[Math] Some Subgroup of Dihedral Group is Normal

abstract-algebradihedral-groupsgroup-theorynormal-subgroups

I ran into this question when I was studying for my abstract algebra midterm.

Show that the subgroup $H$ of rotations is normal in the dihedral group $D_n$. Find the quotient group $D_n/H$.

I'm not quite sure where to begin. I know that for a Dihedral group of $n\geq 3$, then $r^n=1$ where $r$ is a rotation, and $s^2=1$ where $s$ is a reflection, and $srs=r^{-1}$. I was not sure how to prove something is a normal subgroup from here. Any advice, thanks!

Best Answer

The index $2$ suggestion works, but you can also show this directly. One can check that the generators $R$ and $F$ of the dihedral group conform to the rule $RF = FR^{-1}$. From this, we see that any element in $D_n$ can be written as $R^jF^k$ where $0 \leq j \leq n-1$ and $0 \leq k \leq 1$.

A subgroup $N \leq G$ is normal whenever, given any $n \in N$ and $g \in G$, we have $gng^{-1} \in N$. In this case, any element of the rotation subgroup looks like $R^m$ for $1 \leq m \leq n-1$. Considering any arbitrary element $R^jF^k$ of $D_n$, we just need to show that $(R^jF^k)R^m(R^jF^k)^{-1} \in \langle R \rangle$. Clearly this is true if $k=0$, so assume $k=1$. Now look to the helpful rule in the first paragraph to conclude that this is indeed an element of $\langle R \rangle$.

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