In mathematics, specifically in group theory, the Prüfer p-group or the p-quasicyclic group or p∞-group, Z(p∞), for a prime number p is the unique p-group in which every element has p different p-th roots.
The Prüfer p-groups are countable abelian groups that are important in the classification of infinite abelian groups: they (along with the group of rational numbers) form the smallest building blocks of all divisible groups.
The groups are named after Heinz Prüfer, a German mathematician of the early 20th century.
The Prüfer p-group may be identified with the subgroup of the circle group, U(1), consisting of all pn-th roots of unity as n ranges over all non-negative integers:
Z(pinfty)=\{\exp(2\piim/pn)\mid0\leqm<pn,n\inZ+\}=\{z\inC\mid
(pn) | |
z |
=1forsomen\inZ+\}.
There is a presentation
Z(pinfty)=\langleg1,g2,g3,\ldots\mid
p | |
g | |
1 |
=1,
p | |
g | |
2 |
=g1,
p | |
g | |
3 |
=g2,...\rangle.
Alternatively and equivalently, the Prüfer p-group may be defined as the Sylow p-subgroup of the quotient group Q/Z, consisting of those elements whose order is a power of p:
Z(pinfty)=Z[1/p]/Z
For each natural number n, consider the quotient group Z/pnZ and the embedding Z/pnZ → Z/pn+1Z induced by multiplication by p. The direct limit of this system is Z(p∞):
Z(pinfty)=\varinjlimZ/pnZ.
If we perform the direct limit in the category of topological groups, then we need to impose a topology on each of the
Z/pnZ
Z(pinfty)
Z(pinfty)
Z/pnZ
Z(pinfty)
We can also write
infty)=Q | |
Z(p | |
p/Z |
p
The complete list of subgroups of the Prüfer p-group Z(p∞) = Z[1/''p'']/Z is:
0\subsetneq\left({1\overp}Z\right)/Z\subsetneq\left({1\overp2}Z\right)/Z\subsetneq\left({1\overp3}Z\right)/Z\subsetneq … \subsetneqZ(pinfty)
\left({1\overpn}Z\right)/Z
The Prüfer p-groups are the only infinite groups whose subgroups are totally ordered by inclusion. This sequence of inclusions expresses the Prüfer p-group as the direct limit of its finite subgroups. As there is no maximal subgroup of a Prüfer p-group, it is its own Frattini subgroup.
Given this list of subgroups, it is clear that the Prüfer p-groups are indecomposable (cannot be written as a direct sum of proper subgroups). More is true: the Prüfer p-groups are subdirectly irreducible. An abelian group is subdirectly irreducible if and only if it is isomorphic to a finite cyclic p-group or to a Prüfer group.
The Prüfer p-group is the unique infinite p-group that is locally cyclic (every finite set of elements generates a cyclic group). As seen above, all proper subgroups of Z(p∞) are finite. The Prüfer p-groups are the only infinite abelian groups with this property.[1]
The Prüfer p-groups are divisible. They play an important role in the classification of divisible groups; along with the rational numbers they are the simplest divisible groups. More precisely: an abelian group is divisible if and only if it is the direct sum of a (possibly infinite) number of copies of Q and (possibly infinite) numbers of copies of Z(p∞) for every prime p. The (cardinal) numbers of copies of Q and Z(p∞) that are used in this direct sum determine the divisible group up to isomorphism.[2]
As an abelian group (that is, as a Z-module), Z(p∞) is Artinian but not Noetherian.[3] It can thus be used as a counterexample against the idea that every Artinian module is Noetherian (whereas every Artinian ring is Noetherian).
The endomorphism ring of Z(p∞) is isomorphic to the ring of p-adic integers Zp.[4]
In the theory of locally compact topological groups the Prüfer p-group (endowed with the discrete topology) is the Pontryagin dual of the compact group of p-adic integers, and the group of p-adic integers is the Pontryagin dual of the Prüfer p-group.[5]