Difference between revisions of "Orbit"

Revision as of 16:33, 7 September 2008

An orbit is part of a set on which a group acts.

Let $G$ be a group, and let $S$ be a $G$ -set. The orbit of an element $x\in S$ is the set $Gx$ , i.e., the set of conjugates of $x$ , or the set of elements $y$ in $S$ for which there exists $\alpha \in G$ for which $\alpha x = y$ .

For $x\in S$ , the mapping $\alpha \mapsto \alpha x$ is sometimes known as the orbital mapping defined by $x$ ; it is a homomorphism of the $G$ -set $G$ (with action on itself, by left translation) into $S$ ; the image of $G$ is the orbit of $x$ . We say that $G$ acts freely on $S$ if the orbital mapping defined by $x$ is injective, for all $x \in S$ .

The set of orbits of $S$ is the quotient set of $S$ under the relation of conjugation. This set is denoted $G\backslash S$ , or $S/G$ . (Sometimes the first notation is used when $G$ acts on the left, and the second, when $G$ acts on the right.)

Let $G$ be a set acting on $S$ from the right, and let $H$ be a normal subgroup of $G$ . Then $G$ acts on $S/H$ from the right, under the action $g: xH \mapsto xHg = xgH$ , for $x\in S$ . ( $H$ acts trivially on this set, so $(E/H)/G = (E/H)/(G/H)$ .) Consider the canonical mapping $\phi : E/H \to E/G$ . The inverse images of elements of $E/G$ under $\phi$ are the orbits of $E/H$ under action of $G$ ; thus on passing to the quotient, $\phi$ defines an isomorphism from $(E/H)/G$ to $E/G$ .

Suppose $G$ and $H$ are groups, and $G$ acts on $S$ on the left, and $H$ on the right; suppose furthermore that the operations of $G$ and $H$ commute, i.e., for all $g\in G$ , $h\in H$ , $x\in S$ , $(gx)h = g(xh) .$ Let $H^0$ be the opposite group of $G$ ; then the actions of $G$ and $H$ on $S$ define a left action of $G \times H^0$ on $S$ . The set $(G\times H^0)\backslash S$ is denoted $G \backslash S /H$ . Since $G$ and $H^0$ are normal subgroups of $G \times H^0$ , by the previous paragraph, the $G$ -sets $(G \backslash S)/H$ , $G \backslash ( S/H)$ , $G \backslash S /H$ are isomorphic and identitfied with each other.

Let $G$ be a group, and $H$ a subgroup of $G$ ; let it act on $G$ from the right. Then the set $G/H$ is the set of left cosets mod $H$ .

If $G$ is a group and $H,K$ are subgroups of $G$ , then the set $H \backslash G /K$ is called the set of double cosets mod $H$ and $K$ .

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-An '''orbit''' is part of a [[set]] on which a [[group]] acts.
+An '''orbit''' is part of a [[set]] on which a [[group]] [[group action|acts]].
 Let <math>G</math> be a group, and let <math>S</math> be a <math>G</math>-set.  The '''orbit''' of an element <math>x\in S</math> is the set <math>Gx</math>, i.e., the set of [[conjugate (group theory) | conjugate]]s of <math>x</math>, or the set of elements <math>y</math> in <math>S</math> for which there exists <math>\alpha \in G</math> for which <math>\alpha x = y</math>.
@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 * [[Stabilizer]]
 * [[Orbit-stabilizer theorem]]
+* [[Group action]]
 [[Category:Group theory]]

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Difference between revisions of "Orbit"

Revision as of 16:33, 7 September 2008

See also