# Index of a subgroup

In mathematics, specifically group theory, the index of a subgroup H in a group G is the "relative size" of H in G: equivalently, the number of "copies" (cosets) of H that fill up G. For example, if H has index 2 in G, then intuitively "half" of the elements of G lie in H. The index of H in G is usually denoted |G : H| or [G : H] or (G:H).

Formally, the index of H in G is defined as the number of cosets of H in G. (The number of left cosets of H in G is always equal to the number of right cosets.) For example, let Z be the group of integers under addition, and let 2Z be the subgroup of Z consisting of the even integers. Then 2Z has two cosets in Z (namely the even integers and the odd integers), so the index of 2Z in Z is two. To generalize,

${\displaystyle |\mathbf {Z} :n\mathbf {Z} |=n}$

for any positive integer n.

If N is a normal subgroup of G, then the index of N in G is also equal to the order of the quotient group G / N, since this is defined in terms of a group structure on the set of cosets of N in G.

If G is infinite, the index of a subgroup H will in general be a non-zero cardinal number. It may be finite - that is, a positive integer - as the example above shows.

If G and H are finite groups, then the index of H in G is equal to the quotient of the orders of the two groups:

${\displaystyle |G:H|={\frac {|G|}{|H|}}.}$

This is Lagrange's theorem, and in this case the quotient is necessarily a positive integer.

## Properties

• If H is a subgroup of G and K is a subgroup of H, then
${\displaystyle |G:K|=|G:H|\,|H:K|.}$
• If H and K are subgroups of G, then
${\displaystyle |G:H\cap K|\leq |G:H|\,|G:K|,}$
with equality if HK = G. (If |G : H ∩ K| is finite, then equality holds if and only if HK = G.)
• Equivalently, if H and K are subgroups of G, then
${\displaystyle |H:H\cap K|\leq |G:K|,}$
with equality if HK = G. (If |H : H ∩ K| is finite, then equality holds if and only if HK = G.)
• If G and H are groups and φG → H is a homomorphism, then the index of the kernel of φ in G is equal to the order of the image:
${\displaystyle |G:\operatorname {ker} \;\varphi |=|\operatorname {im} \;\varphi |.}$
${\displaystyle |Gx|=|G:G_{x}|.\!}$
This is known as the orbit-stabilizer theorem.
• As a special case of the orbit-stabilizer theorem, the number of conjugates gxg−1 of an element x ∈ G is equal to the index of the centralizer of x in G.
• Similarly, the number of conjugates gHg−1 of a subgroup H in G is equal to the index of the normalizer of H in G.
• If H is a subgroup of G, the index of the normal core of H satisfies the following inequality:
${\displaystyle |G:\operatorname {Core} (H)|\leq |G:H|!}$
where ! denotes the factorial function; this is discussed further below.
• As a corollary, if the index of H in G is 2, or for a finite group the lowest prime p that divides the order of G, then H is normal, as the index of its core must also be p, and thus H equals its core, i.e., is normal.
• Note that a subgroup of lowest prime index may not exist, such as in any simple group of non-prime order, or more generally any perfect group.

