How many group homomorphisms $g: \mathbb{Z}_{5} \oplus \mathbb{Z}_{10} \to \mathbb{Z}_{15}$ are there

abstract-algebrafinite-groupsgroup-theory

I know there are similar questions asked here on MSE, but none of them really address the specific questions I have (also, I'd like to know if my approach is valid and/or if there is a 'better' way to go about this).

(a) If $f: \mathbb{Z}_{15} \to \mathbb{Z}_{5} \oplus \mathbb{Z}_{10}$
is a nontrivial group homomorphism, what is the kernel of $f$?

(b) How many group homomorphisms $g: \mathbb{Z}_{5} \oplus
\mathbb{Z}_{10} \to \mathbb{Z}_{15}$
are there?

My attempt:

(a) (I think I've got this part.) Let $G = \mathbb{Z}_{15}$, $H = \mathbb{Z}_{5} \oplus \mathbb{Z}_{10}$, and $K = \ker f$. By the First Isomorphism Theorem, $|G|/|K| = |f(G)|$ and $|f(G)|$ divides $|H|$. Since $|G| = 15$ and $|H| = 50$ (and since $f$ is, by assumption, nontrivial) this means $|K|$ must be $3$. So, since $K$ is a (normal) subgroup of $G$ of order $3$, $K = \{0, 5, 10\}$.

(b) If $g: H \to G $ is a homomorphism, then by an argument similar to that in (a), $|\ker g|$ must be $50$ or $10$. If $|\ker g|= 50$, then $g$ is the trivial homomorphism (so that's one homomorphism). If $|\ker g| = 10$, then $g(H)$ is a subgroup of $G$ of order $5$; and so $g(H) = \{0, 3, 6, 9, 12 \}$. But how do I know if such a homomorphism exists? Furthermore, if such a homomorphism exists, is there more than one?

Best Answer

For (a) you're correct: $|f(G)|$ must divide both $|G|$ and $|H|$, so it can only be $1$ or $5$. Since the homomorphism is not trivial, the latter case holds. Therefore $|K|=3$ and there is a single subgroup of $G$ of order $3$, namely $\{0,5,10\}$.

A homomorphism $g\colon\mathbb{Z}_5\oplus\mathbb{Z}_{10}\to\mathbb{Z}_{15}$ is determined as soon as we assign $g_1\colon\mathbb{Z}_5\to\mathbb{Z}_{15}$ and $g_2\colon\mathbb{Z}_{10}\to\mathbb{Z}_{15}$.

Indeed, if $g$ is given, we can define $g_1(x)=g(x,0)$ and $g_2(y)=g(0,y)$. Conversely, given $g_1$ and $g_2$, we can define $g(x,y)=g_1(x)+g_2(y)$.

Thus you just have to count the homomorphisms $g_1\colon\mathbb{Z}_5\to\mathbb{Z}_{15}$ and $g_2\colon\mathbb{Z}_{10}\to\mathbb{Z}_{15}$.

In order to do this you have to determine the elements $z\in\mathbb{Z}_{15}$ such that $5z=0$ or $10z=0$, respectively.