Group Theory – Two Finite Abelian Groups with Same Number of Elements of Any Order are Isomorphic

group-theory

Suppose $G, H$ are finite abelian groups with the same number of elements of any given order. Show they are isomorphic.

Since finite abelian groups are isomorphic if and only if their Sylow subgroups are, we may restrict our attention to the case where $G, H$, are $p$-groups, but I can't quite make it past there…

Best Answer

You don't say how much structure you have proven for abelian groups, so I will not assume much. If you do know some structure theorems, please let us know. (E.g., there is a theorem that if $G$ is abelian, and $a$ is an element of $G$ of maximal order, then there is a subgroup $H$ of $G$ such that $G = H\oplus \langle a\rangle$; do you know that?) Anyway...

Let $G$ and $H$ be finite abelian $p$-groups that have the same number of elements of each order. We want to prove that $G$ and $H$ are isomorphic.

Let $p^n$ be the largest order of an element of $G$ (and of $H$). If $n=1$, then $G$ and $H$ are elementary abelian $p$-groups; so they are vector spaces over $\mathbf{F}_p$, and since they have the same number of elements, they are isomorphic (same dimension).

Assume the result holds for abelian groups whose largest orders are $p^k$, and let $G$ and $H$ be groups satisfying our hypothesis and in which the largest elements have oder $p^{k+1}$.

Show that $pG$ and $pH$ have the same number of elements of each order, and that the elements of largest orders have order $p^k$. Apply induction to conclude $pG\cong pH$. Now see if you can leverage that to get $G\cong H$. If you need more help with those steps, please ask through comments.

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