Group Theory – Finite Groups Where Inverse of Lagrange’s Theorem is Incorrect

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This is a multiple choice for finite groups. For which one of the following groups, the converse of Lagrange's Theorem is not generally satisfied? I know the converse is true for cyclic groups.

1) All abelian groups

2) All groups of order 8

3) The group $S_4$

4) All groups of order 12

Thank you in advance!

Best Answer

Lagrange states that the order of a subgroup is always a divisor of the original group order. So we can ask if the inverse holds: Given a group $G$ of finite order $n$ and a divisor $d$ of $n$, does there exist a subgroup $H\le G$ of order $d$?

You already pointed out that this inverse is true for finite cyclic groups. Therefore, it also holds for finite abelian groups (item 1): According to the classification of finite abelian groups, these are direct sums of cyclic groups and the product of their orders is $n$. It is possible to obtain $d$ by taking appropriate divisors of the respective subgroups.

ad 2: Let $G$ be of order $8$. Let $1\ne g\in G$. If $\langle g\rangle = G$, then $G$ is cyclic and we are done. If $\langle g\rangle$ is of order $4$, it has a subgroup of order $2$ (and of course of order $1$) and we are done. Therefore, we may assume that $\langle g\rangle$ is of order $2$ for all nontrivial $g$. But a group with $g^2=1$ for all $g\in G$ is abelian (a much-loved beginner's exercise). Therefore the converse also holds for groups of order $8$.

I see that meanwhile complete answers for 3 and 4 are already available, so I'll stop here. :)

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