If every proper subgroup of a finite abelian group $G$ is cyclic, then $G$ is cyclic.
I think the statement is true for some cases.
My attempt :
Case 1 : $o(G) = p_1^{n_1}p_2^{n_2} \ldots p_k^{n_k}$ , where $ p _1 , p_ 2, \ldots, p_k$ are prime numbers. Now I will take two elements $s , v$ (say) whose orders are prime to each other. So $o(sv) = o(G)$. So $G$ is cyclic.
Case 2 : $o(G) = p^{n}$, where $p$ is a prime. I think the statement would not be true for this case. A counterexample is the non-cyclic abelian group of order $4$.
Can anyone please tell me If I have gone wrong anywhere?
Best Answer
First you need to know that $C_m \times C_n \cong C_{mn}$ when $\gcd(m,n)=1$ and also know the fundamental theorem for abelian groups.
Now, suppose that $|G|$ has at least two distinct prime divisors, say $|G| = p_1^{a_1} \cdots p_k^{a_k}$ , $k \geq 2$. Let $p_i$ be one of the primes and let $P_i$ be the subgroup of order $p_i^{a_i}$ of $G$. Since $|P_i| < |G|$, $P_i$ is a proper subgroup of $G$ so it is cyclic. The same holds for all $i$ though, and since $G \cong P_1 \times \cdots \times P_k$, it follows that $G$ is the direct product of cyclic groups of coprime orders, so it is cyclic itself by the first observation.
Suppose now that $|G|=p^m$ for some positive integer $m$. If $m>2$, I argue that $G$ must be cyclic. By the fundamental theorem, there are positive integers $a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_n$ such that $G = C_{p^{a_1}} \times \ldots \times C_{p^{a_n}}$, where $a_1 + \ldots a_n = m$. Suppose for a contradiction that $G$ is not cyclic, but every proper subgroup of $G$ is. Then certainly $n>1$. Let $H$ be the subgroup of order $p$ of $C_{p^{a_1}}$, $K$ the subgroup of order $p$ of $C_{p^{a_2}}$. Consider the subgroup $H \times K$ of $G$. Since $|H \times K| = p^2 <|G|$, it follows that $H \times K = C_p \times C_p$ is a proper subgroup of $G$ and thus must be cyclic by assumption. But this is a contradiction, so $G$ is cyclic, just as we wanted to show.
Now, if $m=1$ there is nothing to do ($C_p$ is cyclic and its only proper subgroup is the trivial group). If $m=2$, the structure theorem tells you that either $G \cong C_{p^2}$ or $G \cong C_p \times C_p$. Note that, in this case, the claim does not hold, since $C_p \times C_p$ is not cyclic but every proper subgroup of $C_p \times C_p$ is.