of the last product being essential
Used by
- For odd p, a central product of two modular groups of order p³ is a central product of a modular group with a Heisenberg group Lemma
- In a group with central derived subgroup, (xy)ⁿ=[y,x]^C(n, 2)xⁿyⁿ Lemma
- The commutator pairing is well defined on the central quotient, is bilinear over Fₚ, and is alternating Lemma
- For each prime there are exactly two nonabelian groups of order p³ up to isomorphism Theorem
Dependency tree · two levels
26 results within two dependency steps of this one, each drawn at its shortest distance from it. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, so the chart reads left to right and ends at this result, which carries a heavier outline. Every node is a link to that result. Click elsewhere on the chart to enlarge it.
Sources
- D. A. Craven, The Theory of p-Groups, Lemma 2.11(i)-(iii) (standard reference, not scraped)
- M. van Beek, Topics in Finite p-Groups, §2.3 (standard reference, not scraped)