Properties of the subgroups of an abelian prime power group which are conjugate under its group of isomorphisms

Abstract

Two operators or two subgroups of a group will be called I-conjugate whenever they are conjugate under the group of isomorphisms of this group. It is well known that all the cyclic subgroups of highest order contained in any abelian group are I-conjugate. A necessary and sufficient condition that all the cyclic subgroups of any other order contained in an abelian group G of order pmm, p being a prime number, are I-conjugate is that all the invariants of G are equal to each other. When this condition is satisfied we shall prove, in particular, that the number of the subgroups of order pa, a c m , contained in G is equal to the number of its subgroups of index pa. It is known that the ?-subgroup of G is composed of the pth power of every operator of G. The concept of +-subgroup in connection with abelian groups can readily be extended by considering the characteristic subgroup of G composed of the path power of every operator of G. This subgroup may be called the Oa-subgroup of G. It is composed of all the operators of G which are found in each one of its subgroups of index pa, and all the operators of highest order in a 4.-subgroup of G are I-conjugate. In particular, the 0&-subgroup generated by operators of order p is the fundamental characteristic subgroup of G. t In fact, when p > 2 the 0a-subgroup which is generated by operators of order pr is contained in every characteristic subgroup of G which involves operators of order pr. The quotient group of G corresponding to a 4a-subgroup may be called a 0,fi-quotient group. This quotient group is simply isomorphic with the subgroup of G generated bv all its operators whose orders divide p> Hence the following: THEOREM. The number of the subgroups of index pa contained in any abelian