Find a set of representatives of cosets in $S_4$

finite-groupsgroup-actionsgroup-theory

Problem: Find a set of representative of the left cosets of $H$ in $S_4$, where $H = \left\{ \sigma \in S _ { 4 } \mid \sigma ( 4 ) = 4 \right\}$.

Solution: In the case of $S _ { 4 }$ we have $\{ \mathrm { id } , ( 14 ) , ( 24 ) , ( 34 ) \}$ as a set of representatives (or transversal).

I have trouble understanding intuitively the concept of cosets. I do understand that a representative is a member of the coset. How $(14)$ is a representative of a coset in $S_4$? What coset is it representing?

Best Answer

$(1\,4)$ is a representative of the left coset… $(1\,4)H$.

Also, two permutations $\rho,\sigma\in S_4$ define the same coset modulo $H$ if and only if $\rho^{-1}\sigma\in H$, i.e. if the composition $\rho^{-1}\sigma$ leaves $4$ fixed. Now you can easily check this condition is not satisfied by any of the pairs $\{\operatorname{Id}, (1\,4), (2\,4), (3\,4)\}$, e.g. $$(1\,4)(2\,4)=(1\,4\,2)$$ Finally, observe $H$ is isomorphic to $S_3$ (it permutes $1,2,3$ between them). So the set $S_4/H$ has cardinal $$\bigl|S_4/H\bigr|=\frac{\bigl|S_4\bigr|}{\bigl|S_3\bigr|}=4,$$ so we've obtained the exact number of cosets representatives.

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