Compute the powers of $\tau$

abstract-algebrapermutations

When working through the Symmetric and Alternating Groups section of my Abstract Algebra textbook, I came across Theorem 7.25 that sates:

The order of a permutation $\tau$ in $S_n$ is the least common multiple of the lengths of the disjoint cycles whose product is $\tau$.

Then I saw the following example:

The permutation $\tau = (12)(34)(567)$ is a product of disjoint cycles of lengths 2, 2, and 3. The least common multiple of 2, 2, and 3 is 6. Theorem 7.25 tells us that tau has order 6. You can verify this directly by computing the powers of $\tau$.
$\tau = (12)(34)(567), \tau^2 = (576), \tau^3 = (12)(34),$
$\tau^4 = (567), \tau^5 = (12)(34)(576), \tau^6 = (1).$

But I am not sure how the book is calculating $\tau^2, \tau^3, … , \tau^6$. I know the product of permutations is a composition of functions, but I must be missing something or doing something wrong to get $\tau^2$. Any help would be appreciated!

Best Answer

Recall that disjoint cycles commute, so $\tau^n=(12)^n(34)^n(567)^n$. Can you conclude from here? Additional hint: $(12)^n=(12)$ if $n$ is odd, $(12)^n=\mathrm{Id}$ otherwise.