## Examples

${\displaystyle \{(x,y)\mid x{\text{ is even}}\},\quad \{(x,y)\mid y{\text{ is even}}\},\quad {\text{and}}\quad \{(x,y)\mid x+y{\text{ is even}}\}}$.
• More generally, if p is prime then Zn has (pn − 1) / (p − 1) subgroups of index p, corresponding to the pn − 1 nontrivial homomorphisms Zn → Z/pZ.{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{#invoke:Category handler|main}}{{#invoke:Category handler|main}}[citation needed] }} ## Infinite index If H has an infinite number of cosets in G, then the index of H in G is said to be infinite. In this case, the index |G : H| is actually a cardinal number. For example, the index of H in G may be countable or uncountable, depending on whether H has a countable number of cosets in G. Note that the index of H is at most the order of G, which is realized for the trivial subgroup, or in fact any subgroup H of infinite cardinality less than that of G. ## Finite index An infinite group G may have subgroups H of finite index (for example, the even integers inside the group of integers). Such a subgroup always contains a normal subgroup N (of G), also of finite index. In fact, if H has index n, then the index of N can be taken as some factor of n!; indeed, N can be taken to be the kernel of the natural homomorphism from G to the permutation group of the left (or right) cosets of H. A special case, n = 2, gives the general result that a subgroup of index 2 is a normal subgroup, because the normal group (N above) must have index 2 and therefore be identical to the original subgroup. More generally, a subgroup of index p where p is the smallest prime factor of the order of G (if G is finite) is necessarily normal, as the index of N divides p! and thus must equal p, having no other prime factors. An alternative proof of the result that subgroup of index lowest prime p is normal, and other properties of subgroups of prime index are given in Template:Harv. ### Examples The above considerations are true for finite groups as well. For instance, the group O of chiral octahedral symmetry has 24 elements. It has a dihedral D4 subgroup (in fact it has three such) of order 8, and thus of index 3 in O, which we shall call H. This dihedral group has a 4-member D2 subgroup, which we may call A. Multiplying on the right any element of a right coset of H by an element of A gives a member of the same coset of H (Hca = Hc). A is normal in O. There are six cosets of A, corresponding to the six elements of the symmetric group S3. All elements from any particular coset of A perform the same permutation of the cosets of H. On the other hand, the group Th of pyritohedral symmetry also has 24 members and a subgroup of index 3 (this time it is a D2h prismatic symmetry group, see point groups in three dimensions), but in this case the whole subgroup is a normal subgroup. All members of a particular coset carry out the same permutation of these cosets, but in this case they represent only the 3-element alternating group in the 6-member S3 symmetric group. ## Normal subgroups of prime power index Normal subgroups of prime power index are kernels of surjective maps to p-groups and have interesting structure, as described at Focal subgroup theorem: Subgroups and elaborated at focal subgroup theorem. There are three important normal subgroups of prime power index, each being the smallest normal subgroup in a certain class: As these are weaker conditions on the groups K, one obtains the containments ${\displaystyle \mathbf {E} ^{p}(G)\supseteq \mathbf {A} ^{p}(G)\supseteq \mathbf {O} ^{p}(G).}$ These groups have important connections to the Sylow subgroups and the transfer homomorphism, as discussed there. ### Geometric structure An elementary observation is that one cannot have exactly 2 subgroups of index 2, as the complement of their symmetric difference yields a third. This is a simple corollary of the above discussion (namely the projectivization of the vector space structure of the elementary abelian group ${\displaystyle G/\mathbf {E} ^{p}(G)\cong (\mathbf {Z} /p)^{k}}$), and further, G does not act on this geometry, nor does it reflect any of the non-abelian structure (in both cases because the quotient is abelian). However, it is an elementary result, which can be seen concretely as follows: the set of normal subgroups of a given index p form a projective space, namely the projective space ${\displaystyle \mathbf {P} (\operatorname {Hom} (G,\mathbf {Z} /p)).}$ In detail, the space of homomorphisms from G to the (cyclic) group of order p, ${\displaystyle \operatorname {Hom} (G,\mathbf {Z} /p),}$ is a vector space over the finite field ${\displaystyle \mathbf {F} _{p}=\mathbf {Z} /p.}$ A non-trivial such map has as kernel a normal subgroup of index p, and multiplying the map by an element of ${\displaystyle (\mathbf {Z} /p)^{\times }}$ (a non-zero number mod p) does not change the kernel; thus one obtains a map from ${\displaystyle \mathbf {P} (\operatorname {Hom} (G,\mathbf {Z} /p)):=(\operatorname {Hom} (G,\mathbf {Z} /p))\setminus \{0\})/(\mathbf {Z} /p)^{\times }}$ to normal index p subgroups. Conversely, a normal subgroup of index p determines a non-trivial map to ${\displaystyle \mathbf {Z} /p}$ up to a choice of "which coset maps to ${\displaystyle 1\in \mathbf {Z} /p,}$ which shows that this map is a bijection. As a consequence, the number of normal subgroups of index p is ${\displaystyle (p^{k+1}-1)/(p-1)=1+p+\cdots +p^{k}}$ for some k; ${\displaystyle k=-1}$ corresponds to no normal subgroups of index p. Further, given two distinct normal subgroups of index p, one obtains a projective line consisting of ${\displaystyle p+1}$ such subgroups. For ${\displaystyle p=2,}$ the symmetric difference of two distinct index 2 subgroups (which are necessarily normal) gives the third point on the projective line containing these subgroups, and a group must contain ${\displaystyle 0,1,3,7,15,\ldots }$ index 2 subgroups – it cannot contain exactly 2 or 4 index 2 subgroups, for instance. ## See also ## References {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||$N=Refimprove |date=__DATE__ |\$B= {{#invoke:Message box|ambox}} }}

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